Dr Jackson’s award-winning products.
Ranked among the top most influential beauty blogs, Beauty Shortlist, founded by beauty journalist Fiona Klonarides, has just announced the winners of its 2019 Awards. And scooping four accolades this year, including two in the prestigious Editor’s Choice category, was Dr Jackson’s, the Carmen-backed British brand that combines cutting-edge research with century-old traditions to produce its all-natural line of skincare and wellbeing products.
Launched in 2012, the Beauty Shortlist Awards recognizes stand-out products by ethical brands. “A true celebration of the best,” according to the British Beauty Council “the awards’ impartiality and inclusiveness mean that there’s an opportunity for every brand to take part irrespective of budget, size or provenance.” After going global in 2017, judging over a period of six months is now undertaken by independent, expert-led panels in the UK, US and Australia, with a record-breaking number of entries being received this year.
Among the winners in the Editor's Choice - Beauty category were Dr Jackson’s 04 Coconut Melt and 05 Face and Eye Essence products. One of Carmen’s particular favorites, Coconut Melt is a 100% organic coconut oil-based multi-purpose or multi-use balm that can be used to moisturize lips, soften hair and smooth out lines. And for those suffering from a bad night’s sleep, jet lag, overexposure or an intense session at the gym, the Face and Eye Essence provides skin with a cooling and refreshing pep up.
The brand’s 07 Face Wash, which uses naturally exfoliating pomegranate instead of man-made plastics, scooped the award for Best Foaming Cleanser, and in the new Wellbeing Category, its Detox Tea, the equivalent of a reset button for the body, took top spot among the Wellbeing Teas.
Another new category for 2019 was vegan skincare and beauty. Declared the year of the vegan by the Economist, which has reported that a quarter of millennials identify as vegan or vegetarian, the increased demand for vegan products in general is now reflected in the increasing availability of and demand for animal free beauty products, which have been the cornerstone of the Dr Jackson’s brand since its inception. Indeed, as well as being vegan, the company always uses natural, organic ingredients, which are sustainably harvested in collaboration with rural communities worldwide.
“People are starting to question and research what they’re buying, and I think that’s empowering,” said the Vegan Society’s Dominika Piasecka recently in an article for The New York Times, explaining that pushing consumers to assess ingredients was perhaps the biggest benefit to come out of the vegan beauty movement. Common animal-derived ingredients found in beauty products include honey, beeswax, lanolin (wool grease), squalene (shark liver oil), carmine (crushed-up beetles), gelatin (cow or pig bones, tendons or ligaments), allantoin (cow urine), ambergris (whale vomit) and placenta (sheep organs), which while harmless, “haven’t been proven to be superior in any way” said dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon Dr Dennis Gross, who counters that “wholesome vegan alternatives do exist”.
The Leaping Bunny Program grants certification to personal care and household product companies that ensure that no animal testing is done at any phase of the production process.
Proponents of vegan beauty acknowledge that there’s a need for products to be adequately labelled to avoid current confusion, particularly surrounding vegan versus cruelty-free products, and a number organizations now have recognizable insignia to confirm whether a product is vegan or simply cruelty-free. Dr Jackson’s products are certified by EU Organic, the Soil Association (UK) and USDA Organic (US), the Vegan Sociey, FairWild (an accreditation program for wild collected products) and Leaping Bunny (no animal testing).
Congratulating Dr Jackson’s on its success, Fiona Klonarides stressed how high the bar is set and that the Awards are not easy to win. “Dr Jackson’s is a much-loved brand by us for many reasons,” she said, “most notably for the appealing apothecary-style branding and intelligent, innovative “super-plant” formulas.”
