The Body Shop turns 40 – The Brighton Blogger Bash

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Last week I went to a very exciting birthday party for one of my very favourite brands, The Body Shop. The lovely PR team flew the nest from the big smoke to see us sunny seaside-dwellers for a 40th birthday bash in the newly made-over Brighton store and all the Brighton Blogger gang were invited.

I can’t believe The Body Shop is 40 years old. They are a company that has always held a special place in my heart – not only because they hail from my hometown of Brighton, but I remember being about 8 years old and visiting The Body Shop factory with the Brownie Guides. I was amazed by all the little bottles going along on the conveyor belt and was absolutely fascinated to find out how they made their products, and I still feel that wonder and amazement now. Back in the day after our tour, I scurried off to the gift shop and bought my first Body Shop products – Ice Blue Shampoo and a soap shaped like a seal that smelled like tangerines. I still remember it now like it was yesterday and my love for The Body Shop has remained the same, maybe even more so now I get to work with them as a blogger too!

The evening was not only to celebrate the brands 40th Birthday, but also to hear about their exciting new commitment, which is one of the biggest, boldest campaigns I’ve seen since I started working with The Body Shop a few years ago. Their commitment is ‘to be the worlds most ethical and truly sustainable global business’.  Strong words, but I think they really mean business with this one. The new commitment comes with a fantastic new campaign slogan (and hashtag) which is #EnrichNotExploit, which really sums it up well in so little words. The Body Shop endeavor to: Enrich People, Enrich their Products and Enrich Our Planet, so we can be assured if we buy from The Body Shop every product will be 100% ethically sourced, the environment cared for and looked after at every step of the way and our products are never tested on animals. I really look forward to hearing more about this campaign and how it progresses, they will be reporting back to us every year so I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this one.

With the new commitment, brand new products and a newly designed store in their home-town of Brighton, I can’t think of a better way they could have celebrated being 40. I’ve watched the company grow and change so much over my lifetime and it always amazes me what they come up with next. Happy Birthday guys! 

thebodyshop2So, let’s chat about the party! Of course, there were cupcakes and prosecco – that goes without saying at a blogger event! We spent most of the evening exploring the newly designed Brighton store and trying out all of the new products. There were skincare and makeup experts on hand, so we had facials, makeovers and pampering hand massages, we were truly spoilt.

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It was lovely to catch up with the blogger girlies and the gorgeous Body Shop PR team over a glass of bubbles too!
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Skincare consultations and pampering hand massage

dress-body-shopJust for a bit of fun, I also teamed up with House of Fraser to style my outfit for the evening. I was looking forward to taking part in the #StyleMyDress campaign, so when the package with my outfit arrived on the same day as The Body Shop birthday event, it seemed like the perfect pairing to glam up and wear it out that very evening. House of Fraser provided with me with this gorgeous Vera Moda Black dress, and asked me to style it with accessories of my choice. I chose to style my dress with a black patent belt to tuck in the waist and my Cherry Necklace for a pop of colour. For a touch of sparkle with a casual feel, I wore my new Kurt Keiger Lucca trainers (yes, I know I mentioned them only a couple of posts ago, but I LOVE them!) and a slick of red lipstick. You can find out how other bloggers across the country styled their dresses by following the hashtag #StyleMyDress on Twitter on 30th March as a kind of ‘virtual blog event’, it’ll be fun!

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LOVE.

the-body-shop333Ok, back to the event –  Lets talk about The Body Shop’s new ranges. The Body Shop always seem to have so many lovely new products, I can barely keep up. Last week, I posted about the British Rose collection, which is pink, floral and just perfect for Spring. Alongside this, I was eager to get my hands on the new Oils Of Life range, which although the signature product of the range, the Revitalising Facial Oil came out late last year, I had not yet given it a try. Since then, it seems the range seems to have expanded further now, also offering not just the oil, but an intensely revitalising cream, gel-cream and a bi-phase essence lotion (which is oil + water to give a lighter finish). Alongside this range is the twin-ball facial massager for boosting circulation and plumping the skin. I just love the unique scent of this range, the oil is so rich and nourishing, it’s just gorgeous.

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The Drops of Youth range is another favourite of mine. I’ve been using the Bouncy Sleep Mask for a few months now, so I was excited  to give the new Drops of Youth Cream and Drops of Youth Essence Lotion a whirl. I also hadn’t realised there is the Wonderblur product within the Drops of Youth range, turns out this is a fantastic primer to use before applying makeup, so thats now firmly on my shopping list too.

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These are some classic The Body Shop scents, but with a gorgeous new makeover. I love the new black and white patterned designs, they look so sleek and classy. I’m currently using the Indian Night Jasmine shower gel and it smells just divine!

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Classic blogger pose – Glass of bubbles in one hand, camera in the other, eyes on the products…..

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Lastly, there was a little competition between the bloggers, we all had our wrists stamped with the campaign message ‘Enrich Not Exploit’ and asked to make pledges around the store, posing for selfies with our stamps. I sadly did not win, but I was overjoyed to see this gorgeous one-of-a-kind print went to my good friend Lilla, for her amazingly creative Instagram-pledge. Check the hashtag #EnrichNotExploit to see our pledges!

 

A big thank you to the team at The Body Shop for having us and holding such an awesome birthday party! 

Photos taken by Carrie:Brighton
Collaborative post with both The Body Shop & House of Fraser – all words and opinions are my own

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