The Body Shop has just reformulated its hero skincare range with an ingredient that has 43% more antioxidant power than retinol

Since the brand's inception in 1976, founder Dame Anita Roddick was determined to rip up the norms and codes of the beauty industry, and campaigned tirelessly on human rights and environmental issues as well self-esteem. She took a firm stance on ageing, famously saying, “If you didn’t want to get wrinkles you should have stopped smiling years ago.”

The Body Shop went on to be the first international cosmetics brand to prohibit the use of ingredients tested on animals and one of the first to promote Fair Trade with third world countries. Earning its place as a household name over the past four decades plus a cult following, thanks to a diverse range of over 900 products, suitable for different skin tones and types and half of which are vegan.

Dame Anita was a pioneer to ethical consumerism, and wanted to create a high quality, revolutionary skincare range that would be a positive force in the beauty landscape. What differentiated her vision to other beauty giants was her desire to create the perfect harmony between quality, accessibility, environmental consciousness (starting out with refillable containers etc) and profit. That passion filtered through to employees - and the brand's ideology hasn’t much changed along the years. 

Helping disadvantaged communities is a brand priority and they have been sourcing their Community Fair Trade (CFT) shea butter from Tungteiya Women’s Association in Northern Ghana since 1994. Where 640 women from 11 villages, handcraft shea butter using an 18-stage process of traditional techniques, successfully creating generational opportunities passed from mother to daughter. Their CFT handcrafted paper and gift packaging is also sustainably sourced from Kathmandu, Nepal.

A B Corp certified brand is amongst the 3,000 businesses worldwide to have the highest social and environmental standards for people and the planet. One focus is on using plant-based and recycled plastic (rather than oil-based plastics) and creating initiatives to aid consumers around the world to reuse, repurpose and recycle. “In 2019, we reintroduced our pioneering refill scheme, a recycling programme and removed 21 tonnes of plastic from our gifts.” says says Linda Campbell, Managing Director for the UK.

The ideals of The Body Shops founder had a direct impact on the direction of the brand. They haven’t shied away from supporting feminist movements, constantly raising the bar on ethical consciousness and fighting to empower girls and women across all demographics. The Body Shop have spent the last few years initiating and aligning with campaigns, most recently the Covid-19 response derived #IsolatedNotAlone campaign. “With the objective of raising awareness on domestic abuse and providing potentially life-saving resources for survivors and bystanders at increased risk during lockdown measures." says Campbell.

If all this doesn’t make you feel more passionate about the brand, we don’t know what will. And that's before we even get the quality products at consumer friendly prices. But don’t let the Body Shop name fool you though, as not only extensive bath and body sup, but skincare, haircare and vegan makeup.

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