Beauty Bible Awards are now recognised as the results of the biggest independent consumer trials of beauty products worldwide and brands tell us they are a huge influence on what women buy.  But, golly, they take a lot of work for our tiny team. This totally unsolicited email from a tester explains why we keep on keeping on…

‘My Beauty Bible parcel arrived this morning and I want to say an enormous thank you to all the team for managing to organise the teams and get the test kits out during the current horrors. It can't have been easy and I just want to let you know how much it means to me.

‘Every time I've been a tester, getting the parcel is such a huge thrill. This morning I cut open the parcel (which seems to feel to feel like a postal germ warfare bomb right now) and tipped the contents into a clean bag so I could pick the items out slowly and savour the discovery of each lovely thing. I took a break for coffee half way through to make the experience last longer!’

‘This week has been horrendous. I'm a teacher in a small independent school [and] we are almost bankrupt as so many parents stopped paying fees at the start of the crisis. My job is at risk and we've been in and out of argumentative, frightening meetings this week. I'm terrified about [what may happen]. During all this stress, at the back of my head, has been the knowledge that my BB parcel was on its way. I've been using it as a kind of de-stress mantra "well everything is sh*t but at least there's some serious skincare coming!" It sounds daft, but the building excitement after getting your 'back in business' email has kept me going through a thoroughly rotten week. Who'd have thought Beauty Bible would end up being a mental health crutch?!’ 

‘I've spent a few hours playing with my new toys and I'm already imagining what I'll write about a rather wow, super glow-y primer. It's something I would never have thought to buy myself and that's one of the joys of Beauty Bible testing - the surprise of things you didn't think you needed.’ 

‘I had another poignant tester moment this weekend. I received an after sun in my package this year. I thought 'who uses after sun these days, isn't it what your parents used on hols in the ‘80s when folk roasted themselves with carrot–tinted, deep tan oil?' But… I went on a huge moorland hike yesterday wearing my usual SPF15 “gardening” cream. I was out for hours; there was a picnic and a paddle and I am now a vibrant shade of shoulder puce. So… the after sun and its herbal chill has been most gratefully used!’

‘I do so love being a tester. Beauty Bible truly is a wonderful thing.’

Thank you SO much to our lovely tester. Honestly, it’s comments like that which mean everything, to the team here…

Illustration: David Downton for The Handbag Beauty Bible

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