First introduced in the late 1970’s I can remember a time where everyone used The Body Shop Vitamin E moisturiser – my mum had it and my auntie had it and therefore I had very easy access to it growing up. Vitamin E was amongst some of the first products for Anita Roddick’s store – if I cast my mind back I think I can still see the original tub in our family bathroom. I want to say that it was in a bottle but can only find images of the tub – if you know, please leave me a comment. Apparently, Anita made a carrot based moisturiser too – and favoured her hand made shea butters for her skin.
The V&A holds information on 12 items (posters mainly) from The Body Shop from back when (1980/90s) including a bottle of Juice It! Remember that? It turns out that there is a lively collector’s market for vintage Body Shop, particularly posters (one you might remember is from 1997 that featured Ruby, a fuller figured doll with the tag line ‘there are three billion women who don’t look like Supermodels, and only 8 that do’ referencing the era of peak supermodel – Naomi, Christy, Linda et al). People are as welded to their Vitamin E Day Moisture Cream to this day as they were when it became – I was going to say ‘viral’ but there was no such thing – the ‘must have’ moisturiser.
Vitamin E has had a revamp and a new member of the Vitamin E family which I am very much enjoying – the Vitamin E Bi Phase Serum Oil (£20). If you want immediately soft skin add to bag (it’s HERE) – honestly, the effect is instant. The Vitamin E Bi Phase Serum Oil is a light, pink hued, hyaluronic fueled liquid in its serum phase and a blend of Vitamin E and raspberry seed oil in its oil phase. Because it’s The Body Shop, who are waste conscious, the raspberries are taken from excess for the juice industry. Shake it up and apply. It’s good for day or night – I’ve been using it first thing in the morning and not only is hydrating enough for the day, it’s a great base to use under foundation or tint. By the way, fun fact that I’ve only just learned – the scent of the Vitamin E range is a subtle raspberry.
As a reminder of the famous Vitamin E Day Moisture Cream (£18 HERE), it’s a simple, fuss free and effective – you don’t need anything more for hydrated skin that looks and feels flexible and soft. It’s no longer in its pink pot – instead in a recyclable glass jar with pink on the label so it doesn’t stray too far from its origins. One sells around the world every 26 seconds which tells us something indeed.
I’ve put all the current Vitamin E products through their paces and absolute favourites are the Bi-Phase Moisture Serum and the Vitamin E Moisture Day Cream. However, don’t dismiss the Vitamin E Facial Wash (£12 HERE) that does a lovely job of cleansing the skin, the Vitamin E Moisturising Toner (£12 HERE) as a hydrating extra step in your skin prep and the Vitamin E Moisture Sleeping Mask (£12 HERE) which is going to be your saviour on dry days maybe after too much sun or windy the range is fairly priced and while we’re cutting our cloth a bit more these days, a safe pair of hands for hydration that works.
My big question, apart from whether the original Vitamin E was in a bottle or a tub, is what was your first The Body Shop product? Those I’ve asked mention Fuzzy Peach, the animal soaps (regulars in my children’s Christmas stockings), Japanese Washing Grains, Green Apple Bath Salts (I don’t remember those!) and various Perfume Oils.
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69 comments
Body Shop in the 90’s was the must have: bath pearls that left skin soft but the bath impossible not to slip over in, White Musk scent transports me to being a pre teen again, and little pots of glossy balm that made me feel grown up.
I still sneak in for a spritz of White Musk, good memories.
Yes, White Musk still gets a lot of love – I very much remember the bath pearls too and they were such a treat.
I thought that the Japanese Washing Grains were so exciting, and the height of sophistication in skincare. I loved them. I also loved their vetiver oil, which I used neat as perfume, as did my friend. It was potent stuff. I loved that you could buy the bath oil unperfumed and then add whatever perfumed oils you selected yourself. Bespoke bath oil! Way back then. They had a wonderful grass oil, and of course the purple berry one, I forget what it was called, which was massive, a revelation at the time. Their shampoos and conditioners were a real treat too. Wonderful!
I think it was Dewberry Lynn 🙂 Grass oil sounds incredible and I wish I’d had a chance to try the Japanese Washing Grains.
Great post Jane, I may well have to explore the range, especially as it smells of raspberry!
My early Body Shop memories are: the handwritten style product labels which were so different to anything else on the market, the mini fruit shaped, scented soaps (cute and fun), plus their full size glycerine counterparts, elderflower eye gel and the chamomile eye makeup remover. Banana hair conditioner and dewberry as mentioned by Lynn…and so on! Very happy memories .
Have a lovely weekend Jane xx
The fruit soaps! I definitely have good memories of those – someone else on Instagram remembered the eye gel fondly too 🙂
Oh my goodness yes! That banana conditioner did wonderful things for my hair! So glossy and smooth!
There is a new (ish) Banana conditioner – I don’t think I ever used the original so can’t compare but have used the latest version and it’s glorious!
As an American in the 1990s/2000s (starting when I was in my late twenties), I found the Body Shop to be quite exotic as I could find them only in the duty free shops at the airport. I remember that was the first place I found that sold essential oils, so I happily spent flight layovers standing in front of their cylindrical display caddy, rotating it and sampling various fragrances like jasmine and lemongrass. Also, the (original formulation) Mango Body Butter was marketed heavily in the U.S., and I really enjoyed the texture and fragrance, even though I do not care for mangoes as a food.
That sounds like a very good way to while away waiting time in an airport! I’m like you – don’t particularly like mangos but love the smell.
Oh yes, everybody had the Vitamin E cream, it was a must-have, but I also loved the lilac perfume oil, and have been looking in vain for a replacement ever since!
Cheers, Jo 🙂
Lilac Perfume Oil sounds divine!
What an incredible coincidence!
I was just in the Body Shop today and thinking how much it has changed over the years, and remembering how it used to be in the 80s!
My favourite products back then included the Peppermint Foot Lotion, Raspberry Ripple shower gel, Lemongrass exfoliating soap, the banana shampoo, the elderflower eye gel… there might have been a dewberry shower gel too?
I also remember the original Colourings make-up line by Barbara Daly with the white packaging – I think her name might even have appeared on the packagings? I’m a Parisian and the Body Shop reminds me of exciting trips of London as a teenager, so I have nothing but good memories!
More recently (that’s the 90s-00s 🙂 I liked their Colour Blocks eyeshadows (I still have some around, as those are endless), shimmerbricks dupes, their compact foundation and their sadly discontinued whitening foundation drops.
Oh, and my all-time favourite limited edition was the Totally Tangled Ginger range, I still have a body yoghurt which I use sparingly whenever I need cheering up!
RIP Anita Roddick – I actually have a relative who met her in a medical treatment and said she was very kind and genuine.
Totally Tangled Ginger sounds epic – I use their ginger shampoo when my scalp gets flaky and yes, I remember the shimmer bricks too and I might even be able to unearth the lightening drops for foundation. Such a good idea and there were some colour deepening drops as well.
Milk protein “soap” bar. Pink and smelled of raspberries. It just disappeared about 25 years ago and I am still not over it.
I love the sound of this! I know that the PR team will read these comments so here’s hoping that the milk bar has been duly noted!
In the mid 80s my friend and I went to “keep fit” (lol) but at the end of class the teacher did a bit of yoga and Reflexology. At this point she handed round the Body Shop Peppermint Foot Balm and we all massaged our feet (lol again) But I loved that stuff and still do. the smell of it immediately transports me back to that school gym. Two weeks ago I was horrified to learn it’s been discontinued and replaced by something altogether different. I am gutted, absolutely gutted, I’m not even joking!
Argh, the frustration when a favourite comes back not quite as you remember it…
I agree, it’s not the same – for one thing, it used to be a lotion that came in a bottle and it’s now in a tub. Princess Diana was rumoured to be a fan 🙂
I thought I had the bottle memory – I can picture it on our old bathroom sink.
Didn’t the Body Shop moisturisers come in dark brown glass jars in the 1980s and early 1990s? There are a few listed on eBay. The products I really miss from that era are raspberry ripple bathing bubbles, jojoba oil moisture shampoo and orchid oil cleansing milk. The thrill if I ever got one of their baskets for Christmas or my birthday is something that has never been matched in adulthood.
I love the sound of Raspberry Ripple Bubble Bath – another thing I really wish I’d tried 🙂
I have been using Body Shop products since the 80s. What I particularly loved about it back then was being able to add perfume oils to bubble bath, body lotion etc as mentioned earlier. My favourite to add was Rose Musk and I still have a small bottle of it in a drawer. I also remember a Vit E moisturiser that had a slight sparkle/ iridescence in it. I bought some for my mum as well as for myself as she loved the Vit E day cream.
I also remember a coconut hair gel in a pot and a primrose scented soap which smelled so light and pretty.
At Christmas time you could have a gift basket made up of items you chose yourself. It was a treat to give and receive one.
I will always be fond of the Body Shop as it was always a happy communal experience testing scents and products with family and friends.
The gift sets are really strong memories for several commenters now – I think I remember that you got five or six of the little animal shaped bath pearls for a certain amount of money and choosing which animals was always so difficult! Adding perfume oils to bubble bath needs to come back straight away!
They had in the 80s and 90s. A fab Rose oil…..you could use it on the face and it was super moisturising…never been anything like it since!!
Banana PUTTY….was much better than it is now!! (For hair).
CARROT CREAM…..prob had vit A in….was great….
Not the same now…..
Sounds wonderful!
Oh lord, the satsuma bubbles, the pink grapefruit shower gel (still adore that one), and mostly the ananya perfume. Everyone in school wore dewberry and I loved it but being a contrary soul I wanted to be different so ananya it was. Wish they would bring it back!!!
Well, they do bring things back, or updated versions at least, from time to time so fingers crossed!
I think my first memory of the body shop was the tea tree shampoo and conditioner. Smelt so strong and packed a real punch! Also remember the white musk perfume which I totally loved as a teenager. I also got my first 4 sided nail buffer there as well and thought it was super cool.
Oh, tea tree! I don’t know why that hasn’t come up more in people’s memories because it’s another iconic range.
I still use the Elderflower eye gel. Camomile Shampoo and Viennese Facial Chalk were favourites along with Strawberry shower gel. I remember the carrot cream but never bought it. Didn’t get on with the vitamin E face cream as it made my skin flake.
Viennese Facial Chalk has popped up as a memory for a few people now – I never knew the product but I really wish I could have tried it.
It’s the Viennese Facial Chalk that I’m thinking about! Not the Japanese Grains. Thank you Trimperley. They came in a wee cardboard pot, and you blended them with a little water in the palm of your hand then applied. Buying it was a big treat for me. I loved the ritual, and as I said before I thought that it was the height of sophistication :). It kinda was at that time though…..
The only similar product that I’ve ever come across is Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant, which is also lovely.
Hi Jane
I am sure I had a very tiny bottle of vitamin E lotion. It was pale pink, and only a couple of inches tall.
And my earliest memory is also pink- the Peppermint Foot Lotion which seemed to be highly amusing when I was about 13!
And more recently (still probably more than 10 years ago!) I loved their range with Polynesian Monoi – sadly also no longer available.
Thank you! I am so sure my memory of it is as a bottle – you’re the only one so far to suggest I haven’t remembered wrongly!
I’d totally forgotten about the handwritten labels! I remember buying the Japanese Washing grains as a teenager as well as the little books of Papier- Poudre at the till. Banana Conditioner became all the rage when it was mentioned as Princess Di’s favourite. And I wore White Musk for a good decade. What a great post! Going to try the new serum. X
I think you’ll like it Shelley – I truly love it – my skin looks so glowy! I had no idea that banana conditioner was Princess Di’s favourite so I’m learning so much about The Body Shop!
Back in 1980 in one of the first stores to be opened, in Chichester, I had my ears pierced there, believe it or not! Don’t think they provided that service for that long though.
Oh wow – that’s amazing – first time I’ve ever heard of them doing piercings!
I also had my ears pierced in Chi, in 1980 or 1981, but I think it was very near to but not in the Body Shop….
When I was a teenager, Dewberry was THE perfume to use! Lol! I had that and I also did use the carrot face cream, it was ok I don’t think I repurchased. Later on they had a wonderful leave in conditioner made of some exotic nut oil, it smelled heavenly. Kikui nut maybe?
Lots of fans of Dewberry! Kukui nut I think?
Yes kukui! That’s the one. It was a great leave in conditioner, or maybe it was a hair cream. I wish they would bring it back.
I thought it might be – I seem to remember it being pretty awesome for dry hair.
I was born in 1990 and spent a lot of the early 2000s stealing my sister’s vitamin e cream cleanser in the pink bottle. I still remember the smell now and I felt so grown up using it! My friends for years got the little lip balm gift sets and those fruit soaps!
The Body Shop always did a good gift set!
White Musk, the soap in a form of a family, turtle, whale fruit soaps (campaigns for endangered species). The makeup! highlighters, blushes and Karim MUA who was visiting, Body shop Greece, for new launches! I remember my eyeshadow pencil, in a gorgeous taupe color (Colorings, i think, was the name). I think, before makeup hysteria, MAC and so on, Body Shop had everything for makeup already. I still use body gel/ washes and the body towel, polisher is my holy grail.
I’d forgotten about the Barbara Daly make up – loved it!
I loved Passion Fruit Cleansing Gel and the Nutraganics Serum.
Had quite a few with a love for Passion Fruit Cleansing Gel – maybe it’s a bring-back!
My first of many memories about The Body Shop has to be… their Pineapple facial wash (in a tub). The only cleanser that had been my saviour for my acne prone skin during my teenage years. My go to soap bar was not the fruit scented ones, but Seaweed and Loofah Exfoliating Soap. Woody Sandalwood Perfume Oil was my daily signature scent and Jojoba Moisture Cream and Carrot Moisture Cream were my favourite face creams then. Other honourable mentions… Their Unfragranced Body Lotion that you can add your favourite perfume oil for free and their best seller Cocoa Butter Body Lotion. Yucca Shampoo for my after swimming lessons. The Blue Corn Face Mask for times when my skin felt congested and who remembers the colourful catalogs with pictures that you can picked up for free?
I remember being treated to a manicure at my local village salon either late 70s or early 80s and they used Hawthorn handcream by The Body Shop and sold it there so presumably Body Shop also sold to salons/retail early on. My mum bought me a pot one Christmas and I eked out every last smudge of it. When I found The Body Shop in Bromley early 80s and saw that was where Hawthorn handcream came from, mum and I were ecstatic as local salon no longer used it.
I loved the refill ability as something novel, until they stopped doing that for years and only just started again but with aluminium bottles instead of glass or plastic. My staples were Ice Blue shampoo and conditioner for teen greasy hair, satsuma bubbles (also kept in desk drawer in stressful office later in life so my office mate and I could have a sniff of it when we were flagging or losing it), Japanese washing grains (though I hated the smell), the gorgeous Pineapple face wash in a tub, White Musk perfume oil, fruity soaps (have satsuma bar in my bathroom now), Papier Poudre in white, mini emery boards in matchbook format and the bath oil spheres that smelled so much nicer than the 70s bubble bath/oil spheres that smelt cheap and nasty.
Wow – so many things! I’m starting to wonder how well I actually know The Body Shop from the past – I thought I could pass an exam on it but Hawthorn is another thing that I’ve just never heard of!
Interestingly I still have a cotton tote bag with the “8 supermodels”;strapline on it. I was wondering the other day how old it was. The answer, it would seem is, nearly 30 years. I remember dewberry very fondly. And I had a friend who always wore white musk so that always makes me think of her.
Oh wow – to still have that tote is quite something! Keep it safe 🙂
From the Ipswich branch circa 1990 – cucumber cleansing milk, pineapple face wash (it was a thick cream in a pot – it’s the one thing I’d love to have back), kiwi lip balm. In my mid-teens, my friends and I all stank of Dewberry for a good two years.
Dewberry is a recurring theme! I’ve never heard of the cucumber cleansing milk although it sounds very ‘of its time’.
My memories are from the early 80s. The Japanese wash grains, the honey mask, of course the perfume oils I had loads of those. Aloe Vera moisturizer, the milk bath that came in a pouch, it was powder, and you poured into the bath. Their makeup was excellent too. I do not remember using the Vit E moisturizer.
I love the idea of milk baths – how lovely 🙂
In the early years they had a circle stand with many steps and there they displayed ALL of the perfume oils!!
OMG…. they were fabulous and my favourite was Apple Blossom.
Those oils were top quality and very popular.
The old formula of the peppermint foot cream was fabulous too….. so nice to rub on the old feet when you had a day of walking etc.
Apple Blossom – how lovely for a summer day!
My first memory of The Body Shop are the showergels in grapefruit and mango! I got them when I was around 12 or 13 which was around 2010. I just used up one of the grapefruit ones, which I still love but I think mango is discontinued, at least here in Germany!
I feel like I’ve seen mango here – just checked and we still have it in shower gel form as well as a couple of others.
Jojoba shampoo, raspberry ripple bubble bath and the original carrot cream were my all time favourites nothing has even come close I can still smell the shampoo
I’d love a dip in a raspberry ripple bath!
Omg such memories! I think my first product was the black cherry lip balm. I loved White Musk but used to keep it as my special perfume and use Impulse for school haha. I remember my aunt bought me a dewberry gift set and it had a beautiful notebook in it with recycled paper scented with dewberry and a dried purple leaf. Too beautiful to use. We also went on a school trip to the Body Shop factory in Brighton which was amazing – I remember we all got to take home little mini bottles of shower gel and body cream.
You’re the first to mention black cherry lip balm – I’d have love to have tried that!
I worked there in the early 00’s. So many treasures and we’d get random cool items (discontinued, other countries) in for those big bi-annual sales they would have. I have been on the hunt for a dupe for one of their discontinued products, an illuminating face cream. There was one in the Vitamin E line and another illuminating cream in a “more premium” skincare line of theirs that I don’t remember as well. I believe the packaging was a light green. The illuminating creams had a beautiful pinkish iridescent glow without any trace of sparkle. I still have a Body shop yoga strap. And rocked their car scent oil diffuser for YEARS.
Those are some great memories 🙂