The Body Shop - any good these days?

[Frazzledmum77]

I have very fond memories of The Body Shop as a tween/teen in the late 80s/early 90s. When a basket of soaps and pearls was the standard tween birthday gift and Aloe Vera moisturiser was a revolution!

My daughter is about to turn 12 and suddenly super interested in skincare and makeup. I’d like her to go cruelty free/organic/vegan where possible rather than buying crappy stuff full of badness. The Body Shop immediately sprang to mind as somewhere she could go and browse (when shops open again). Especially for skin tone make-up as that’s pretty hard to buy online (she wants a powder foundation, concealer blah blah blah).

My question is, is the Body Shop product range any good these days?

I think that their stuff is really good, but it is a bit overpriced! I do get quite a lot from there though X

Yes I like it. I haven't bought much for ages but I think it's good quality and the often have good deals.

I didn't think it got hate on MN, more Body Shop at Home which is an MLM?

I didn't like the JK thing and don't get me started on 'menstruators' but I do love BS products.
They keep giving me £5/20% off vouchers and free gifts with purchase so the prices are fine.
I love the Moringa, Satsuma, Rose and Strawberry shower gels and body lotions and the soaps are excellent.
The sales technique used to be overbearing but I find the staff really friendly in my local shop and happy to say hi and leave you to browse (*back when you could go into shops!)

Ooh and the White Musk range smell makes me so happy! Reminds me of yesteryear.
They do a good cheap tea tree blemish control moisturiser too, works wonders in my hormonal jaw spots.

I wouldn't class Body Shop as ethical mainly for the MLM aspect.
I would find a large superdrug with a good sized Revalution London stock, my local one has three or four Revalution counters. Their products are cruelty free, the pallets are brilliant, it's all better value than Body Shop make up, their cleansing products are gentle.

Check out Revolution Beauty. They do tons of cruelty free and vegan make up and skincare and are much more purse friendly than the Body Shop

BS Aloe Vera range is great, would be good for a tween as a starter set.

I used to buy from the Body Shop but they lost me over their treatment of JK Rowling. Superdrug have an excellent cruelty free range.

I love bodyshop products and whilst I stand by JK Rowling, they now have a reputation for not using the words women or girls but they do a lot of campaigns specifically for women and girls, using those terms.

It’s just such a far cry from its origins, and nothing special. If they did more in the way of refills so you could bring your bottles back, it would help their USP

@Karwomannghia

I love bodyshop products and whilst I stand by JK Rowling, they now have a reputation for not using the words women or girls but they do a lot of campaigns specifically for women and girls, using those terms.

They might campaign for 'women and girls' and claim to be feminist (hollow bloody laugh), but their actual behaviour towards JKR told me everything I need to know about them. I don't see how it's possible to support JKR and buy from them, I really don't. Plus they were owned by L'Oréal for years, their credibility is entirely shot

Please don't derail the thread.

BS not my cup of tea.

Revolution is good for a young person, glossier is nice but maybe pricey?

Was that a derail? OP specifically mentioned ethics in her op. I think it's relevant if some posters think there is a case for not using BS for ethical reasons 🤷‍♀️.

You'll notice I am not one of those posters btw. I just think there stuff is overpriced and not very nice.

Dd is nearly 14 and loves the BS. She doesn’t buy make up there but loves their body butters, body scrubs, face masks, vitamin E range.
I originally bought her an advent calendar from there 3 years ago so she’s tried a lot of their products as it’s become a Christmas tradition since.
I must admit to loving the banana shampoo and conditioner- reminds me of being a teenager in the 80’s.

Ok no more of that from me.
I love their oils of life gel cleanser, it just makes makeup removal and cleansing a lovely experience. I tried ‘the ordinary’ oils etc before but found they left my face really oily whereas with BS I love the smell, the texture, how it leaves my face. I’ve got their drops of youth stuff and sleeping cream. I react to a lot of face products and they’ve been great. Also love their soaps especially pink grapefruit. Not so keen on the shea hair stuff. It’s sulphate free so I thought I’d get sort of beach waves but I got the worst fluff ever. I’ve bought a £2 banana to try- at least you can buy small bits first! Also love their gel eyeliner, the brush is a great shape and gets it on well for a good shape, just wish the handle was longer.

I like the BS ginger shampoo and the mango body scrub. For make up that's vegan and cruelty free, your daughter might like to try urban decay, OP.

Ps I know a teenager who is obsessed with Lush products

Ooo I love urban decay.

This thread has encouraged me to research the JK controversy in more detail, so thank you for that.

And I got picked up a bit on both my judginess (ok that’s not a word) AND my ethical stance!

All good for personal development!! 😂

Plus I got loads of actual product reviews for BS stuff which is amazing, I wasn’t expecting that either.

Thanks 🙏🏻

@MazekeenSmith

Leaving aside the politics of the body shop - JK, menstruators and the horrific MLM side hustle - of course their products are nice but so expensive and no more likely to be cruelty free than any other range these days (check out L'Oréal connection)

L'Oreal sold The Bodyshop a few years ago.

Leaving aside the JKR issue, I still like some of their stuff. Superdrug have loads of good quality, excellent value cruelty free skincare and make up. Also, consider looking in M and S. Their own brands are cruelty free.

Tbh whenever I go by the body shop I usually pick up some of their lotion. Partly because I really like it and partly because I can't abide the MN stance on trans issues, so I love to support the brands they hate.

I don't know if I would get Bodyshop for a teen though because it's not as cool as it was and it is expensive. You may as well start her with something cheaper or something her demographic are using.

Other posters have recommended Revolution and I really recommend their products, lots of really good quality products for the price and lots of choice/quite trend led and probably appealing to teens. Lots of vegan options I think.

They have 3 for 2 across all full price items atm too.

@SionnachRua

Tbh whenever I go by the body shop I usually pick up some of their lotion. Partly because I really like it and partly because I can't abide the MN stance on trans issues, so I love to support the brands they hate.

I don't know if I would get Bodyshop for a teen though because it's not as cool as it was and it is expensive. You may as well start her with something cheaper or something her demographic are using.

This

@RememberWhenWe

I don't know anyone who buys from them after the way they behaved towards J K Rowling. Holland and Barrett have a good range of brands.

This. They won't get any custom from me again. H & B have some nice stuff. I had the advent calendar and would be more than happy to have the turmeric shower gel again, probably a similar price point, or slightly less.