I never really paid much attention to The Body Shop make-up. Body butters? Oh, yes! The odd occasional skincare item? Sure, why not. But somehow I've never really felt that drawn to any of their make-up.
Funnily enough, I've never been too big a fan of highlighters either. My skin still has its occasional oily days and it just doesn't appeal to me to put shine back in when I've just spent ages trying my best to eliminate it.
Maybe it's a craving for all things sparkly around Christmas season, or maybe it's the subtlety of the Shimmer Waves, but this is the first highlighter that has made me reconsider.
I have swatched at intensity here so it would show up in the photograph, but you can still see that there's no chunky glitter and literally just a hint of rosy glow. You could use these shades separately and even apply them as eye shadows, but I like it the most when I just swirl a fluffy eye brush all over the pan and then apply the resulting shade on strategic points such as the tops of my cheekbones, under the brow bone or just above the cupid's bow. I never thought I'd do this, but I've found myself applying this almost daily and it just adds that special something to perfectly finish off any make-up look.
I was sent a this as part of the RSPCA's #MakeOverTheWorld campaign, which fights testing cosmetics on animals - something that I can definitely get behind. While testing cosmetics on animals has been banned within the EU for a long time, global companies have been able to simply do their testing abroad. Last year a new law was passed which banned the sales and marketing of products in the EU that have been tested on animals anywhere. This is an incredible victory and definitely a step in the right direction.
Sadly, there are still so many countries in the world that haven't followed suit - and then there are those like China, which make it mandatory for products to be tested on animals before they can even enter their market. So we still have a long way to go.
The thing with animal testing is not only is it cruel and at times absolutely pointless (there's no denying that rabbits and mice are not humans and their physiology is to a large part completely different from ours), there is just no need to be testing on animals anymore. Companies have a huge pool of ingredients to choose from, that have already been declared as perfectly safe and many natural and cruelty-free companies are guiding the way at how you can still be original and innovative without the need to torture a poor, defenseless animal.
To be honest, this campaign could not have come at a better time for me. I've always been against animal testing and for using ingredients that are as natural as possible, but the truth is that I never actively sought out products that are natural and cruelty-free - it was more of an added bonus if a product had those qualities. I feel like it's time for a shift in thinking and to be more conscious of what it is I'm putting on my face and body. This switch is going to be more of a gradual one - I can't exactly afford to replace my whole beauty and make-up stash and I still have tons of old products to review, but whenever I shop for cosmetics products I no longer just consider hype and pretty packaging, but also whether something would make for an ethical purchase or not.
If you want to read more about the RSPCA's #MakeOverTheWorld campaign, click on this link here. And while The Body Shop's products are not all completely natural, none of them are tested on animals, so you can buy them knowing that no poor creature had to suffer for our vanity.
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