Lily Cole’s “Beauty with Heart” range

Cole at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival ©Wikimedia Commons; Image credit: Siebbi

The Body Shop has announced that Lily Cole is their first global brand ambassador. Cole commented that it was The Body Shop’s “responsible attitude to people and the environment” that had motivated her to become the global advocate of the store.

The model and actress has joined forces with the brand in order to front their new “Beauty with Heart” range, which is driven by the ethos of “looking good, feeling good and doing good”. The collection, as with all products from the Body Shop, is cruelty free and vegetarian. As a result, bug shells, which can be used by firms in order to create colour in a product are avoided. Similarly, mineral mica and binding agents from vegetable materials are used by the Body Shop in order to create shimmer, as opposed to crushed shell fish.

The range is heavily influenced by summer trends, with coral, pink and violet shades dominating the collection. For the more daring among us there is a purple liquid eyeliner and a variety of shimmery pastel eye shadows. My must have would be the set of four makeup brushes, which are made from artificial fibres, as opposed to goats’ hair. Priced at £14.50 I think it is a reasonably priced starter kit for anyone looking to try out brushes for the first time, or who just wants a convenient set for on the go. Coming in at a close second would be the “Pearl Radiance Primer”, which can be used alone or over foundation to highlight the top of the cheekbones for a summer glow.

Lily’s favourite product of the collection is said to be the multifunctional “Lip and Cheek Dome”, which is a gel consistency that can be used either as a lip or cheek stain. If your loan is running dry but you still would like to give the range a try, the "Hi-shine Lip treatments" come in four different shades and are priced at a student friendly £4.

To coincide with the release of the collection, it has also been announced that many stores will be revamped into “Pulse Boutiques”. The company hopes that these new boutiques will be a place where “beauty, activism and community will meet”. The new design will feature more interactive areas for customers, alongside a bulletin board that will display information about the company’s ongoing campaigns and involvement with the local community. The new design will also help to reduce the company’s energy usage as a part of the company's campaign to reduce their environmental impact.

The redesign of stores and this limited edition collection signify a really exciting time for the Body Shop. If you are looking for a reason to treat yourself in this rather gloomy exam period pop into stores from the 24th May to view the range.