They have been a long time coming, but I’m very happy that — finally — I have managed to launch the Free From Living Awards, which opened for entry earlier this week, and the idea for which first formed in my head all the way back in 2017.
The Awards are the latest in the ‘Free From Awards’ line of Awards. The first born, The Free From Food Awards, founded originally by Michelle Berriedale-Johnson in 2008, is still going strong in its seventeenth year, and is now ably run by my colleagues Cressida Langlands and Nicki Clowes.
Many of you will know that I also co-ordinate the Free From Skincare Awards, for cosmetics and toiletries which tick one or more major ‘free from’ box — be it free from fragrance, or free from animal ingredients, or artificial ingredients, or indeed food allergens — which I co-founded with Michelle in 2012.
For too long, only ‘free from food’ only commanded real attention in the free from world, but people with allergies and sensitivities often need to think well beyond what is on their plate — whether it’s nut or sesame oils in their facial moisturiser, or goats’ milk in their soap bars — and it was for them that we decided that the Skincare Awards would be helpful, in highlighting cosmetics that may be more likely to be suitable for them, as well as rewarding the thoughtful brands that manufactured them.
The new Free From Living Awards go further, looking at products used around the home, which can sometimes pose similar problems to the ultra-sensitive consumer — candles, air fresheners, room mists, wax melts, household detergents, pet grooming products, and furniture polish, for example, are all preparations which can contain allergens or triggers or ingredients people would rather avoid. They’ve received little attention in the past, but they need to be considered too.
Also incorporated are some cosmetics that we’ve never been able to include in the Free From Skincare Awards — such as sun care and oral care products — and therapeutic products applied to the skin, such as massage oils, muscle balms, destress / sleep products, hay fever balms and much more.
Launching an Award is always a leap of faith, but we hope at the very least that this new Award shines a bit of light on products beyond those found in our kitchen cupboards and in our beauty cabinets, and hopefully encourages some brands to formulate more allergy-friendly, vegan-friendly or natural consumables for house, home, lifestyle and personal wellbeing.
To find out more, click through to the Free From Living Website here. You can find us on Instagram and on X / Twitter too.
This is brilliant, I may have loads of suggestions for great companies for this as I have gone through my house to eradicate all the toxic unnecessary products. Thinking about less plastic as well as more natural and better for the environment. I’ll put a list together for you, but check out soya wax and beeswax candles and food wraps, smol washing products, Purdy and Fig, Ecover and so many more…
Thanks Ruth. We’re following them on Instagram and hopefully can persuade them to take part!