Body Shop Christmas launch - press event

I know - we've barely finished Halloween and 'BAM!' Christmas is upon us.

To be honest - I can't get enough of all things Christmas so couldn't wait to see the latest range from The Body Shop for the festive season. The Southampton branch at West Quay Shopping Centre invited the Southampton Bloggers down for an early morning look at all the goodies (on a side note - how lovely is it to browse around a shop when you're the only customers there? Bliss....).

The three key fragrances this season are Rich Plum (a previous customer favourite which made me do a little whoop), Warm Vanilla and last but not least, Juicy Pear.

Now - I didn't think I'd be impressed by a pear scent - but I was wrong. It's so clean and fresh and perfect for cold crisp winter days.

The Body Shop have worked so hard to make their packaging recyclable wherever possible. With open packaging on soaps, create your own gift sets using jute bags, cardboard packaging and a traditional print as well, the displays gave me a real old-fashioned Christmas vibe. And the packaging saved is the equivalent to 1/5 of a space shuttle! That's pretty impressive.

And as normal, The Body Shop is giving back to the community. A percentage of their Christmas sales will be going to Plan International in Indonesia to help empower women and give them a voice.

They're also challenging stereotypes - have a look at their advent calendar and you see a female Santa and non-traditional roles for girls and boys. Scattered throughout the store are reminders that girls can do and be anything they want.

Some old favourites make an appearance as well. The carrot range is in recyclable packaging with a cute bunny ears headband. Only carrots that have been rejected by supermarkets are used in this product - it makes me happy that unloved carrots have a use!

A morning spent with fellow bloggers and the lovely people at our local Body Shop has really put me in the festive spirit - now where's that mince pie...?

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx

New Year and a New Sheet Mask from The Body Shop - AD

As I'm writing this - Blue Monday has been and gone and the end of the month and payday is just around the corner. I don't know about you, but it can't come soon enough. I'm well and truly over all of the New Year, New Me hype. Apart from a major amount of decluttering (nothing to do with the Marie Kondo hype - more like reaching the point of frustration) it's more of a case of New Year, Same Me!

I was lucky enough to be invited with the Southampton Bloggers to the first Body Shop event of the year at West Quay Shopping Centre. We were introduced to The Body Shop's first sheet mask, part of their Drops of Youth range. The mask is vegan (perfect for Veganuary) and biodegradable. I have to admit, I didn't know too much about the Drops of Youth range, but after trying the liquid peel on our hands, I wanted to try the whole range!

The lovely staff were on hand to offer one-to-one advice on any skin care issues with a Hydration Station offering skin consultations and hydration readings. For me, the only issue was with the ever increasing number of wrinkles around the eye which seem to be multiplying at an alarming rate. The Drops of Youth Bouncy Eye Mask was recommended. It might seem like a funny name, but the gel really is bouncy and cooling to the touch. I bought the eye mask as well as the Youth Eye Concentrate which comes in a roller ball applicator which I thought would be perfect for travel. I reckon it's a bit much to expect miracles but after only a week the skin under my eyes feels so much softer and plumped up - definitely a thumbs up from me.

There was also the chance to try out the new improved BB cream which is vegan, has no flashback (none of those odd white faces in photos) and best of all, is SPF 30. I've used this before so I'll be interested to see how this new version compares to the old. It looks to be a thicker texture and I prefer lightweight creams so I'll see how I get on.

We were kindly gifted a goody bag which included the Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Face Wash. This was on my my wish list of new products to try so I was very excited to see this. So far I can honestly say it's making my skin feel so much clearer. Sometimes when I use a new product, my skin protests and becomes irritated, so far I haven't experienced this at all with the Himalayan Face Wash.

Thank you to the Body Shop at West Quay, Southampton and Southampton Bloggers for another lovely evening.

Thanks for reading

Cathy

xx

An evening at The Body Shop with Southampton Bloggers

Last week I was lucky enough to attend an event at my local Body Shop store in Southampton with other local bloggers, organised by the very lovely Alice from Alice Anne.

The evening started with drinks and nibbles and cheerful staff who immediately made us feel welcome.

After a little mooch around, we had a small talk about the new products and the history and values of The Body Shop

Although I knew the products they sold were vegetarian, I hadn't realised how many were now vegan, for example all of their make-up brushes, their Vitamin E gel moisture cream (a favourite of mine) and some of their newer products like the Oils of Life cleansing oil-in-gel.

The Body Shop are particularly known for their work against animal testing. At the moment they have a petition to get animal testing in cosmetics banned worldwide - they're aiming for 8 million signatures by end of 2018.

During April and May proceeds from the sale of some of the new ranges go towards helping the Red Panda Network save endangered red pandas in the Himalayas. If you've ever seen one of these guys, you'll know just how cute they are and how worthwhile this is.

We then had the chance to get stuck in and have a good look around at everything. I had a few questions about products old and new and everyone I spoke to was helpful and able to advise me. There was also hand massages available and lots of sampling. With so much hand cream I was beginning to be worried about being able to keep a grip on my camera!

  

It was funny to see products that I remembered from when I was a teenager - in particular the banana shampoo and conditioner (might just have bought a small bottle for old times sake).

Although I felt a bit sad when I learnt that one of my all time favourite products was discontinued, they helped me find an alternative. I even learnt about house spiders in the process...it's pretty impressive what the staff at The Body Shop know about!

We were kindly gifted an amazing goodie bag and with a 30% discount, it seemed rude not to add a few more bits to it. I've especially been wanting to try the Vitamin E eye cube for a while. Being in a stick form, it looks perfect for travel. The Peppermint foot spray is hopefully a replacement for the much loved gel which is now discontinued. Plus that Banana Conditioner which smells good enough to eat.

An overview of the contents of our goodies bags.

A big thank you to The Body Shop for looking after us and to Alice for organising the evening. I can't wait to try everything out. The face masks in particular have been squirreled away ready for a relaxing week in Devon next month.

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx

Southampton Festival of Light

We all need something to brighten up these dark evenings - the Festival of Light recently at Westquay Shopping Centre was just the thing to do that.

Digital light projections on the old walls of Southampton was a perfect mix of old and new. They started at 6pm every night for a week and featured a short animated film (with, as the other half said, 'sexy witches') as well as other light installations you could interact with. There was even a maze to get lost in!

It's so hard to show the true colours with photos, but hopefully these will give you a taste of what the evening was like.

This isn't the first time the walls have been lit up for the Festival of Light - I'd definitely recommend a visit the next time it's in town!

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx