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Original poster

What has happened to Body Shop?

364 replies

puddingsforsandy · 05/01/2014 14:51

Yes I know it was sold off a long time ago but it's unrecognisable in terms of products and prices. Half of the stuff I used to buy years ago like their body butter and perfume oil have really gone up in price. The perfume oil must have changed ingredients as the smell is so weak compared to a few years ago. Their makeup is Mac prices.

The sale stuff are rubbish and still expensive.

Does anyone here still shop there?

OP posts:
RandomNPC · 20/01/2015 23:16

I remember they used to do a range called Mostly Men. It was rank.
Jim, you wouldn't be a shill now, would you?

YANAgurl1973 · 20/01/2015 23:16

I was a huge body shop fan until they discontinued all my fav products :(

StrawberryTot · 20/01/2015 23:39

My local body shop has closed down. However it's no skin off my nose as I don't shop there, I'm a Lush girl Smile

Mabelface · 20/01/2015 23:47

O stopped shopping there as soon as Anita Roddik sold out to L'Oréal

TheNewStatesman · 21/01/2015 02:41

Like others, I used to love Body Shop, but most of the ones I see are half-empty and have people who follow you around trying to interest you in special offers. I hate that, sorry.

If I want reasonably priced stuff that works, I go to Boots and get their own brand things. If I want something a bit special and/or a gift, I go to Lush, Occitane or an independent business.

ShouldiWork · 21/01/2015 04:13

I have been in there twice recently. Once to buy a present for DD friend birthday (a bit meh) - and once to take 12 yo DD in to browse nice smellies. There wasn't anything that she found appealing, even with me underwriting the prices. I was disappointed that it was no longer a fun-for-teens type outfit.

londonrach · 21/01/2015 07:08

People go into lush. The smell in the street is awful i cant manage getting into the shop. Agree re the body shop. Cant remember when i used to go in. I save and buy the Angelia face cream from occitane. Its amazing and with offers not that bad.

ShouldiWork · 21/01/2015 11:02

But Lush is a lot of fun. It's a staple treat/gift for the afore-mentioned near teen DD and her friends. I don't think it makes them cleaner - but the whizz-pop noveltyness of them makes them feel special (whereas bodyshop stuff isn't clearly differentiated from what I might slip into my basket during the weekly shop in Tesco).

ChickyEgg · 21/01/2015 11:56

I didn't realise that some of the shops are franchises. I only knew when I got a Body Shop gift card for Christmas and it was refused as this particular franchise didn't take them.

Roonerspism · 21/01/2015 11:59

Their hemp body butter is AMAZING.

It's the only thing to help DD's eczema.

I rather like some of their makeup too.

JenniferGovernment · 21/01/2015 12:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chanie44 · 21/01/2015 13:05

Actually, I quite like the Body Shop.

I get my skincare from there. Yes, it is expensive, but there is always an offer floating around.

My faves
Rainforest shampoo and conditioner (curly girl method)
Aloe face wash, serum and moisturiser
Hemp handcream

SuperFlyHigh · 21/01/2015 13:31

I must admit I do go in there to sometimes buy stocking fillers and the odd present for people like brother's MIL (which I try to test instore to make sure it's not rubbish!).

My mum loves the hemp hand cream and they had a lip butter that was quite good (nut).

I got a Body Shop card at Christmas and got a Wonderblur, 2 shower gels (both on sale, a mint one I think and a chocolate one) and a tea tree oil stick. Didn't get much change out of £30 card and I bought the Love Body Shop savings card too as mine had just run out. I was shocked that the shower gel had a broken lid (badly) - found this out when I got home that the SA hadn't even bothered to change for me and also how little I got for my £30 (and with 2 items on sale).

I also find their gift sets and other items to be vastly overpriced for what they are £8 for a Camomile Eye Make Up Remover and I'm not sure if it's tested on animals/derived from animals.

I am also an 80's Body Shop girl and recall Japanese Kabuki Washing Grains, great clear soaps (not the same now), Fuzzy Peach, animal soaps etc... I'm sure a lot of it has changed. My chocolate shower gel I bought is just ok, nothing special, can get similar in Boots for cheaper.

squoosh · 21/01/2015 13:44

I miss the principled Body Shop of my teenage years but I still buy some staples from their website, nutriganics oil cleanser, serum in oil, vitamin e night cream and a couple of other things. They have monthly 40% sales so it's actually really good value.

JoffreyBaratheon · 21/01/2015 14:31

Another one who stopped shopping there when it was sold as I thought the company who bought it did animal testing, even if only in the past, I wouldn't want to shop there... The only things I was buying any more were the hemp body butter and hand cream. Coincidentally, I went in there last week having a sudden urge for hemp hand cream but nothing hemp related was in the sale.

We have one in the designer outlet near us that sells end of line stuff, I think and it was always considerably cheaper but have only ventured in maybe once a year, and would only buy the hemp stuff I liked if further reduced which isn't often.

I use Lush now and have for a few years made my own products too. I used to buy a lot in Culpepper's, but they were bought out by Neal's Yard so are now too expensive so I buy a lot of base oils etc online and some essential oils online and some from Holland & Barrett when they have an offer on.

ToffeeCaramel · 21/01/2015 14:41

I still like some of their stuff. I like the raspberry body wash and the Chocomania body wash which smell lovely and I also use the cocoa butter lotion and banana conditioner. Yum.

MEgirl · 21/01/2015 14:43

I haven't been in a Body Shop since they were sold because of the Nestle link. Our local store has closed recently. The closest one is now Brent Cross.

I can't stand Lush. Have to hold my breath (can hear DD reminding me in my head) every time I walk past a store as the smell makes me start to cough, much the same way as cleaning chemicals do.

squoosh · 21/01/2015 14:44

If there are Body Shop products you like but think are overpriced sign up to their website. They send monthly emails with 40% off discount codes.

I wouldn't dream of paying full price for any of their stuff but do stock up when it's on sale.

ToffeeCaramel · 21/01/2015 14:45

I like Lush too

goodasitgets · 21/01/2015 15:02

Can I make a recommendation?!
Posh brats does lovely stuff. I was a tester for their Oceanus face cream and it's really really lovely. No reaction on my sensitive skin and it's decently priced
For scrubs I use enchanted bath and body

JoffreyBaratheon · 21/01/2015 15:22

I remember 20 years ago going to Boulder, Colorado and suddenly seeing that most familiar of sights - a Body Shop on the main drag. I was in the US as a student so very poor. We went in for the LOLs and everything was double the price it was in England! So we came out emptyhanded. It was very nostalgic for three homesick Brits, just walking in and smelling the familiar Body Shop smell...

Shame it was sold and went downhill. I used to love the perfumes, too. Now the main thing I get in Lush are the perfumes.

Jackieharris · 21/01/2015 15:25

I mourn the old body shop too.

Anita Roddick was such an inspiration.

squoosh · 21/01/2015 15:28

Till she betrayed all her principles!

Still surprised by that.

aliciasmama · 21/01/2015 15:31

Yes I agree with RedHelens comment above my 14 year old is exactly the same about Lush as I was about the Body Shop.

jollygoodthen · 21/01/2015 16:20

Speaking of principles, according to Wikipedia "Roddick copied the name, concept and original brochures from the original Body Shop, which was started in San Francisco and had three stores when Roddick visited the Bay area in the early 1970s. Roddick's original brochures were word-for-word copies of material produced by the San Francisco-based Body Shop. When Roddick decided to expand her multinational corporation into the United States, she bought the rights to the Body Shop name from the original shop owners in exchange for a confidentiality agreement." Interesting article here [Daily Mail, which I know some people boycott out of principle].