On March 22, 2012, beauty editors and writers from around the world – myself included – arrived in London for The Body Shop’s latest international press event. For me, it was like rediscovering of one of the very first beauty brands I ever used.

This is where we stayed for The Body Shop event, the St Martins Lane Hotel (45 Saint Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4HX, United Kingdom), which is in the artsy Covent Garden area.

My hotel bathroom with everything I needed – courtesy of The Body Shop. My loot included the brand’s Rainforest Shine Shampoo & Conditioner, Satsuma Body Butter, Moringa Body Lotion, and face care from its Aloe, Tea Tree and Vitamin C ranges (all pictured above).

Besides the swanky hotel and lovely toiletries, the brand also wanted to remind us what they are all about.
 
LOOKING GOOD
The Body Shop event was held in a huge venue, divided into three sections. It began with the Look Good room. As the name suggests, it was all about the brand’s makeup and skincare.

Check out this sneak peek at some of the new makeup coming up from The Body Shop.

In the Look Good room the brand’s very knowledgeable beauty advisors turned up in full force to tell us all about the brand’s skincare and makeup. There were so many great ingredients like cocoa butter, organic aloe vera, and tea tree oil.

I tried a dozen products on the back of my hand and got a makeover with the brand’s Shimmer Cubes eyeshadows. As an animal lover, it’s important to me that the brand is strictly against animal-testing and cruelty when sourcing for ingredients.

FEELING GOOD
Next up was the Feel Good room. There was a blind scent test to help me pick my favourite fragrance – White Musk Libertine, a light, refreshing floral.

Getting a relaxing hand massage with my favourite Body Butter, Satsuma.

DOING GOOD
Finally, we came to the Do Good room, which had all the info on the brand’s fair trade initiatives.  We weren’t just told that the ingredients used by The Body Shop are ethically sourced and benefit poor communities, the brand actually invited spokespersons from those developing countries to tell us themselves just what The Body Shop was doing in their respective countries.

Here I am with Adi Tafunai, who is the executive director for women in business development in Samoa. Samoa is a small island in the South Pacific Ocean, with a poor local farming community. The Body Shop buys virgin organic coconut oil from them, helping about 1,500 local farming families.

And it isn’t just Samoa that The Body Shop sources from, there are communities from over 25 countries that benefit from the programme.

You can read more about The Body Shop’s Look Good, Feel Good, Do Good movement, and find out who their exciting new brand ambassador is … all in the June issue of Her World magazine.

And signing off ... That’s me and Cynthia from Cleo, leaving the event in style … a trishaw ride through London.

The Body Shop has outlets at Raffles City, #01-42, Tel: 6336 2551; Citylink Mall, #B1-45, 1 Raffles Link, Tel: 6238 8002; Novena Square, #01-34, Tel: 6259 6201; Suntec City Mall, #01-107, Tel: 6332 5338; Tiong Bahru Plaza, #01-38/39, Tel: 6375 3224; Marina Square, #02-340, Tel: 6334 9336; Hitachi Tower, #01-03, Tel: 6236 9522; 530 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, #01-08A, Tel: 6354 9320; Chinatown Point, #01-21/22, Tel: 6538 5662 and Compass Point, #01-31/32, Tel: 6513 7782.