The Body Shop has rebranded its Drops of Youth range to Edelweiss, in what it has called a “huge commercial risk” to tackle the beauty industry’s stigma around ageing.
The majority of people globally believe beauty brands can have a negative impact on self-confidence, according to research from The Body Shop in 2021.
Airbrushed or altered images and unrealistic claims were cited as the main factors.
The results of the findings were the “final catalyst” for the The Natura & Co-owned business to review and “reflect on its own practices”.
The collection’s namesake key ingredient, which contains leontopodic acid, has now been reformulated to deliver double the concentration.
The Edelweiss Cleansing Concentrate and Edelweiss Intense Smoothing Cream have also joined the range’s main product line-up, which remains unchanged.
“We are taking a huge commercial risk in changing the name of our most popular range, but it is worth it to stay true to our purpose,” said Lionel Thoreau, Global Brand Vice President of The Body Shop.
“We are a change-making, B Corp, activist brand. It is our duty to ensure we aren’t sharing the wrong message.”
The stigma towards ageing has been a hotly discussed topic within the beauty industry.
Women over 55 feel underrepresented or misrepresented by advertising, according to L’Oréal Paris.
Dior came under fire in 2017 for choosing a 25-year-old Cara Delevingne as the face of its Capture Youth anti-ageing line, which was aimed at women over 30.
But a pro-age movement is gaining momentum in the industry, with brands being celebrated for repositioning their communication strategies to more closely reflect their target consumers.
Laura Geller Beauty made the decision last year to exclusively feature women over 40 in all of its marketing and social media messaging.
Two thirds of UK women also feel life is fragile and getting older is 'something to appreciate', Avon reported in 2022.
Three in five (59%) of women in the UK said their confidence was improving as they age, with just over half (51%) saying that ageing is not something they fear.
The Body Shop added that its rebranding effort aims to address the negative attitudes towards ageing, whilst also harkening back to the brand’s activist roots.
“The Body Shop believes that ageing is a joy and a privilege, and our job is to lift people up, helping them age powerfully, rather than wish they were in a time-machine,” said Thoreau.