Blast from the Past: The Body Shop was a mecca for teenagers drawn to the sweet scents of Dewberry perfume and fruit-shaped soaps

The Body Shop has tumbled into administration and to think the end could be nigh for this temple of fruity soaps and banana shampoo, is almost too much to bear.
Teenagers made the pilgrimage to The Body Shop to stock up on banana-shaped soaps and Peppermint foot scrubTeenagers made the pilgrimage to The Body Shop to stock up on banana-shaped soaps and Peppermint foot scrub
Teenagers made the pilgrimage to The Body Shop to stock up on banana-shaped soaps and Peppermint foot scrub
By Helen McGurk
Published 16th Feb 2024, 10:12 GMT

During the 1980s my secondary school classroom was scented with the sickly sweet smog of The Body Shop’s White Musk, Dewberry and Fuzzy Peach perfume oils as my friends and I wholeheartedly embraced the scented awakening Anita Roddick brought to our lives.

The Body Shop was a teenager’s beauty paradise, especially for country girls, like myself, more used to sharing Imperial Leather, Matey bubble bath and Vosene shampoo, with the rest of the family.

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Now we had an eco-conscious emporium where we could browse shelves for sweet-smelling, ethical bargains in black-topped bottles, which came in three graduating sizes, the smallest being perfect for school blazer pockets.

There was tea tree oil for pesky pimples, satsuma body butter, kiwi lip balm and pink grapefruit body wash – products that were so delicious smelling they made your mouth water, almost in the same manner as Opal Fruits.

The Body Shop’s products provided the olfactory backdrop to every noteworthy scene of my adolescence… I will be picking up a final bottle of Dewberry – just for old time’s sake.

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