The Body Shop

[Thalia]

This thread inspired me to write the Body Shop They actually replied:

The Body Shop® is not a vegetarian or vegan company, although the vast
majority of our products contain no animal derived ingredients.

We aim to avoid the use of animal-derived ingredients wherever possible and
specify non-animal ingredients whenever there is a choice; all our soaps,
for example, use a vegetable base rather than the commonly used animal-fat
base.

Gelatin, beeswax, honey, milk and lanolin are the only product ingredients
knowingly used by The Body Shop® which do not comply with the most current
definition of Vegan. Where synthetic forms or derivatives of these
materials are available, such as lactic acid, these are always specified for
our formulations.

We do not currently have a list of Vegan-friendly products, however, that is
something that we are moving toward. Should you have questions about a
specific product or ingredient, I will be happy to research it for you. In
addition, each of our products contains a full ingredient list on the
outside of the package.

Kind regards,

***
Customer Care Coordinator
The Body Shop
***



-----Original Message-----
From: (Thalia's real name [One of Thalia's private email addresses])
Sent: Monday, December 30, 2002
To: usa.info@the-body-shop.com
Subject: animal ingredients in your products


To Whom it May Concern:

How can I obtain a list of ingredients in your products? Furthermore, are
you considering producing at the very least, a line of products that are
free of all animal derived ingredients (vegan) in the future? It seems that
a lot of people drawn to your socially conscious business would appreciate
this, including myself.

-(Thalia's real name)

[MsRuthieB]

Thank you Thalia for your efforts. I like their soap. It still bothers me that they are not 100% honest in their tactics.

[LadyFaile]

i got some bodyshop stuff in my xmas stocking, it looks safe but it's mostly bath stuff and i'm a shower person so it'll probably never get used.

[BarbB]

I too had originally heard the Body Shop did test on animals. I have been using a product line for four years that absolutely does not test on animals or use any animal by-products. They also don't use any of the other products that most companies put in skincare that shouldn't be like mineral oil (petroleum by-product), dyes and fragrances (what makes most people have an allergic reaction to a product), and no waxes.

It is good to know there are other great options out there.

Barb

[LadyFaile]

what product line is that Barb?

i like the yves rocher products, they say they don't do animal testing, but i don't know if they use animal ingredients. i think i should contact the company and find out, since i got a ton of stuff from them for xmas.

[BarbB]

Arbonne products are sold by direct marketing. You can check out their website at www.arbonne.com. I signed on as a consultant just to get the discount but I love the products so much I am thinking of making this my career.

Barb

[1vegan]

Originally posted by soilman
If you really want to know whether there are animal ingredients in a product, you need a statement on the company's letterhead, saying so -- at the very least. Even that could be a deception. But relying on telephone conversations alone is practically asking to be deceived.

If you really want to know if its free of animal ingredients, you have to check the label and match every ingredient with a list like “A-Z animal ingredients”

(soilman: don’t jump at me, but you need a certain reference list)

Then if you find something that is possibly animal derived, ask:

What is the source of “X”.

People don’t know what “animal” ingredients are.
Keratine ?
Lanolin ?
Yes, its Vegan, what do you mean “bees wax” isn’t Vegan?

It’s even harder for Vegans. You’ll have to find out what production process is used.

[BarbB]

That is another reason why I love Arbonne so much. They do not use any animal by-products and have never tested on animals. The cosmetic industry is the largest supporter of rendering plants.

Barb

[MinT]

No gelatin in their products. I have an old "What's in the Body Shop Bottles" manual without about 350 products broken down and after 200 I've yet to see gelatin.

They definately use beeswax. This is a community traded product. No cruelty involved with beeswax.

They also state that their lanolin is organic..no pesticides or detergents used in the processing.

Hope that clears up some misinformation.

Mindiloo

[madder]

I know this is an old thread, but if anyone's interested, here's a response I got recently in relation to a "are any of your products vegan" query:


Thank you for your enquiry about products from THE BODY SHOP that are
suitable for vegans. (I'm in Ireland, just in case there are any regional differences)

THE BODY SHOP is not and has never claimed to be a vegetarian or vegan
company and as such we do use some animal-derived ingredients.

There are only four animal derived ingredients that are used by THE BODY
SHOP. Although we are sure that you are aware of these, here is a list
of top line ingredients vegans would want to avoid, together with their
Latin names:

Beeswax Latin - Cera Alba
Lanolin Latin - Lanolin
Honey Latin - Mel
Gelatin Latin - Gelatin (Bath Beads only)

We cannot comment on the processes that an ingredient may have been put
through and we do not know of any other cosmetics company who can. For
example, if an ingredient has been processed using charcoal - the
charcoal may have come from animal bones or a vegetable source - such as
wood. Some of our ingredients are made up of over 200 components and
we, therefore, cannot guarantee that any of our products are totally
acceptable for a vegan with regard to processes.

Unfortunately Gelatin is the only material in the cosmetic industry that
is compatible with the types of ingredients in our Bath Beads. We are
working vigorously to achieve a vegetarian based alternative. We
anticipate that the technology will continue to advance and that within
a short period we will be able to produce bath beads with soft shells
made from vegetable derived ingredients. THE BODY SHOP policy on the
use of animal by-products is very clear. It stipulates that, "we strive
to avoid using materials in our products which are slaughter
by-products. Where this is not possible, we will work towards finding
replacements".

Please also note that the hog's hair in our Wooden Shaving Brush is the
by-product of the meat industry. We have made attempts to source a
synthetic alternative to hog's hair, however, we have been unable to
find a material with the necessary functionality and efficacy that is
required for the product.

THE BODY SHOP Against Animal Testing policy is a slightly different
issue - THE BODY SHOP does not test or commission others to test any of
our ingredients or finished products on animals. We never have. We
never will. However, there is much more that we do to try to achieve an
end to animal testing in the cosmetics and toiletries industry.

We impose strict conditions on our suppliers of ingredients, insisting
that they have not animal tested any ingredient they sell to us for
cosmetic purposes since at least 31st December 1990. We rigorously
enforce this rule through monitoring our suppliers.

We also support the development of alternative tests through our
charitable branch -
THE BODY SHOP FOUNDATION. Also in 1996 we raised over 4 million
signatures in support of a ban on cosmetic testing on animals in Europe
and this resulted in the government banning cosmetic tests in the UK in
November 1998. The European Union also recently announced an end to
such testing within the next few years.

We hope this information goes some way towards answering your queries
and we look forward to seeing you in one of our stores in the very near
future. You can also ask for help from our shop staff who are on hand
to assist you in choosing the right product.
Yours sincerely

Now, however, I'm a bit worried about the L'Oreal takeover...

[MinT]

I'm so glad you posted this. I went through all the product descriptions (nearly 350) and I didn't see gelatin in any. I guess that makes sense since the stores in the US are not currently carrying any bath beads. I was starting to think I must be hallucinating.

Mindiloo

[organica]

Why veg*ns continue to shop at the Body Shop is beyond me when this sort of material becomes evident....plu the l'Oreal takeover...

[bluegrrrl79]

Why veg*ns continue to shop at the Body Shop is beyond me when this sort of material becomes evident....plu the l'Oreal takeover...
Because not everyone's vegan, and they don't test on animals. Also many people don't care what company owns what(myself being one of them).

[organica]

Because not everyone's vegan, and they don't test on animals. Also many people don't care what company owns what(myself being one of them).

Doesn't l'Oreal still test?
It's naive not to care who owns what, as you are voting w/ your $$$ every time you shop, whether you are vegan or not.

[Cissy]

organica - the loreal site said "The L'Oréal Group has not conducted animal testing since 1989."

http://www.lorealparisusa.com/frames.asp#http://www.lorealparisusa.com/lorealcentral/index.asp?navLink=1

[IamJen]

Hm...they also have products with milk and or cream in them, but they're not listed.

[thunderkitty]

organica - the loreal site said "The L'Oréal Group has not conducted animal testing since 1989."

Okay so, I'm new so the site wont let me post the link. But if you go to PETA.com and type in loreal in the search box you'll get an explanation on why loreal is not sans animal testing. The deceived PETA by signing their petition against testing and then went back on their word, bastards.:spew: Also PETA has a list of their companies they own so it's worth seeing.