Gold
North Devon Soap, Bathroom Basket (Made in Devon)
Components: Three sea-themed soap bars, hand-woven basket (buff willow), hand-knitted silky face cloth (vegan)
Intoxicating lemongrass / eucalyptus fragranced soaps, with various swirl patterns representing different phases of sea movement (eg tides, swell), liked by all judges. Deeply coloured and no sign of artificial colours too!
Silver
Bare Blue, Solid Swaps Gift Box
Components: Janni Bars Satin Facewash Cleansing Bar, Janni Bars May Chang Soap Bar, Three Hills Soap Just Cocoa Solid Lotion Bar, Palm Free Irish Soap TLC Shampoo Bar, Three Hills Soap Lemon Tea Conditioner Bar, Bambooth Toothpaste Tablets, Coconut Fibre Soap Rest
A seven-item collection of products from mostly Irish-based brands, curated and assembled by another, Bare Blue. Mixed collections like this don’t always work or ‘gel’, but the choices, judges felt, combined very well here, and clearly had the environment in mind. Items included the Palm Free (Zero-Waste) Irish Soap Ltd TLC Shampoo Bar, a Gold winner in the Hair Care category in the 2022 Free From Skincare Awards, plus a few others in original formats, such as toothpaste tablets. Many items ideal for travel or festivals, and the inclusion of a compostable soap rest was a thoughtful touch. Great!
ETHOSA, Personalisable Body Wash Starter Kit
Components: Lifetime Refillable Bottle, Durable Brushed Silver Pump, Powder-To-Gel Body Wash Sachet, Essential Oils Sachet, Preservative Sachet, Natural Konjac Body Sponge
Fun, environmentally minded, DIY Body Wash kit: Add the sachet to the bottle, add essential oils (less for a gentler scent), then the preservative sachet, then lukewarm water — and shake! Sachets can be reordered, but the bottle should last forever! Judged loved the personalised engraving (FREE FROM GIFT AWARDS on ours!), and the konjac sponge was the extra that further elevated this wonderful eco gift. Colour palette and design of the brand also attractive. Fun and cool.
Sknfed, Rose Trio Gift Set
Components: Organic Face Moisturiser – Rose, Organic Hand Cream – Rose, Organic Rose Butter – Lip And Body
A vegan and eco-conscious trio in such an unusual format — pouches! But what made this set stand out to judges was the quality of the skincare — no compromise on standard at all, it was luxurious and beautiful, and the rose scent was gorgeous. A real winner with all.
Tropic Skincare, OCEAN TREASURE facial favourites collection
Components: Smoothing Cleanser, Juicy Greens Toning Essence, Skin Feast Moisturiser, Skin Dream Night Cream, Rainforest Dew Hydration Serum, Super Greens Nutrient Boost Oil, Bamboo Cloth; all in a large, beautiful aquamarine ‘coral’ tin.
The variety here is terrific, and this was one of the few facial gift sets submitted to contain a toner, which certainly earned Tropic some brownie points. The dinky oil and serum bottles were a delight, and there were decent sizes of all the other facial favourites too. It’s a very good value for money collection, with lots to enjoy and discover. 10% of profits are donated to Reef Restoration Foundation, and the tin is extremely striking, and reusable. Wonderful.
Bronze
Eira Soaps, Festive Gift Set
Components: Body Butter and Soap Bar, both peppermint scented
Great whip on the body butter and nicely embossed soap. Perfectly fitting in their festively wrapped slide-out card box, this is a really sweet gift pairing for the mint fan of either sex!
Obvs Skincare, Well-Being Gift Set
Components: Organic Moisturisers – Morning Mandarin and Evening Lavender
Two lovely water/preservative-free moisturisers, notable for their biodegradable non-plastic plant-based packaging, which Obvs tell us makes them the first SA, Cosmos and Vegan Society certified brand to be using it! Smart black box was appreciated — “not all of us like pink or red!” said one judge! — and even the finishing touches of dried mandarin slice and lavender sprig tied with cotton ribbon elevated this to a quality gift. Moisturisers very concentrated and should go a long, long way … and they’re free from a lot, including nut oils.
The Wild Nettle Co, Skin Lover Bundle Gift Set
Components: Nettle soap, Nettle cream, Natural sisal soap bag
Small-batch skincare, handmade in Scotland, with the power of local nettles at their disposal! Very sweet and pretty collection, with not a scrap of plastic in sight. Affordable, available in various sizes, the daintiest of which would make a lovely stocking filler for an eco warrior — or an eco pacifist! Palm-oil free and vegan too.