(NB. Entry to the 2020 Awards will open in January / February 2020. Details below relate to 2019 Awards, but are unlikely to change substantially.)
First …
1/ Read and fully understand the Criteria & Rules and the FAQs.
2/ Consider the Categories you wish to enter, and check that the products you would like to enter meet our Criteria. If you are unsure, please email Alex.
3/ Entry fees are £160 + VAT per product for most brands.
4/ Small skincare brands which have fewer than three individuals in employment across the whole company (owners included, both home and overseas, if applicable) are entitled to a subsidised entry fee of £120 + VAT per product. (We may ask to see evidence in support of reduced entry fee claim. Note that the condition applies to the cosmetic brand, not to any sales representative, PR or agent applying on the brand’s behalf.)
5/ For all brands, small or large, a 10% discount applies for entries paid by 24th March 2019. (That is, £144 + VAT, and £108 + VAT, respectively.)
6/ There are no additional entry fees at any stage of the Award (though note that all product delivery / postage / duties / taxes and shipment fees must be borne by the entrant).
7/ Final deadline is 26th April 2019.
Entering …
1/ Once you have decided on which products you wish to enter, visit our Online Entry Form and Payment Store, which opens on 1st March 2019, in order to complete your forms and pay your entry fee.
2/ Complete the Company Details.
3/ Complete a Product Entry Form for each product you are entering — one form for each product in each category. If you wish to enter the same product into multiple categories, an entry must be completed and purchased for each.
4/ You can save as you go along, and return to your entry forms at a later time.
5/ Only ‘Submit’ once you are done. Forms cannot be edited once they are submitted.
6/ Proceed to payment and complete.
7/ Then, wait for us to get in touch by email.
What next?
1/ Entries will be checked for any discrepancies or possible issues: such as products entered into inappropriate categories, or ingredients excluded under our criteria. While we will endeavour to resolve any issues and make entrants aware of other problems before we accept them into the Awards, we remind entrants that it is their responsibility to ensure details are accurate on entry forms and to check whether there are problems that may disqualify them for any reason. Please contact us if you are unsure. Acceptance can only be judged on the basis of entry forms, not on the product samples you eventually send.
2/ When we accept your entries we will email you instructions for sending us samples — six full-size units of each product entered in each category will be required. Samples must be in the size specified on the entry form, and be products as they are sold to the purchasing consumer in the UK / EU. Pre-trade / tester / mock-up samples are not acceptable. Do not send samples until we ask you to do so, as in the event of a problem they cannot be returned. If you don’t hear from us within a week, contact us.
3/ Entrants are fully responsible for postage and delivery fees to our UK address. Duties and taxes incurred because of shipment from overseas must be met by the entrant.
4/ Do not send extra information with your samples: promotional catalogues, fliers and leaflets, for example, are not accepted and will be recycled. If in exceptional cases some essential information must be sent on a separate piece of paper (for instance, listing the product’s ingredients or particular instructions) please attach this to each sample in some form (ie with an elastic band, or wrap the whole ‘package’ in bubble wrap).
5/ We will email you an Entrant Logo which you are free to use on social media to denote your participation in the Awards.
6/ We will welcome you on social media channels. (Our hashtag is #FFSA19.)
7/ Once received, your samples will be sent out to experienced testers to begin the judging process in earnest. To learn more about judging, click here.
Then what?
1/ Once all products from all entrants have been tested by four testers for one month, all their feedback and scores will be collated and a Shortlist compiled.
2/ Shortlisted products are presented to independent round-table panels of judges consisting of cosmetic formulators, beauty writers, skincare experts, allergy bloggers, ‘free from’ experts and other cosmetics consumers for further assessment, in early June, during which all winners and runners-up are decided.
3/ The Shortlist will be announced in late June / early July, and shared widely on social media. We will write to all successful and unsuccessful entrants, and send a Shortlisted Logo to all shortlisted brands. Entrants who do not hear from us by the end of June, should contact us directly.
4/ Winners will be announced online in mid July 2019 (date TBC), and showcased widely on our websites and social media channels.
And after the announcements?
1/ In early July, we will email Winners Logos to all winning brands.
2/ The Overall Winner will receive the trophy for best Free From Skincare Product 2019, either delivered in person by member(s) of the Free From Skincare Awards team, or via courier.
3/ We will issue press releases about the Awards / the winners, and encourage all winners to participate in publicity regarding their win. (For previous press coverage, see here.)
4/ We will share news and winners on all our social media channels, and showcase a large selection of products and brands across our websites and accounts.
5/ Detailed testers’ / judges’ feedback on products will be available on request in the weeks after the award.