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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:
Mousefinkle · 21/01/2015 16:37

Agreed. When I was a teen their body butters were absolute must haves and they were only £5 a tub as well if I recall correctly. Everyone had their strawberry one. A few girls went as far as getting the entire make up range but I never went for that, just adored the body butters. I decided to buy the gingerbread one a couple of years ago and not only was it more than twice the price, it was shite to boot. It smelt horrid and didnt really work as well as it used to either.

There was a voucher with O2 priority this Christmas and thought I'd have a look to see what I could get... Nothing! They barely sell anything anymore.

Much prefer lush. More of a range, products smell amazing and you know it's ethical unlike loreal owned body shop...

MuddhaOfSuburbia · 21/01/2015 17:57

think it's quite clear from this thread that the BS lost its usp when Anita Roddick flogged it. The whole point to my mind was that it was ethical- not just from an animal testing pov but also helping communities in developing countries...

without that, what has it got over any other skincare/cosmetic brand?

I'm not even sure the 'community trade' tag actually means anything. Surely it would have proper fairtrade accreditation if BS was actually fairly trading?

Skinheadmermaid · 21/01/2015 18:32

Actually, after avoiding the body shop for years, i actually quite like it now- although it is overpriced.
I bought their aloe eye cream the other day and its the only thing that has helped my eye eczema, after trying dozens of other creams its miraculous.
I also use their foundation & it doesn't irritate my sensitive skin that 99% of others do and i quite like their nail varnish that was recently launched.
If it wasn't so expensive i would try more products as they seem to agree with my extremely sensitive skin!
I wish they would do 3 for 2 on their make up so i could try out some things.

Skinheadmermaid · 21/01/2015 18:33

On the other hand i hate lush.

BestIsWest · 21/01/2015 18:35

DD loves the place so I usually buy her stuff from there for Christmas. Even with a voucher for 30% off I winced at the price. And it's all so fruity.

JapaneseMargaret · 21/01/2015 18:52

Jim, if you're going to bump a 6-month-old thread to have a go at doing a company's marketing comms, then you should at least know how to write. It's impossible to take what you say seriously, otherwise.

I, too, am amazed that the BS is still going. Utterly over-priced, and there is so much more choice out there these days.

Body Shop will always be a teenage brand in my mind. I guess they have been trying to segue away from that, not least with the massive price hike. The packaging though, still has that teen vibe, and there's just no way I'm going to pay $35 for their shampoos, for example. I can get Kerestase for those prices.

Lush is even worse. And happy to be corrected, but don't they have some quite dodgy connections with rather extreme animal rights' organisations...?

Pandore · 21/01/2015 19:12

Fuzzy peach
Dewberry
White Musk
Ananya
Bath pearls
Ice blue shampoo
Banana shampoo....

Brings back so many teenage memories! Unfortunately I can't afford to shop there regularly now, which is strange considering I'm a lot better off than I was as a teen Hmm

FatJerseyPostXmasSpud · 21/01/2015 19:14

My memories of Body Shop as a teenager was kiwi lip balm, ananya, strawberry stuff, tangerine stuff, bath pearls...

AlanBstardMP · 21/01/2015 19:17

Yes they do Japanese. I live near a racing town where the Lush store makes a point of putting graphic anti-racing leaflets from one such group in their customers' bags (without asking if you actually want one).

FatJerseyPostXmasSpud · 21/01/2015 19:17

Oh oh and the cucumber face stuff!

marshmallowpies · 21/01/2015 19:24

I remember being so impressed by the refill service - wash out & dry your bottle and you could get a refill for a much cheaper price - but you HAD to wash it really carefully and make sure it was bone dry inside, if there was any residue they wouldn't do the refill.

I once had my bottle of banana conditioner carefully washed and dried for a refill, went into town with my mum and lo and behold, the bottle was wet inside. Mum pipes up 'oh I gave it a quick extra rinse before we came out'..... Grrr!Angry

Not been inside a BS for years now, there is one on my local high at but just can't imagine what is buy there now. used to spend a lot of money in Lush but those days when I had spare money for that are long gone!

Pumpkinette · 21/01/2015 22:37

I still go there but only to buy the rainforest rescue shampoo and conditioner as it's SLS and silicone free.

Dissapointed they have no SLS free shower gels or soap. They also have no silicone free hair products, not to mention a lot of the products still contain parabens.

In my teen years I used to buy the vanilla perfume. I loved it at the time but I imagine now it would be far too sweet. I also miss the bath oil pearls - nowhere sells them anymore. I do miss the old body shop.

Idiotdh · 21/01/2015 22:44

I quite like Body Shop and Lush!
Lots of offers in BS and I used to find it expensive in the 90s too..it wasn't cheap!

EddieStobbart · 22/01/2015 00:09

Lush may have principles but I think it should require the same planning consent as hot food outlets - the place reeks! Just the thought of using anything from there in the bath gives me the Thrush Fears. And how do teenagers afford it? The stuff I've looked at in there is at Clarins prices. I have a tiny bottle of conditioning "hair perfume" (perfume - yes, conditioning - no) which cost about a million pounds.

BS hemp hand cream is good. I did like dewberry though and have a bottle in the cupboard from when they made some the other year...

livingzuid · 22/01/2015 00:37

Body Shop is so overpriced and the body butters just leave my skin feeling over oily and smelling like cheap candy. That said, their Ginger anti dandruff shampoo is the only shampoo I can use that stops terrible flakey scalp (asides from in pregnancy bizarrely enough). I get worried they will discontinue that - it wasn't even out on the shelves around Christmas. I don't understand how they justify the prices - here in NL it is prohibitive at around eleven euro for a large bottle of shampoo and eyeliners around ten to twelve euro. The shop is never that busy.

Lush just makes me want to vom at the sheer pungency of smells outside their shops. I am not a fan. I shop now at Korres which has good prices or similar prices for stuff, but much better quality.

But even though this thread is old, I have enjoyed the trip down memory lane :) dewberry and white musk body spray were absolute must have when at school and there was actually a roaring trade on animal soaps as collectibles for some bizarre reason. And the bath pearls! I coveted them and used to horde pocket money to be able to afford something from Body Shop no matter how small. It was almost a status symbol.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 22/01/2015 00:46

I posted last year on this thread, can't believe I said I liked the Rain Forest shampoo and conditioner, I tried one again a couple of months ago and it was awful, made my hair all lanky.

Lush wins hands down for me now.

AlleyCat11 · 22/01/2015 00:51

Vanilla perfume... Memory Lane. Used to love going in & sniffing all of the perfumes on glass sticks. Felt so posh!

PhaedraIsMyName · 22/01/2015 01:01

Were the spelling mistakes and poor grammar in Jim's post intended to make us think it wasn't a marketing puff?

KellyWright888 · 11/02/2015 21:24

Hi Folks, reading all of your comments. It's quite sad to see that many of you have lost your love for The Body Shop. ??
I too had lost my love of it, due mainly to the price of the goods.
However, I have now started doing The Body Shop at Home, this means that I can now afford goods, and get money off too ??
I get to meet new people, and spend more time with friends too by doing parties for them.
You should maybe give the home party side of it a try. You even get free goods ????

eharris89 · 15/08/2016 23:02

This reply has been deleted

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HoneyBadgers · 15/08/2016 23:41

You only just noticed the post now, a year and a half late? Think you need to improve on your sales skills...

Boogers · 15/08/2016 23:48

eharris in case you haven't rtft the consensus in this thread that was initially started in January 2014 is that the Body Shop is shit.

Oh, and I've reported your post as you're not supposed to flog your catalogue goods on here like you are doing.

ToadsJustFellFromTheSky · 15/08/2016 23:48

When I saw this thread had been bumped back up I was expecting something a bit more exciting.

Disappointing harris, very disappointing.

ToadsJustFellFromTheSky · 15/08/2016 23:50

Whilst we're back on the subject, I'm not really a fan of the Body Shop however I do like their honey bubble bath.

Some of their body butters are nice too but they're quite heavy and I couldn't use them every day.

Other than that, I'm a bit meh about the Body Shop.

Trashbox · 15/08/2016 23:58

Sorry Kelly I prefer Forever Living!

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