It was announced on Friday that The Body Shop has been rescued from administration, having been acquired by the investment firm Auréa. It is excellent news for the British beauty giant, which was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick; as a pioneer of ethical beauty, The Body Shop is in more than 70 countries around the world and employs 1,300 people in 133 stores in the UK.
The company has always championed affordable, effective beauty. Its offering has become particularly relevant over the past decade, which has seen a large rise in the number of high-end luxury skincare and make-up brands competing in its market space.
Now that we know The Body Shop will remain on our high streets, it is time to discover (or re-discover) some of the retailer’s best products. Which would a beauty editor recommend from the shelves of the original clean, green beauty brand?
Here’s our selection...
1. Body Butters, £19
Chances are, you’ve tried one of the 11 body butters by The Body Shop over the past few decades – it is one of the store’s best-selling lines. Rich, decadent butters encased in a sustainable tin casing, the product hydrates the skin for an impressive 96-plus hours – they’ve tested it – but they also support many fairtrade initiatives to harvest the ingredients. Most notably, the Shea Butter (£19) supports the Tungteiya Women’s Association in northern Ghana.
2. Ginger Anti-dandruff Shampoo, £10
One bottle of Ginger Anti-dandruff Shampoo is sold every nine seconds worldwide, and it’s no surprise – this £10 shampoo is clinically proven to increase hair density in three months. It first appeared on shelves in the early 1990s and has since become the brand’s best-selling haircare product. There’s a conditioner and hair serum to match now, too.
3. Edelweiss Daily Serum Concentrate, £32
One of the pricier products from The Body Shop, this serum is its version of the “anti-ageing” products you’ll find at other retailers (though of course they don’t call it that). It’s very good. Based on the resilient properties of the edelweiss plant, this powerful antioxidant can help to increase levels of hydration in the skin and give it more bounce. Former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm is a fan.
4. Camomile Cleansing Butter, £12
Cleansing balms have become big news in skincare over the past five years, but they are often pricey. This one bucks the trend: it’s not only effective and nourishing on the skin, but it comes in a sizeable tin and costs only £12. It’s one of the brand’s best-selling products – one sells every 14 seconds globally. Pleasingly, the chamomile is harvested sustainably in Norfolk.
5. White Musk Eau de Toilette, £20 for 30ml
For many teenagers in the 1990s, this was the first fragrance they would discover on the high street. I was one of them. It was love at first sniff, and even one whiff of it now takes me back to that era. It remains an excellent formulation and one of the best musks on the market.
6. Vitamin E Moisture Day Cream, £18
Part of Anita Roddick’s original product offering in the 1970s, vitamin E is a beautifully simple and effective moisturiser for all skin types and perfect for all ages. This is proof that you don’t need to spend hundreds of pounds on “It” creams to get an effective level of hydration in the skin as well as a radiant glow.
7. Hemp Hand Protector, £8
If you’ve got dry skin on your hands, this is one of the most effective hand creams on the market. The balm is moisturising without leaving a greasy film on the skin. Hemp is known to work wonders on dry skin, but when it first launched in France, police raided Body Shop stores believing they were using illegal cannabis plants. It is in fact perfectly safe and this hand cream alone has a loyal cult following.
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