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Original poster

Friend is hijacking our weekend away with her Body Shop shite

698 replies

Youngatheart00 · 07/11/2021 15:44

In a fortnights time DH and I are going away with some other friends for a weekend away in a cottage. One of my friends has recently joined the Body shop cult at home and has been pushing it any excuse she gets.

She’s now suggested the girls in the group have a ‘pamper evening’ which basically just means her trying to sell to us. Of the 8 of us, 2 have already said ‘great idea can’t wait’ and another ive spoken to isn’t keen on the products but wants to support her. I don’t want to fall out over this but I really don’t want to waste a Saturday night when I don’t agree with MLM and hate what it’s doing to my friend!!

How to approach this tactfully?

OP posts:
myusernamewastakenbyme · 09/11/2021 07:49

I'm sure i read somewhere that it was Anita Roddick who started the mlm side of the business.. pls someone correct me if im wrong.

RampantIvy · 09/11/2021 08:12

Didn't she sell out to Nestlé before she died?

She sold to l'Oreal. Nestle owns a 23% stake in l'Oreal.

The Bodyshop are now owned by Brazilian cosmetics company Natura as a subsidiary of the Natura & Co group, who also now own Avon. Natura does not test on animals and follows the most stringent international safety standards. The Bodyshop had been owned by the French cosmetics company L'Oréal between 2006 and 2017. In June 2017, L'Oréal agreed to sell the company to Natura.

The MLM side started in 1994.

rookiemere · 09/11/2021 08:29

At home selling made more sense before internet sales were so prominent. I remember a Body Shop consultant coming to our toddler group and actually that was great because I had little opportunity to go into town and she was just there in the background not making a big thing of it.
However this is a completely different scenario.My advice OP - do not at any cost get into the whole MLM discussion- bright and breezy on the group chat, repeatedly say it's not your thing, now lets talk about something else. Time boxing it pre meal is the way to go and even those who misguidedly want to buy the stuff, will perhaps see the wisdom of that.

islandbeach · 09/11/2021 08:41

I keep reading posts with BS as bullshit instead of bodyshop but it funnily fits quite well! Grin

NameChanged15729 · 09/11/2021 08:43

NotExactlyOptimistic you got it. I have no idea how they are still surviving. Between the massive price increases and the fact you have to scope out every soap stand for quick cover when one of them approaches.
Weirdly that’s not the worst advice they ever gave us on selling. I left shortly after Christmas when the manager told all the women to wear low cut tops and hold the large gift boxes at chest height when selling to men. Awful company.

YouokHun · 09/11/2021 08:50

@Mybalconyiscracking

Bodyshop is far too everyday for a pamper experience! You might as well pamper yourself with a bar of Imperial Leather and a bottle of Head and Shoulders. I wonder what Anita Roddick would make of this MLM shite? I’m not sure it’s what she had in mind when she started the company.
It was Anita Roddick who started the MLM side of the business in 1994. She nicked the whole BS concept from two Californian women in the first place. Then she sold to L’Oreal of all companies. I think she’d be fine with it!
cstaff · 09/11/2021 09:16

@islandbeach
I was reading BS as bullshit also and like you said it made complete sense 😆 🤣. Too funny 😆

LookItsMeAgain · 09/11/2021 11:07

Just wondering if all of the highstreet branches of BS have closed down in the UK? Why wouldn't you go into the store and support them (if you ever felt the need to buy anything from this particular brand)?

You could couch it like "You know after lockdown, our highstreets are more like ghost towns so I like to protect my local highstreet so I'll be buying there instead" and then you never have to say any more and they are none the wiser in relation to whether you shop there or not.

rookiemere · 09/11/2021 11:17

It's a nice idea @LookItsMeAgain but the more information you provide, then the more discussion and feelings can be whipped up on it. "Not my sort of thing " closes conversation because even if someone asks you just say "
Just not my sort of thing ". Nobody can force you to sit down and listen to a half hour lecture on the BS principles, what's at stake here is losing a convivial evening with friends.

FallonCarringtonWannabe · 09/11/2021 13:19

They lost my custom when they erased the word women, but ‘men’s’ is still proudly displayed in stores.

CheeseCakeSunflowers · 09/11/2021 13:47

I think I would suggest alternative activities you could do instead at that time on the group chat. Quiz - each couple to prepare 20 questions, Board games, children put on a concert for the adults, watch a family film, you know the group, try to think of something that everyone would enjoy. The response you get will be a good indication of who else is looking for a way out of the pamper party.

fromdownwest · 09/11/2021 14:26

@CheeseCakeSunflowers

I think I would suggest alternative activities you could do instead at that time on the group chat. Quiz - each couple to prepare 20 questions, Board games, children put on a concert for the adults, watch a family film, you know the group, try to think of something that everyone would enjoy. The response you get will be a good indication of who else is looking for a way out of the pamper party.
I'd rather an MLM pitch than a childrens concert on a Friday night! lol
Calendulaaaaa · 09/11/2021 14:39

Can you say a night in is perfect because you've got some Tropic and Younique you want everyone to try?

beachtosunset · 09/11/2021 14:53

@islandbeach

I keep reading posts with BS as bullshit instead of bodyshop but it funnily fits quite well! Grin
@islandbeach

exactly what i was thinking Grin and i'm afraid i wouldve said this to the friend because she is grating on me and im not even going to this weekend. Way to kill a weekend away.

CheeseCakeSunflowers · 09/11/2021 15:16

fromdownwest good point, I withdraw that part of my suggestion.

Fenelladepompom · 09/11/2021 17:45

Surely chat, drink, cook, eat is the order of the day. I'd hate "activities" but not as much as a bullshit pitch.

Justilou1 · 09/11/2021 23:12

I actually agree with BS standing for Bullshit. The percentage of proceeds going to charities was only ever minute, recycling still relies on customers and they still have a shitload of plastic packaging. Their products have always been overpriced and highly perfumed. They’re not animal-tested which IS fabulous, but rely heavily on the “We’re All Natural, ergo better for sensitive skin/environment, etc…” they’re not quite as “All Natural” as they claim, and their fragrances and essential oils are just as likely - if not MORE likely to cause irritation than other mainstream products.

5thnonblonde · 09/11/2021 23:30

This is so rude! Ugh I’d also be dreading the weekend a bit now. She’ll look back on this and cringe I’m sure

LanaDelBoy · 10/11/2021 00:17

@10yearwarranty

Op, I thought of you today and was thrilled to think of all the replies on this thread. I was happily having tea and cake with my friend and she invited me over next week for a little gathering of friends with wine and nibbles. Sounds great I said. Then she said that she'd put on a little "pamper party" for us to make the evening more special. I asked if it was Body Shop and she confirmed that it was. "Ah, in that case I'll pass thanks. I don't enjoy that sort of thing". There were a couple of suggestions that it would be fun, I'd enjoy it, it would be relaxing kind of stuff and I just repeated "Thanks for the invite, but it's not for me". Before leaving I told her to enjoy her evening and I'll arrange a wine and food gathering at mine next time.
Can you go to the Body Shop party but get in there first and rep your amazing Younique products?
MissTrip82 · 10/11/2021 06:56

@RampantIvy

I really don't get why people have such a problem saying the words "No thanks."

Me neither

Really?

You’ve never encountered a socially awkward situation like this? Not once?

You can’t even imagine such a situation arising?

How absolutely extraordinary.

RampantIvy · 10/11/2021 07:34

Really?

Yes, really

You’ve never encountered a socially awkward situation like this? Not once?

No. None of my friends would take the piss like this

You can’t even imagine such a situation arising?

No - see point above

How absolutely extraordinary

No, it isn't really. Maybe I have a "don't take the piss with me face", because I genuinely have never come across a situation like this before. An acqaintance of mine does Temple Spa, and she once rang me to ask if I would host a Temple Spa party. She asked very politely, and I just as politely said no. It wasn't difficult.

RampantIvy · 10/11/2021 07:35

I alos meant to say that people know I'm not a walkover so they don't try and walk over me.

RampantIvy · 10/11/2021 07:35

Also

TaliaB1 · 10/11/2021 08:54

@MissTrip82 Socially awkward or not, you just....say.....no.

It's really that simple.

10yearwarranty · 10/11/2021 08:58

@Aderyn21

10yearwarranty don’t be surprised if your friend turns up to wine and nibbles at your with all her BS stuff to sell!
I'll show her the door if she does Grin We're booked at mine for 9th December so watch this space... If she tries recruiting people she'll be taken out into the kitchen and given the hard word too!