As citizens of a capitalist state - we are all part of this largely destructive act of Consumerism (whether we like it or not).

 While you can't escape it totally. You definitely can put your money where your mouth is.

Since its founder, the late Annita Roddick, set up the United Kingdom-based company in 1976, The Body Shop has been synonymous with products that are natural, earth-friendly, cruelty free, and give back to the community.

This year, The Body Shop reaffirms those values with a new “beauty movement” and its first global brand advocate—actress and model Lily Cole.

They asked what does "Beauty with Heart" mean to all of us. Arming us with our Beauty passports - the team at Body Shop set us on our way to the three stations to find out. Namely Look Good, Feel Good and Do Good.
Now what is beauty to you? How does it define each and everyone of us. Is it the clothes that we wear that maketh the man. The amount of bling you accessorize with, the amount of make up you pile onto your skin, the flower in your hair? We all have our own definitions of Beauty. Some more superficial than others.

Beauty with heart is to me - the wonders of earth and nature. It's not easily quantifiable and I think it's just the idea of Life. It's the fact that you can take but you need to give back so balance is achieved. My favourite quote from

Shakespeare sums this up perfectly in writing: "A Touch of Nature Makes The Whole World Kin"

While getting into the swing of my whole paraben and sulphate free lifestyle. I realised that synthetics aren't always bad. Parabens are sometimes there in small amounts to keep your products bacteria free. Unfortunately some companies over sell this fact that they are Paraben free, choosing to ride on the wave of the consumer's paranoia or trends then to properly educate. Take for example a synthetic make up brush by The Body Shop. They work just as well (so long as you remember to recycle them). Choosing a synthetic brush over one made of bunny fur can definitely be a more ethical choice you make as a consumer.

Now BEAUTY WITH HEART is the new beauty movement slogan of The Body Shop. It encompasses Looking Good, Feeling Good,and Doing Good. I was most inspired to hear how The Body Shop as a brand made real progress and actually took the time to raise awareness in issues such as Sex trafficking and how collective power can help to stop that. I am glad The Body Shop sources and in turn directly impact communities in places such as Ghana where its Community Fair Trade programmes are ran.

IMPACT
For a company with over 2700 stores in 63 countries, such movements and a united brand voice adds up. The brand - is Wood Positive (Which means they plant and protect more trees than what they use in their packaging). The company's new PULSE stores - such as the one in Jurong Point and the one at Raffles City are made from FSC wood.

Nira was seated right next to me at the table with all the the other bloggers included X-wen and Sarah.


I took some time out to get to know the brand further and to test their products, over a media luncheon last week. We were also told why Model and actress Lily Cole was chosen as The Body Shop’s first global brand advocate.

Point to note: No lovely beetles were crushed to provide the pink stain used in lots of cosmetics. Neither are fish scales used in Body Shop products. (Whew)

Prior to being the spokesperson for The Body Shop, Lily has been associatted with WaterAid, World Land Trust, Western Shoshone - an environmental org specializing in ending unethical gold and diamond minding and many more other initiatives. For the fact that Lily was involved with numberous humanitarian and environmental causes - she was thus chosen and was happy to represent The Body Shop.

In Lily's interview she mentioned a quote close to her heart was: "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." - Reinhold Niebuhr



Soooooo introducing The Body Shop + Lily Cole Cruelty-Free Make-Up This collection was created to celebrate the Against Animal Testing stance of The Body Shop and show that you don’t have to harm animals to create great products, looks and colors. Indeed as Lily says : that business can be a force for good and that it can be positively empowering both in our community and also the communities of others. The Body Shop has proven that ethical business practice can work on a global scale. It is sadly somewhat of an anomaly but hopefully that is changing! here's a peak of some of the exciting stuff from the
EYELINER - in a violet tone




PUFF ON RADIANCE POWDER (what a cute pot)
LIP AND CHEEK DOMES - in Pink and Peach too
EYE SHADOW (God help me)
EYESHADOW
There's alot more which you can check out instore. I was delighted to try the range of Beautifying Dry Oils as well. These are made out of light weight nut oils such as Sweet Almond, Kukui and Marula nut. Available in 11 amazing fragrances out of which I am sure Strawberry was my favourite. Take your pick from Coconut Shea Cocoa butter chocomania Moringa (which I spoke about previously) Olive Strawberry Mango Sweet Lemon Pink Grapefruit Satsuma (aka orange) Use it for your hair , face and body to smell divine all the time.

Here's the goodie bag I took home. - Minus the Moringa body oil i gave away to my IPL therapist at Fabulous .


And my bottle of Strawberry dry oil ( I used it right away) - the oils are actually pressed from strawberry 'seeds' that jam factories do not use. :) cool huh



Now here was the food served at Raffles Hotel where the luncheon was held at:

Delectable it was.

Some event snapshops:

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