I’ve had a love affair with The Body Shop’s amazing products for along time. I think the first time I reviewed anything from this amazing company was back in 1998. Then, as now, one of the things that has distinguished the company is their dedication to important causes. And The Body Shop championed all natural products way before people really rallied around concepts such as all natural, organic, and fair trade ingredients.
The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by a social and environmental activist, Dame Anita Roddick, on the basis of being a business model of positive social change. The company has campaigned for numerous causes, ranging from the protection of whales and rainforests, to stopping human trafficking, promoting self-esteem, ending domestic violence, and HIV and AIDS. For 25 years, The Body Shop has also championed its Community Trade program, an initiative dedicated to providing a fair deal to suppliers in some of the poorest areas of the world.
Times have changed a lot since 1976, but the basic principles, vision and philosophy of the brand, haven’t. However, a few weeks ago editors were invited to witness a sneak peek of a new Pulse Store concept that The Body Shop is Rolling out, plus a new, cruelty-free makeup collection, new packaging, and new products. All have been launched, or soon will be, this Summer.
The idea of the Pulse stores is a global concept that is implemented locally, in the individual, unique communities in which the stores are located. The Pulse concept is one that encourages even more interaction between products, The Body Shop staff, and consumer. While each Pulse store will have the same, impressive Body Shop products (inspired by Nature), the individual stores will, as the press literature describes it: “capture the imagination of customers to actively participate in The Body Shop community, aiming to make the world a better place. Pulse is where activism, beauty and community collide!” 
The Pulse stores will also feature welcome carts in the front of the stores, stacked with colorful Body Shop products and samples that say things like “Try me” ; “Smell me” and ‘Love me. ” And modern, LED strips will replace old-style fluorescent lights to reduce energy consumption (up to25%* compared to regular stores). FSC wood will be used that is responsibly sourced, and The Body Shop will be going Wood Positive with their paper and cardboard‐based packaging. This means that the company will plant more trees than they use to create the packaging in the first place!
But that’s just the outer image. To accomplish the community interaction goals of Pulse, there will be “Story Selling Tables” set up that encourage consumers to try all the products. Come, investigate! play, and purchase is the idea. Since The Body Shop is all about Beauty, every Pulse store will have dedicated Makeup Artist and Skincare Experts. Another new feature is the free makeover, available at the new Story Selling Tables. The tables will be situated right in the middle of each store, and will display the finest & most popular products so that you can consumers can do their own sampling, or tree a free make-over. Consumers can ask sales associate any questions they might have about the products, such as how to wear it, suggested colors, etc. New too, is re-vamped packaging with 100% recyclable tubs and colorful labels that focus on the star ingredient, inside.
Each Pulse store will also feature a community bulletin board with news on The Body’s Shop’s global campaign, posters and information. There will also be a “Values Wall” to help convey the story of The Body Shop’s values in words and pictures. The staff of The Body Shop wants to, and is expected to participate in volunteer activities. Those good works will be broadcast as well in photos and so forth. The local non-profits that the volunteers assist, will also be invited in to leave information and visit to talk to consumers about their various causes. And, since
Lily Cole Cruelty Free Makeup Collection: Along with the launch of the Pulse Stores, there are some new products collections from The Body Shop to share with you, including a new, limited edition Lily Cole Makeup collection. Lily Cole is an activist, model and actor. The young woman with flaming red hair apparently is very involved with the humanitarian and environmental causes and has been chosen at The Body’s Shop new brand advocate. She says that her personal values are: to be be aware, to be kind, to be honest, to make informed choices. Those sound good, don’t they?
The Lily Cole makeup collection is limited edition, and cruelty-free, but The Body Shop has always been against animal testing. All the products are also vegetarian. The makeup products contain no bug shell extract to color the product, and no shellfish (the shimmer products are made from mineral mica, and the binding agents are made from natural vegetable materials instead of crushed shellfish). Even the brushes spare the goats their hair, since they’re all made of artificial hair instead of goat hair.
Editors got a chance to view the collection, and try some of the products, but first, we were treated to a demonstration of a day to evening look perfect for Summer, from The Body Shop’s Makeup Artist, Chase Aston. He is always so informative and fun to watch! He demonstrated an easy fast, and light look, using the Lily Cole collection. He began by using the Lily Cole Shimmer Cubes Palette #24: Think Pink, Live Lilac, Go Violet and Tint it Pink. He used the lightest pink shade on the model’s eyes, and then smoked them out with a deeper lilac, for evening. It looked really lovely on the model, but when I asked if this amount of shimmer was going to work on “more mature” skin, he said yes, but not to apply it over your entire eye past your lid if you have hooded or aging eyes. For the face, he applied the Pearl Radiance Primer, with a brush. No foundation is necessary (but the model was young with great skin. You might still want to add a tinted moisturizer or a light foundation to this look). And of course, use SPF before everything else, or a product that has SPF in it.
Of all the products Chase used, the one he seemed most excited about was the Lip & Cheek Dome, fun, creamy gels done up in a dome, so all you have to do is smooth them directly on cheeks and lips. Check them out in the photo, below. Chase used both colors in the model’s cheeks: Pinch Me Pink and Crazy For Coral. Both colors look bright in the containers, but very sheer on the skin. He also added a bit more glow and a hint of pink, thanks to Puff on Radiance. This half pink, half clear jar of pink shimmer pearls, topped inside with a little girly puff, is just so much fun to use! Be sure to keep it away from little children and pets, because they are loose and tempting to play with!
Finally, since everyone loves squeeze tubes of shiny, shimmery lip gloss, Chase applied a sheer, pink, High Shine Lip Treatment on the model’s lips. It is really all she needed, since the focus was on her eyes, but again, if you feel you need more color, slick your glosses on over a favorite lip color.
…and, speaking of lip color, Chase had just enough time to tell us about a Fall lip trend that is challenging to pull off, but a “must-have” : the mulberry lip. To much of this color, and you’ll look ‘goth,” and if it’s too sheer, it’s not going to give you the trend. He suggested the best way to get a mulberry lip that actually looks good, is to use a bronze-y warm brown lipstick from The Body Shop, along with a red one.
The Lily Cole Cruelty Free Makeup Collection is available now. Here’s a lineup for the collection:
When it’s time to apply powders and foundation, you need a nice set of brushes. One that’s great for travel is the Mini Brush Set ($19.00) featuring four, cruelty-free brushes for cheeks, eyes and lips, in a mirrored wallet. You get a blusher brush, eyeshadow brush, slanted brush and lipstick/concealer brush
Liquid Eye Liner ($13.50) in deep, dramatic violet, stands on it’s own, or adds drama to other eye looks. It is easy to apply with a fine tipped felt applicator, and it won’t smudge or fade.
Shimmer Cubes ($22.00) are clever squares of solid, shimmery powder. Pick one, two or more and create your own favorite looks, The latest cubes come in a range of iridescent pinks and lilacs: Think Pink, Live Lilac, Go Violet and Tint It Pink. These are very shimmery and therefore people who wear contact lenses might think they have the pas them by, but a nice surprise is that these are suitable for contact lens wearers. There is also a Shimmer Cube #06 with more Earthy shades of Marshmallow, Choc Chip, Honeycomb, and Dark Chocolate.
Get a natural glow with an application of Pearl Radiance Primer ($22.00). The light-diffusing little pearls infused in a pump bottle, give skin a glow, not a shine. Use them before you use your foundation or just on its own. In just one step, your skin is hydrated and your complexion perfected.
There’s a fun product called Puff On Radiance ($22.00) that leaves a very sheer, pink toned, luminescent finish on your skin. Little balls of pink color are fun to play with (the round container reminds me of a Bingo picker). Buff it on your face, cheeks and décolletage
Mini-Shine Lip Glosses ($5.00) arrive in mini-sized squeeze tubes ready to add shiny gloss to your lips, with a tiny but of fruity flavor. Wear them as-is, or slick them over your favorite lip color for more sexy volume, shine and drama. Available in Go Pink, Go Wild, Go Play, and Go Naked
Finally, beauty presentation over, we got a chance to view and try some of the re-packaged Body Butters, and new Body Mists, and Dry Oils. At just $19.00for a 6.75 oz. tub of Body Butter, these are really a good value. In fact, according to The Body Shop, one of these sells every two seconds. They’re available in 7 different fragrances: shea, coconut, strawberry, moringa, satsuma, mango, and lemon. The body butters are still packed with good-for-your-skin, fair trade, natural ingredients, but the packaging has gotten an update. The new containers feature really nice photography focusing on a single natural ingredient inside (e.g. lemon), fewer words and 100% recyclable packaging.
Also new and great for the Summer months when skin can get really dry, are the new Body Shop Dry Oils ($14.00 3.3 fl. oz.). When editors heard the word “Oil” they got a bit nervous, but DRY oil 
products are not to be confused with baby oil, or other sticky, greasy oils that stain your clothes and need to be applied carefully (or on your salad). These new dry oils are lightly scented, and come in clear plastic bottles with gold flip-top caps. They absorb into your skin, almost instantly, leaving a light scent and lots of emollient pampering. They’re especially great for parched Summer skin, and can also be used on hair and face, to add radiance and keep hair from getting dry and fly-away. The ingredients include marula nut oil, Kukui nut oil, sweet almond oil. You have to try a dry oil to know how lovely it is. Use them alone or in addition to your the dry oil as-is, or mixed with your moisturizer, for an instant hit of radiance, beauty and hydration. The dry oils also contain up to 99.6% natural ingredients. They launched in May, are available in 11 fragrances: Coconut, Shea, Cocoa Butter, Chocomania, Moringa, Olive, Strawberry, Mango, Sweet Lemon, Pink Grapefruit, Satsuma.
Also launched this June, are The Body Shop Spray Mists ($12.00 3.3 fl. oz.). Housed in clear glass bottles with gold spray caps, I think these are the bargain of the Summer. These lightly scented, refreshing sprays are available in: Vanilla, Pink Grapefruit, Moringa, Satsuma, Mango, Shea, Strawberry and Coconut. Although they’re too big (and fragile since they’re in glass) to meet TSA requirements at the airport, bring one on any road trip and refresh your body and senses any time you need a break. They’re great for a pick-me-up at work, or to spritz on before a date or evening event.
Check the products out at www.thebodyshop-usa.com or your local The Body Shop. Also, you can sign a pledge to ask governments around the world to ban animal testing and learn more about the cause at Cruelty Free International crueltyfreeinternational.org/telltheworld
