The Body Shop vs Lush, Boots and Holland & Barrett: 45-day returns and £5 back per £100

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Buy something at The Body Shop and you have 45 days to return it under its money-back guarantee, longer than the 35 days Boots gives you. Add a loyalty club that hands back a £5 voucher for every £100 you spend, and travel sizes from £3.50, and it has a decent case against the bigger names.

The brand has been on the British high street since Anita Roddick opened a small green shop in Brighton in 1976. It's still known for body butters, hand creams, shower gels and skincare built around ingredients such as shea, hemp, tea tree and vitamin E, plus fragrances like White Musk. The UK business went into administration in February 2024 and closed a number of stores, before the brand and its UK business were bought by Auréa Group in September 2024. Today it trades from over 100 UK shops and its own website, run by The Body Shop International Limited from Littlehampton in West Sussex.

We've compared it with three well-known rivals, Lush, Boots and Holland & Barrett, on price, delivery, returns, rewards and discounts. Details come from each retailer's own website.

Small prices to start with

The Body Shop makes it cheap to try something new. Travel sizes start at £3.50 for a 60ml shower gel, shampoo or conditioner, and 50ml body butters are £7. Among the bestsellers, the Ginger Anti-dandruff Shampoo starts at £3.50, the Hemp Hand Protector at £8 and the Vitamin E Moisture Day Cream at £8.

That makes it a low-risk place to find a scent or moisturiser you like before committing to a full-size pot, and a "shop 4 travel sizes, get 1 free" offer on minis brings the cost down further right now.

The range is focused rather than huge. You won't find medicines, vitamins or other brands here, as you would at Boots or Holland & Barrett. Everything is The Body Shop's own, across bath and body, skincare, haircare, fragrance and gifts, which is part of the appeal if you already know the ranges you like.

Rewards worth having

The free Love Your Body™ Club gives you 5 points for every £1 you spend, in shops or online. Every 500 points turns into a £5 voucher, so you get £5 back for every £100 you spend. Share your birthday and, if you've shopped in the past year, you get a £5 birthday voucher too.

• The Body Shop: 5 points per £1, with a £5 voucher for every 500 points.
• Boots: the Advantage Card gives 3 points per £1, with each point worth 1p, plus member-only Price Advantage offers.
• Holland & Barrett: H&B&Me earns 4 points per £1, with £3 in points after your first purchase and member prices.
• Lush: no points scheme, but five clean black pots returned to a shop can be swapped for a free fresh face mask.

On those numbers, The Body Shop's club pays back more per pound than the Boots Advantage Card. The catch is that club vouchers expire three months after they're issued, so spend them rather than let them build up.

Delivery: free from £35

The Body Shop's Super Saver delivery costs £3.49, takes 3-5 working days and is free when you spend £35. Standard delivery (2-3 working days) is £3.99, and Next Working Day delivery is £4.99, or free on orders over £60, if you order by 3pm.

• Lush: £3.95, free over £50. Next working day is £6.95.
• Boots: £3.95, free over £25. Next day is £5.95.
• Holland & Barrett: £3.49, free over £30. Next day is £4.99, free over £60.

So The Body Shop's free delivery threshold is lower than Lush's, and its next-day price matches Holland & Barrett's. Boots has the lowest free delivery threshold of the four.

A long returns window

The 45-day money-back guarantee runs from delivery and needs your receipt. That compares with 35 days at Boots, and 30 days for unused, unopened items at Holland & Barrett. Lush lets you cancel an online order within 14 days of receiving it and offers an exchange or refund with a receipt under its no-quibble policy.

There are two catches. Opened or unsealed products can't be returned for hygiene reasons unless they arrived damaged or faulty, and online orders can't currently be returned to a UK shop, so you'll need to post them back.

Discounts for students, key workers and the forces

The Body Shop has discounts for several groups. Students get 10% off through Student Beans. Its promotion terms give Blue Light Card holders 15% off online and Defence Discount Service members 10% off, both until 31 December 2026. Most exclude gifts, sale items and Advent calendars.

For comparison, Holland & Barrett gives Blue Light Card holders 5% off and students 10% in store or 15% online, Boots gives students 10% with an Advantage Card, and we couldn't find a student or Blue Light discount on Lush's website.

Subscriptions that save

If you get through the same shampoo or hand cream every month, The Body Shop's subscriptions knock 10% off and include free delivery on every order. You choose a delivery every one, two or three months, and can skip, pause or cancel from your account. You still earn club points on subscription orders, though you can't add discount codes.

Where the others have the edge

The Body Shop isn't the right choice for everything:

• Click and collect: Boots, Lush and Holland & Barrett all let you collect online orders from a shop. We couldn't find click and collect on The Body Shop's website.
• Shops near you: Boots has around 2,000 shops across the UK and Ireland and Holland & Barrett more than 1,300 stores, against just over 100 for The Body Shop.
• Cheaper free delivery: Boots delivers free from £25 and Holland & Barrett from £30.
• Handmade and unpackaged: Lush sells many products with no packaging at all, which may matter more to you than price.
• One-stop shopping: Boots and Holland & Barrett sell many brands, medicines and supplements alongside beauty.

Who The Body Shop suits best

It's a good fit if you have favourite body butters, hand creams or fragrances and want to buy them at a fair price, with points that turn into £5 vouchers. It also suits students, Blue Light Card holders and the armed forces, who all get a discount, and anyone who likes trying travel sizes before buying full-size products.

Your questions answered

Who owns The Body Shop now?

Auréa Group, a consortium led by Mike Jatania and Charles Denton, bought the brand and its UK business in September 2024. The UK company is The Body Shop International Limited, based in Littlehampton.

Can I return an online order in a shop?

Not at the moment. Online orders have to be sent back by post within 45 days of delivery, with your receipt.

Do Love Your Body™ Club points expire?

Points expire after 12 months without any activity, and £5 vouchers expire three months after they're issued.

Ways to save at The Body Shop

Current offers include 20% off routines and 25% off Pumpkin routines, a free mystery gift when you spend £45, "shop 4 travel sizes, get 1 free" and up to 30% off in the online Outlet. Check The Body Shop's offers page, see the six best The Body Shop deals this week, and find every current offer on our The Body Shop voucher codes page.

Sources: The Body Shop, The Body Shop offers, The Body Shop delivery and returns, The Body Shop terms of sale, The Body Shop promotion terms, Love Your Body™ Club terms, Companies House, Wikipedia, Lush delivery, Boots delivery, Boots Advantage Card, Holland & Barrett delivery, H&B&Me

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