The Innovation Award was introduced this year, 2025, to reward brands demonstrating great innovation — be it across their whole ranges, or in individual products. Innovation in product formulation, company ethos, working practices, marketing, ‘free from’ or allergy attributes, packaging, environmentalism, ingredients …. all were considered and sought for this category.
Gold
Awake Organics
A leader in and one of the early innovators of powder shampoo, which saves space, packaging … and all important water! Theirs innovatively uses natural DHT blockers (caffeine, rosemary) to support hair follicles.
Ladanifere
Their signature Glide Balm has a good free-from formulation, works, and is targeting a poorly served niche of wetsuit users and other athletes who experience chafing.
LUMI
A stand-out innovation brand from Estonia, using plant-stem cell technology – one of the first brands to do this. They have an innovation-driven approach as a university spin-off brand, with good allergy awareness too, including lots of fragrance free options.
Silver
OliPhenolia (Fattoria la Vialla)
Distinctive Italian brand, making use of their home-grown ingredients derived from olives and grapes, produced to a high standard and used in some unusual and original formulations.
GinGingers
Small Yorkshire brand offering an unusual product for problematic skin’s many manifestations. Versatile, rare to see apple cider vinegar in a gel, and they use a carbon footprint-reducing cold-process manufacturing too.
Hairstory
Refill pouches, surfactant-free shampoo ‘cream’, a first micellar hair water rinse with added prebiotics … and a good reduction in treatment times! An original approach from a hair care brand, that deserves to be recognised for innovation.
Bronze
Grumpy Soaps
Soaps for blokes with an environmental twist but without the hard ‘lifestyle’ sell, or marketing fanfare, but sometimes with pumice for tough hands beaten by weather, paint, mud — and polyfiller!
Inika
Have made a significant long-standing contribution to innovation in natural skincare, both in formulation, blending active botanicals with skincare technology, and in packaging, as the world’s first plastic-neutral make-up brand.
Life Happens
Strictly excluding key fragrance and food allergens — a great example of ‘free from’ innovation with allergy at its heart, and strong performers too.
