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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:
HorsePetal · 05/01/2014 20:08

The last time I visited a Body Shop I came out shimmering in glittery shite.

The shop assistant obviously thought that my 43 year old skin needed a glittery bronzer that was 2 shades darker than my natural skin tone.

Never been back.

I'm surprised that their target market are the John Lewis 'types'.

I can't see the brand appealing to the middle classes at all. They really seem to have lost their way IMO and I'm surprised that they are still in business.

thisismyYuleTimenickname · 05/01/2014 20:12

They really seem to have lost their way IMO and I'm surprised that they are still in business.

Yes, this.

ddubsgirl · 05/01/2014 20:17

bath pearls I remember them lol! still love white musk only thing I buy or get as a xmas pressie from body shop

Pixel · 05/01/2014 20:18

flippinada funnily enough one of the reasons I stopped going into The Bodyshop years ago was because the staff pounced as soon as you went in the door! In the end I would psyche myself up to go in if I wanted a pressie for someone but just wouldn't bother if I only wanted to browse. I always thought they were quite expensive so felt bad only buying a 'small' thing with the assistant breathing down my neck.

I used to like the japanese washing grains (think they were ground beans or something?) and the peppermint foot lotion. They also had a range for mums and babies that was great to make up into a basket for spending the office whip-round if someone was going on maternity leave.

I haven't been in a store for many years now but my neighbour had a 'party' before Christmas that I felt duty-bound to go to. Thought at least I could do a little Christmas shopping but it was really hard to find anything in my price range. Also we had to do an 'ice-breaking' game (which is always grim) where we had to smell body butters and guess the fragrance. I honestly couldn't have told you what most of them were, even with sneaky looks at the catalogue for cheating inspiration, and I wasn't the only one. In the end I bought a couple of little gift boxes (well you have to don't you) which was a swift £20. I think the cheapest item for men was about £30 or something ridiculous.

HOMEQCRICH · 05/01/2014 20:32

Oh memory lane! Were the japanese wash grain thingys the stuff that came in a shaky talc style container?

Dumpylump · 05/01/2014 20:38

I worked in The Body Shop when it was still owned by Anita, and had the perfume oil bar, and we used to refill customers bottles, and we ran campaigns in the shop window......sigh.
I barely recognise the store now. Sad
I used to reek of vanilla all the time.

hugoagogo · 05/01/2014 20:42

It's so sad. I have so many fond memories of me and my friends spending hours in the davy place body shop, sniffing everything in there and shouting 'allo Vera' at each other. Blush For about 15 years I used carrot moisturiser exclusively.

Now everything smells so fake, there is nothing different or lovely there at all anymore.

Don't get me started on lush- I loved the cosmetics to go catalogue in the early nineties and lush shops had some nice things about 8-10 years ago.

Now everything I ever liked has been discontinued and you cannot look around the shop without being accosted by sales people. I was looking for some luxurious bath products a week or so ago and went in for the first time in a couple of years- where is the range? Hardly any choice at all- I didn't get anything.

I'm another one who'd like to know where to shop now.

ouryve · 05/01/2014 20:44

Well, if they're targeting John Lewis types, then the John Lewis types in Durham must still be going to John Lewis. I can't remember the last time I walked past that store and saw anyone in there. They've certainly done a good job of alienating student types, since I see more students in Wilko or Savers stocking up on toiletries.

flippinada · 05/01/2014 20:54

Pixel maybe it depends on the individual shops? I've never felt pestered in there the way I did in Lush.

I do agree that a lot of the stuff is overpriced. And am a bit baffled by the obsession with body butter.

Just thought of something else they do which I like, decent quality make up brushes.

Hegsy · 05/01/2014 20:56

I use them for the banana shampoo and conditioner £4.50 a bottle Shock but it's the only thing that helps my flakey scalp

Caitlin17 · 05/01/2014 20:57

So far as targeting John Lewis types I think they're on a hiding to nothing. As you get older there are things you do or say and think " oh blast I'm so old now" and other things, like shopping in John Lewis and listening to Radio 4 and you think" I'm a proper grown up now"

YourMaNoBraBackOfMyCar · 05/01/2014 21:00

I only ever go in for Lipscuff. Never found a product to match up to it anywhere else.

persimmon · 05/01/2014 21:03

Carrot oil - yes. It was the only thing that really helped my spotty-yet-sensitive skin, I used it as a face mak overnight and my zits virtually disappeared (for a while). reading this thread has made me realise just how much time I must have spent in the BS, and how much I miss it.

CiderBomb · 05/01/2014 21:06

I remember the bath pearls and the animal shaped soaps! I used to love squeezing the bath pearls until all the gooey stuff came out.

My local Body Shop is always empty, I'm surprised they are still in business actually. I can't remember the last time I went in there, I stopped mainly because the staff were bloody nuisance and wouldn't leave you alone.

southeastastra · 05/01/2014 21:07

you lot who have 'not been in there for years' are hardly good judges of the shop are you!

southeastastra · 05/01/2014 21:08

lol at the john lewis connections, snootastic.

flippinada · 05/01/2014 21:09

Hmmm, I wonder why shops adopt this awful pestering tactic? I suppose it must work but can't figure out why.

scottishmummy · 05/01/2014 21:12

Haven't went In body shop in years

RoseLavenderBlue · 05/01/2014 21:17

I used to buy the Beech lip liner for years, which was always brilliant, then the last one I bought was just rubbish - hard and faint, practically no colour coming out. I complained by email but just got a generic reply.

I also used to love the Japanese washing grains too, and something called Viennese chalk, anyone remember that? I had always been a big BS fan since a teenager but really got annoyed at them for swapping their concealer from a lipstick style to a pencil one, which means you have to buy the special pencil sharpener for it as well, and you end up wasting so much of it when sharpening the pencil. Make-up very expensive. Do like the pink grapefruit shower gel which is often on offer, and my husband swears by the hemp hand cream.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 05/01/2014 21:23

I used to be a big fan too, but limit myself to very few things now and haven't bought anything for about a year, so not sure if these are still around, but I love the Rainforest Shampoos and Conditioners, also the Earth Lovers Shower gels. Also agree that Lipscuff is unique and well worth the money. I also like the little dab on Tea tree gel for spots. I used to hate getting pounced on in there, but now I shop in Lush much more regularly I love talking to the staff, they are so helpful and knowledgeable. Lots of generous samples too.

BerniceBroadside · 05/01/2014 21:40

It's interesting that they're opening lots of shops in SE Asia as the only people I ever see in TBS are groups of SE Asian students.

I miss the eighties/nineties version. Cheap & cheerful and reasonably environmentally friendly. Shop was always rammed on Saturdays. It's far too expensive and quite shit these days.

Getting a basket made up used to be a fantastic treat. I wouldn't thank you for one from the current range.

Lorialet · 05/01/2014 21:40

They don't do any of my faves any more and I don't like the packaging. I used to love all the little bottles with their green labels (think that was in the 80's though). Hair salad, chamomile cleanser, tangerine glycerine soap and strawberry body shampoo...those were the days! I quite like Neals Yard now.

harriet247 · 05/01/2014 21:46

Miss the animal soap :(

2rebecca · 05/01/2014 22:25

I used to stop there because I liked their recycling ethos with everything in similar bottles with green labels and cheap refils. The recycling gradually dwindled down and stopped as they got more successful and they changed their products too often for my liking, ditching products I liked like birch shampoo and having too many fruit smelling products. I do like their body butters, but only get them on special offer.

AmberLeaf · 05/01/2014 22:33

Ooh yeah,the hamperbaskets!

I got a massive one for my 16th from a friend of my Mums, it was amazing!

Someone asked about the japanese washing grains, yes they were in a talcy sort of bottle/tub.