The 6 Best The Body Shop Beauty Buys for 2026

If you buy one thing from The Body Shop, make it this. It is a thick, green-tinted hand cream with shea butter, hemp seed oil from France, cocoa butter and sweet almond oil, sold in a 30ml size for £8 or 100ml for £18. The brand says it repairs ultra-dry hands from the first use with up to 96 hours of moisture. Oddly, the footnote attached to that figure on the page is about global sales in 2022, not a trial.

Its on-site rating is very high, and many of the one-star reviews are about orders that never arrived rather than the cream. The product complaints that remain: a couple of buyers say it is no longer vegan, which matters if you bought it for that reason, and one found it made their hands itch. It contains fragrance.

This is the budget answer to the cleansing-balm habit. It is a solid butter of ethylhexyl palmitate, wax, shea butter, olive oil and camomile oil from Norfolk that you massage onto a dry face and rinse off. The Body Shop says it removes make-up in under 30 seconds, including waterproof eye make-up, and describes it as suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers, dermatologically and ophthalmologically tested.

Most buyers rate it highly. The low ratings are worth reading, though: several people report stinging, rashes or puffy eyes, one describes eyelid eczema after using it twice, and another found it too heavy for a face cleanser. One buyer expected the 90ml pot and paid for the 20ml tin by mistake, so check the size before you add it to the bag.

The Vitamin E range is The Body Shop’s best-known skincare, and this is its everyday cream: light, quick to absorb, and scented with the familiar Vitamin E fragrance. The page lists hyaluronic acid, vitamin E and raspberry seed oil, and says it is suitable for all skin types. It also says the cream is “clinically proven” to boost hydration by 38% for eight hours, but we could not find a footnote on the page explaining the trial.

The criticism in the low-rated reviews: loyal buyers miss the discontinued Intense version, one found it too drying, and others dislike the newer jar, which they describe as heavy, hard to open, and in one case barely half full under an air bubble. The page recommends a separate SPF on top.

Shea is the body butter people mean when they mention the brand. The current version lists Community Fair Trade shea butter from Ghana, cocoa butter and babassu oil, comes in 50ml, 200ml and 400ml tubs, and claims 72 hours of moisture. Look at the small print: the product description cites a survey of 83 people, while the details lower down quote a user trial of 116.

The bigger issue is that it has changed. The on-site reviews reset with the relaunch, and the October 2026 one- and two-star reviews are all from long-time buyers saying the new formula is thinner, softer or greasier than the thick butter they used for years. One reviewer prefers the new one. If you are replacing a tub you loved, buy the 50ml first.

The Ginger Shampoo is one of The Body Shop’s biggest sellers; the page claims one bottle is sold every 16 seconds, based on global sales in the first half of 2025. It is a sulphate-based shampoo (sodium laureth sulfate comes second) with piroctone olamine, a common anti-dandruff ingredient, plus ginger root oil and birch and willow bark extracts. The brand says it helps clear flakes and soothes dry, itchy scalps, and that it suits sensitive scalps.

Most of the one-star on-site reviews are about Royal Mail deliveries, not the shampoo. Those about the product say it did nothing for their flakes or itching, or that it smells of very little ginger. One reviewer with a scalp condition reported a flare-up. A persistent scalp problem is one for a pharmacist.

Beauty advent calendars are an easy present, and this one is pitched well below most rivals. The Body Shop describes it as 24 “pocket-sized” bestsellers from head to toe; its own FAQ values the contents at £134.50, though the banner on the same page says worth over £120. Either way, “worth” means the full prices of the contents, not a saving. The Ultimate calendar has 25 products, including more full sizes, for more money.

Early reviews are few, and mostly from people who have peeked inside and liked it. The two low ratings are both about delivery: one calendar not yet received by Royal Mail, and an order where only the free gift arrived. Order early and check the parcel on arrival, not on 1 December.