Award · Pure Beauty Awards 2026

Voted by you. 🗳️

The Curl Jar Style + Treat™ Curl Activator is the Readers' Vote winner for Best Hair Prep or Styling Product, decided by the public.

Public-voted Hair Prep & Styling Readers' Vote Winner
Curl Jar's Pure Beauty Awards 2026 Readers' Vote trophy for Best Hair Prep or Styling Product, held up in front of the awards backdrop Pure Beauty Awards 2026 Readers' Vote Winner badge, Best Hair Prep or Styling Product

Quick answer

Curl Jar's Style + Treat™ Curl Activator won the Readers' Vote for Best Hair Prep or Styling Product at the Pure Beauty Awards 2026, announced on 15 October at Grosvenor House, London. Unlike a judged prize, the Readers' Vote is decided by the public, so this one was won by the people who actually use and love the product.

Some awards are decided in a tasting room. This one was decided by you. On 15 October, the Pure Beauty Awards 2026 revealed their winners, and the Curl Jar Curl Activator was crowned the Readers' Vote winner for Best Hair Prep or Styling Product.

25thanniversary year
21categories
~500brand entries
300+guests on the night

The awards

25 years of the Pure Beauty Awards

The Pure Beauty Awards marked their 25th anniversary in 2026, bringing the Pure Beauty Global Awards and Pure Beauty Awards UK together into one flagship event. Winners were announced at Grosvenor House on Park Lane, hosted by Ateh Jewel, with nearly 500 entries competing across 21 categories.

Two winners, two ways

Every category crowns two winners

One is picked by the experts. The other is picked by everyone else.

Judges' Choice

Chosen by an expert panel

Selected by an independent panel of beauty industry experts. In our category, it went to Scandinavian Biolabs' Sea Mineral Spray.

Readers' Vote

Chosen by the public 🗳️

Crowned by public online voting, with every person's vote counting once.

Winner: Curl Jar Curl Activator

How the vote works

From entry to winner

01EnteredBrands submit their products to the awards.
02TestedThe Pure Beauty editorial team tests and reviews every entry.
03ShortlistedThe finalists are announced in early September.
04Public voteVoting opens to everyone, and the public decides the winner.

This award can't be bought, pitched or charmed. It only goes to the product enough real people took a moment to back.

On the night

Grosvenor House, 15 October

The Pure Beauty Awards 2026 stage at Grosvenor House, London, during the winners announcement
The winners announced on stage

Beauty brands, editors and industry insiders filled the ballroom on Park Lane as the 2026 winners were revealed, category by category.

For a curl brand, being named in Best Hair Prep or Styling Product, a category open to all styling products and not just curl care, made the moment even sweeter.

Readers' Vote WinnerBest Hair Prep or Styling Product
As featured inCosmetics Business21 October 2026

Pure Beauty Awards 2026 · Readers' Choice

The write-up: Style + Treat™ Curl Activator

Following the win, Cosmetics Business, sister title to Pure Beauty, gave the Curl Activator its own feature. Here's what it highlights.

01One stepStyles and treats curls in a single application, in line with Curl Jar's Simple Curl Care philosophy.
02Like skincareA balanced, nourishing leave-in that absorbs like skincare, with none of the heaviness.
03Every textureLightweight on waves and rich on coils, so it adapts across curl types.
04Four jobsDetangles, defines, volumises and hydrates in one go, with tamanu and lemongrass in the mix.
05Day two to fourBuildable: mist with water and a little diluted product for up to four refreshes between wash days.
06Salon gradeUsed by over 150 Curl Specialists across the UK and stocked in premium salons in Tokyo and Dubai.
The Vegan Society certifiedLeaping Bunny certifiedDermatologically tested
Read the full feature →

What this means for us

Good curl care shouldn't need a ten-step routine.Now the public agrees.

We built the Curl Activator around one simple idea: one jar that defines, hydrates, controls frizz and adds shine, applied to properly wet hair and then left alone. To see that idea backed by a public vote, in a category about styling products rather than curl products alone, is a special kind of validation.

From the professionalsMarie Claire UK Hair Awards 2026Best Multi-Tasker for Curls, judged by hairstylists and beauty editors.Read the story →
From the publicPure Beauty Awards 2026Readers' Vote, Best Hair Prep or Styling Product. One from the experts, one from the public, both pointing to the same simple jar.

To everyone who voted: thank you. 💚

Whether you voted the moment the shortlist went live or sent a friend the link, every vote came from someone who cared enough to say simple curl care deserves to be seen. We're proud of it, and we're not done yet.

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

Did Curl Jar win a Pure Beauty Award?

Yes. Curl Jar's Style + Treat™ Curl Activator won the Readers' Vote for Best Hair Prep or Styling Product at the Pure Beauty Awards 2026.

What is the Readers' Vote at the Pure Beauty Awards?

It's the public-voted award in each category. Every category has two winners: a Judges' Choice, selected by an independent panel of beauty industry experts, and a Readers' Vote, decided by public online voting.

When and where were the Pure Beauty Awards 2026?

The winners were announced on 15 October 2026 at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London, at an event marking the awards' 25th anniversary.

Has Curl Jar won any other awards?

Yes. The Curl Activator also won Best Multi-Tasker for Curls at the Marie Claire UK Hair Awards 2026, chosen by a panel of hairstylists and beauty editors.

Sources: Cosmetics Business, Curl Jar Style + Treat™ Curl Activator feature · Cosmetics Business, Pure Beauty Awards 2026 winners · Cosmetics Business, 2026 finalists · HPCi Media, award categories

Try the people's choice.

Readers' Vote Winner, Best Hair Prep or Styling Product, Pure Beauty Awards 2026.

Shop Curl Activator Stock up with the Duo