Is anyone else just finished with The Body Shop?

[QuimReaper]

I "rediscovered" TBS about 5 years ago (having had them firmly pegged in my head as '90s purveyors of elephant-shaped soaps and "bath pearls") and found I really liked their stuff, have used them pretty consistently since then. I order several times a year, whenever they have a good offer on (which recently is all the time - as another poster put it earlier this year, soon they'll be paying us to use their products. Not a good omen) and buy people presents from there.

However, in the last year or so they have:

• Changed the eyebrow pencil I liked from a good stiff one to a useless smudgy crayon which literally looks like you've finger-painted your brows on with clay, and half the pencil is this gold "highlighter" thing which is a waste as it gets used at about 10% the rate of the eyebrow bit
• Discontinued my favourite Honey & Oat face mask, which they always touted as an OMG-bestseller and were frequently sold out of, until they abruptly discontinued it to usher in an inferior and much more expensive product
• Discontinued the Rainforest Volume shampoo & conditioner which I used to buy.

But the most recent and weirdest thing they've done is to the plain flannel headbands. I accidentally left mine in a hotel bathroom so nipped into my nearest Body Shop to buy a replacement, and found that they've changed it so that it's a bizarre, tiny little thing with no stretch, so you more or less break your nose and garrotte yourself trying to get it over your head That's such a basic product to get wrong, it suggests to me that they literally don't care any more. I was so cross about the headband that I actually marched it back into the store the next day for my £4 back on a matter of principle, and the shop staff passed it around amongst themselves in disbelief at the change. One of them was so convinced it must be a mistake that she took another one from the shelf out of its packet, but of course it was the same.

It's not even that I'm boycotting them (although I am) so much as that I've literally run out of products to buy from them. Every single thing I was loyal to has been changed or discontinued, the only thing left in their whole offering which appeals to me is shower gel, which I can get absolutely anywhere.

Is it just me?

I like the BS and think they have lots of good products but their pricing is out of whack with who they are. They're not a cool or luxury brand, the only marketing aspect really going for them was their ethical credentials but they've blown that.

I hope they have sold to a more ethical owner and can repair their reputation and bring down prices. Plus, I also agree they should call off the staff who pounce on you instore. I like to potter about and touch and smell stuff, leave me in peace.

If the staff do pounce it's probably been because they're told to approach customers by management, it wouldn't be to do with them. People complain about overzealous store staff all the time on MN so it can't be just a Body Shop thing.
And they are being sold to a much more ethical non animal testing company now.

I liked them when Anita Roddick was in charge. I am still nostalgic for the green wooden shelves and the glass bottles of pure fragrance oils you could add to almost anything.
But for me the thing TBS did I could never quite forgive them for was a long time ago when they discontinued Wood Musk and to this day have never brought it back, though White Musk carried on and various other Musk perfumes flourished.
I loved it and then my sister loved it and we bought as many bottles as we could and eeked them out - there's even a FB page for Wood Musk lovers that I joined which is rather sad of me I know.

I worked for the body shop for 7 years. During that time, I had the worst skin of my life! Within months of leaving/stopping slapping all their products on my face, my skin was so much better.
The pressure they put on staff is immense. You need to sell a certain amount of make-up/skin care. Yes you might have done a £300 sale but if it was body care products then they'd be asking why you hadn't pushed make up & skincare. They would make you feel like shit if you didn't sell enough loyalty cards & we had set scripts to follow with customers that I found completely overbearing.

We also had to wear 10 pieces of visible make up each shift.

From when I started (when they played Amazon rainforest sounds) to when I left (after the L'Oreal takeaway), it just became more & more money grabbing.

But fuck me, dewberry smelt amazing!!

I love the Body Shop! Their Vitamin E skin care range is my favourite. I recently had a terrible allergic reaction to a face mask from an upmarket brand and their Aloe Vera range has really sorted my skin out and got rid of the awful dry, red patches I was left with.
I also love the Fuji Green Tea body and hair products - love the smell as its so clean and fresh. I heard a rumour it was being discontinued so tweeted them to ask - they said no but I stocked up anyway.
I never pay full price - there is always a voucher code for at least 30% off and you can get cash back through Quidco too.
I don't work for them or anything! I just find that their products really suit my sensitive skin.

I dip in and out, I used a lot of their stuff when I was younger (80s/90s) though I never could bear Dewberry or White Musk. I find the skincare ranges and displays huge and confusing, also the offers instore, so I often go in for a browse and try things but don't buy much. I still use an old Lipscuff that I've had for years, yet to find anything better for dry lips (the Lush pots aren't a patch on it). The only product I use regularly is the ginger shampoo, but I use Lush conditioner with it.

They've discontinued my favourite Blue Cornflower scrub mask. Bastards! I've used it since 1993 ffs!

I buy the shea butter body cream, mango/coconut/shea butter shower gels and body scrubs. Only ever in bulk with a 40% discount code! Oh and only ever online because their staff are a bit too overzealous for my liking!

Oh I forgot their lip tint - like a sharpie fir your lips. Great stuff.

I loved the gritty rice bran face scrub they sold in the 80s - about 10 years ago I discovered Dermalogica & their Daily Microfoliant is similar but £££.

I was never a fan of White Musk in the 80s but loved the Samarkand perfume oil.

I like their bb cream. Thats it.

Good grief, I didn't expect so many replies!

There's a real trend of them discontinuing products. I'm surprised it's been going on so long. Obviously I know brands need to keep introducing new products and old ones had to go to make room, but I worked in marketing for donkey's years and you simply don't discontinue (or even fuck with) a product which is popular - that's what keeps customers coming back There's always the odd product which isn't a big seller but a few people love and if you're that person then bad luck, but for them to have discontinued or changed beyond repair every single thing I used to put in my basket can't be chance.

I do still use their Tea Tree face mask come to think of it, but come on- of all the utterly generic products, tea tree - you can get that practically anywhere. If Body Shop went bust tomorrow I probably wouldn't notice for about a year, and then I'd just shrug and go elsewhere. Shame, because a year or so ago I'd have been hit hard if they vanished.

Whilst I've got you all, can you tell me where to get a new headband?! They're proving curiously elusive - I like them quite loose and stretchy, rather than the velcro ones. Any tips?

Also WORK [shocj] TEN pieces of visible makeup?! I don't use 10 pieces of makeup full stop! And does "visible" even include something like concealer? (Presumably not, that'd defeat the object!) Foundation, blush, lipstick, eyeshadow, mascara, eyebrow pencil... What else is there?! Highlighter I guess?

Nail varnish? I can't think if much more.

Yeah, a different colour of nail varnish on each nail ought to meet the 10 items criterion.

Nail varnish wasn't allowed & no, concealer & foundation wasn't counted! Hence why I struggled with terrible acne for 7 years.
Plus you had to be at work 15 minutes early (unpaid) to slap it all on. Was honestly like hosing mud off a truck trying to remove my make up each night!

I stopped buying years ago. Then at Xmas was staying away and forgot shampoo, they were open so popped in and asked what shampoo was paraben and also sls free. None it turns out. What's the point of them?

I use Jason stuff now, online only I think.

What's the point of them?

I think TBS are surfing on a very old reputation, which is no longer valid. (Clark's kids shoes too. )

Am amazed they're still in business really. No USP any more. Loved it when I was a teenager, but it's nothing special now, mostly products full of undesirable ingredients and grossly overpriced for what it is.

Quim I use a headband from an outdoor shop. One of those bandana sort of things that apparently has multiple uses (scarf, headband, ninja mask etc) that I bought half price sale on a poorly planned trip to Oban in winter. Keeping your hair off your face while putting on makeup was not one of the specified uses but it does the trick and is not tight so doesn't mess my hair either.

If they brought back their carrot facial moisturiser I'd be a faithful customer til the day I die. Or even their old hemp lip balm in the metal tube or tin. The latest offerings are just pants.

They don't even sell cocoa butter anymore!

I used to like TBS but agree that it has lost its way.... lush has taken the younger market completely. I don't even bother going in anymore and i used to be there every week at a teen. Buying my bath pearls and strawberry lip butter

Hmm...
I use their camomile cleansing balm regularly and like it, though I'm sure I could find an equivalent elsewhere. I'm not wedded to it.

I AM wedded to the rainforest leave in conditioner though.

The staff in my local branch aren't aggressive though, I don't mind goi g in there for stuff. I really like the blue foot pumice, though I bought that so long ago it's probably changed by now!

I got a green tea set for a gift recently and thought I liked it at first but am now unconvinced. It's a bit of a lingerer.

Oh yes, I forgot to say - the honey lip balm mention above by a PP would get me back in for sure!

I haven't read the whole thread, but I have seen this literally moments after googling "homemade body shop Deep Sleep spray". It was such a lovely smell and really seemed to work. There is a similar one on the market now but it's quite expensive. Oh well...