In a bold new move, pioneering international brand The Body Shop has changed the name of its best-selling skincare range ‘Drops of Youth™’ – a bottle of which sells every 25 seconds across the globe – to ‘Edelweiss’. 

“We’re going back to the brand’s activist roots and are putting purpose ahead of commercial interest to say ageing should be joyful – not something to avoid,” explains Carlos Jardim, General Manager of The Body Shop South Africa. “We want to empower people to feel fully and authentically themselves rather than striving for an impossible beauty standard.”

From the very beginning, The Body Shop founder Anita Roddick ripped up the norms and codes of the beauty industry, campaigning tirelessly on human rights and environmental issues, as well as self-esteem. She was known for her firm stance on anti-ageing, famously saying, “If you didn’t want to get wrinkles, you should have stopped smiling years ago.” 

In 2021, The Body Shop launched a self-love campaign to inspire inner confidence and commissioned a Global Self Love Index. The findings couldn’t be clearer: the majority of respondents think the beauty industry’s airbrushed images and unrealistic claims have a negative impact on self-confidence. 

The Index served as a catalyst for the brand to review and reflect on its own practices, and to clean house where it felt it was falling short of its founding values. Moving away from ‘Drops of Youth™’ is part of this firm commitment, says Jardim.

New improved formula, extended range

The new name comes with a new and improved formula and extended line-up. The game changer is the Edelweiss extract containing Leontopodic acid – a unique and powerful ingredient that’s 60 percent stronger than known antioxidant ferulic acid and 43 percent stronger than retinol – helping you keep a radiantly fresh face, whatever your age.

The Edelweiss line-up still includes the legendary concentrate and favourites from the Drops of Youth™ range but has been extended to include two more products – Edelweiss Cleansing Concentrate and Edelweiss Intense Smoothing Cream.

Organically cultivated, responsible ingredients

Vegan Society Certified and within strict ‘green chemistry’ principles, Edelweiss is organically farmed and harvested by hand by The Body Shop’s trusted supplier. It is carefully and respectfully cultivated in areas where the tiny Alpine flower is not endangered. It is then extracted using zero chemical waste, first through drying the plant, and then distilled using a renewable process.

The Body Shop Edelweiss range is available in selected stores nationally and online.