Because St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, I decided to get a little bold and festive with my look today, and throw in some shimmering green to make it pop. Wear this out on St. Patty’s Day and you’ll definitely get some double-takes!

• Begin by priming your eye with Skin Primer Matte It. I also used Eye Color Shade 07: Conker all over my lids, just to smooth out the texture and cover all my little veins and such.

• Start by taking Eye Color Shade 45: Star Silver and carefully pulling it into the inner corner of your eye. I like to use a Slanted Brush for this, because it gives me a more precise application. Star Silver is super pigmented, so you can get as much shine as you want out of this shade. I also took a bit up to the brow line.

• Next take Eye Color Shade 39: Soft Black and use a bigger brush like the Eyeshadow Blender Brush and sweep the matte black on the outer half of your lid and up into the crease.

• Take the Metallic Eye Definer in Shade 11: Vibrant Emerald and line all the way around your eyes. I even did the corners for added impact, with a little flick into the outside corners.

• Finish up by lining waterline with Eye Definer Shade 01: Black and swiping on one coat of Divide & Multiply Mascara.

This is a really simple look that pays off big time because of the colors. And everyone needs a little green to celebrate St. Patty’s Day, so give it a try and let me know how it goes!

We are so excited to announce the start of LemonAid, our brand new values campaign to help combat sex trafficking of children and young people. We’ll be donating up to $10,000 to ECPAT and Somaly Mam Foundation based on the actions of our customers, which is where you come in!

You can visit our LemonAid page to start helping, but first let me tell you the 5 ways that you can pitch in to rack up the dollar donations:

1. Fan The Body Shop USA on Facebook = $2 donation
2. Follow us on Twitter = $2 donation
3. Use the hashtag #LemonAid on Twitter = $.50 donation
4. Enter the sweepstakes to win a Sweet Lemon gift pack by entering your email = $1 donation
5. Visit the “Squeeze Me!” widget and either squeeze a lemon or install the widget below. Every lemon squeeze = $.50 and each widget install = $1 donation

And just for a little background, here is some information on the organizations we’ll be supporting:

ECPAT International has a global network of organizations committed to stopping the exploitation and trafficking of children for sexual purposes. Through enacting initiatives on local levels as well as providing support and education, ECPAT continues to advocate for children everywhere.

The Somaly Mam foundation was started by its namesake founder, herself a survivor of sexual slavery. After escaping her captors, Somaly Mam began this organization to help support other survivors as they rebuild their lives by providing emotional and economic support. Somaly Mam also creates global awareness raising initiatives to make sure that the issue of children in sexual slavery is not ignored.

Before each season begins, Pantone— the global authority on color–chooses the shades and hues that will be featured throughout that season. I’m in love with the spring 2010 colors because they’re just so vibrant and fresh! Take a look for yourself.

You’ll be seeing these shades all over the hot picks for spring fashion, as well as for lips, cheeks, and eyes. I’ve made the selection a bit easier for you by matching up each shade with one of our signature eye, cheek, or lip colors so that you’re just one click away from being right on trend!

We’ve just begun the countdown to the launch of another one of our exciting new initiatives. This is one that we feel particularly passionate about, mainly because it supports incredibly important and powerful work.

We’ll be making donations to our Stop Sex Trafficking of Children & Young People campaign partners - ECPAT and Somaly Mam Foundation - to help support this important cause, so if you want to be in the know, you can grab our countdown widget below and add it to your social site or blog. On the day of the launch, March 15, the widget will be transformed into a tool that will help you help us help an amazing cause with donations.

Stay tuned!

We know that lots of people love to pick up the paper in the morning and flip to their horoscopes over a cup of coffee. Horoscopes are a fun way to learn a little something about yourself, so we thought it would be fun to see how your sign affects your style picks: what colors look best on you, and what scents compliment your personality.

Pisces are water signs, best known for their vibrant imaginations and lively creativity. One of their great strengths is their ability to go with the flow, just like their element— water. If you’ve got a friend that’s a Pisces, you can probably attest to this wonderful characteristic, noticing that Pisces is usually the last one to get stressed about a change of plans. They’re much more likely to focus on the adventure and spontaneity, because Pisces are great lovers of adventure.

This sense of “flow” makes its way right into the Pisces fish’s sense of style. Long, flowing skirts and outfits that have something of a hippie look to them are a Piscean favorite, as well as a strong tendency to look thrift store chic. They generally aren’t fans of having their feet covered up, so you might notice them wearing flip-flops well into cold weather. Pisces laid-back attitude extends into their clothing, and although they may not place fashion at the top of their list, they can pretty much rock whatever they wear.

Lavender is a power shade for Pisces, so if you happen to be the fishy sign, then try incorporating this shade into your makeup and clothing palette. Naturally, being a water sign means that shades of blue and vibrant greens bring out the best in a Pisces, as well as reddish purples. Check out Eye Color Shades 30: Amethyst, 42: Midnight Blue, and 44: Golden Meadow for a great starting point. Very pure essences and flower scents will appeal to the Piscean, so try something with an unmistakably floral aroma like White Gardenia.

Here’s a quick step-by-step tutorial on how to line your waterline so that it stays. This should take you about 5 minutes and last most of the day if you do it carefully!

• Conceal – Concealing under your eyes not only makes them look fresher, it helps keep the eyeliner on your lower lash line and waterline from migrating. I’m using our Concealer sticks because I love how easily they blend with my fingertips.

• Line Waterline – Use Eye Definer in Shade 01: Black to line directly on your waterline. This will look a little light at first, but don’t worry. We’ll make it bolder in the next few steps.

• Line Lash Line – Use the same Eye Definer to line directly underneath your eye, on the lower lash line. Then take a Slanted Brush and gently smudge the eyeliner to make it look less harsh.

• Set – Using the same Slanted Brush, take a bit of Eye Color Shade 39: Soft Black, which is a matte black shade, and gently tap it on top of the liner you’ve already put on your waterline. This will darken the color as well as set the eyeliner just like powder sets your foundation.

Pop singer Rihanna is no stranger to high fashion or daring makeup choices. She is almost as famous for her style chaos as she is for her chart topping hits. From drastic hair cuts to bold eye colors, Rihanna is a true style daredevil. Here are a few quick tips for taking her trademark style and adapting it to make it your own.

• Flawless skin – Bold eye and lip shades need an absolutely smooth canvass to work, otherwise you could end up looking like an amateur. These types of looks have to be super-precise, so choose a foundation like our Flawless Skin Protecting Foundation, which gives you a smooth cream-to-powder finish.

• Dramatic eyes – Rihanna loves the edgy cat-eye look, which is best achieved using a Liquid Eyeliner. Liquid eyeliner will give you the precision to create those eye-catching flicks, but here’s a little more detail if you need a tutorial on eyeliner wings.

• Eye-Popping Lips – Nothing is more dramatic than a pair of brightly painted lips. To get Rihanna’s look, skip the shiny glosses and go for a heavily pigmented lip color with major payoff. Try Colourglide Lip Color in Shade 58: Magenta Glow or 59: Neon Pink. You won’t be disappointed!

You may remember not too long ago, we launched a brand new line of skin care products called Nutriganics, which is our first anti-aging and organic skin care range. These Ecocert certified organic facial skin care products were created to address the first signs of aging, and to promote a radiant and healthy looking complexion.

Everyone can benefit from the smoothing, anti-aging properties of the Nutriganics line, whether you’re just beginning your preventative wrinkle care or well versed in the benefits of anti-aging treatments.

Our Nutriganics line contains our Community Trade organic Babassu oil, a light oil that never feels greasy. This oil is pressed from the Babassu nuts of our suppliers in northeastern Brazil. These suppliers were empowered by this trade to fight for a law to be passed prohibiting the cutting down of the Babassu Palms, protecting both their livelihood and the environment.

There are 7 full-size products in the Nutriganics line, and here’s the routine to follow:

• Step 1: Cleanse – Gently massage the light foam of the Foaming Facial Wash into your face after wetting it with lukewarm water. This is a gentle cleanser that won’t strip your face of those oh-so-essential oils.

• Step 2: Tone – Next, pour a bit of the Refreshing Toner onto a cotton pad wipe it across your face and neck. This will remove all residual traces of face cleanser, as well as help to restore the pH balance to your delicate facial skin.

• Step 3: Smooth – In this particular regimen, the Smoothing Serum is the next step. Use a very thin layer to deeply hydrate the skin of your face and neck and allow time for it to sink in.

• Step 4: Moisturize – Apply either the Smoothing Day Cream during your morning cleanse, or Smoothing Night Cream in the evening before bed. You’ll notice that the Night Cream is a bit thicker, to allow it to absorb richly while you sleep without interfering with your makeup like it would during the day!

• Step 5: Protect – Pump a rice-sized amount of the Smoothing Eye Cream onto your ring finger. Then rub both of your ring fingers together and lightly pat on the cream under and around your eye area.

• Step 6: Weeklies – Use the Smoothing Mask once a week to ensure smooth and soft skin that lasts.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the Nutriganics products are not available for purchase in California. California has their own organic labeling standards, which the Nutriganics line does not meet.

Every so often, we like to take some time to click around to other blogs and see what people are saying about The Body Shop and our products. We love customer feedback and reviews, because they help us to create and modify our products to give you exactly what you want! Here’s what we have to report on what others are saying about our products around the blogosphere recently.

• We’re pretty proud of our (Oprah approved!) makeup brushes, so we were excited to find that Beautynewbie loves them too. Check out the sweet haul she did on some of our makeup brushes that she purchased recently!



• You may not realize it, but we make hair products too! Tallulauh Bella discovered our Honey Moisturizing Shampoo & Conditioner recently and was raving about how much she loves the smell. Not to mention the moisture and shine they bring to her locks!

• Britney’s Beauty Blog snagged one of our holiday limited edition Warm Amber Body Scrubs and loved its warm, woodsy scent, as well as its incredible smoothing ability. Unfortunately, she ran out of this holiday exclusive, so we suggest she make her rounds to The Body Shop store sales and see if she can snag the last of the batch.

In the spring and summertime, I typically have nicely hydrated, almost dewy skin. But something happens once the mercury starts to drop, and my skin starts to dry out and get flakey, leaving me combating both the dry indoor heat and the chapping winds of winter.

There are a couple of problem spots that we all struggle to keep moisturized, so here are a few quick tips on how to keep those areas smooth and supple.

• Elbows – The thing that’s most frustrating about dry elbows is that they are often accompanied by unsightly dark patches. To rid yourself of these, simply cut a lemon in half and rest each of your elbows in the halves for 10 minutes to help erase discoloration.

• Knees – Knees can often suffer from the same discoloration as we mentioned on the elbows above, but knees have to deal with the additional brutality of razors running over them. Gently exfoliate and moisturize simultaneously while bathing using a creamy scrub like Vitamin E Cream Exfoliator, because skin will absorb moisture better when it’s damp.

• Lips – Most people don’t realize how important it is to exfoliate their lips, mainly because there aren’t many products that encourage lip exfoliation. But that flakiness on your lips first needs to be sloughed off before moisturizing, otherwise you won’t be able to smooth on that lipstick. Try our Lip Scuff, which simultaneously exfoliates and moisturizes.

• Bottoms of feet – In summer and winter, our feet take a beating. In the summer, it’s typically from running around barefoot, but in the winter, it’s just sheer dryness. The soles of your feet are not an area with much natural moisture, so it’s important to pay them the proper attention. Before you go to bed at night, slather on the intense moisture of our Hemp Foot Protector, and then pull on a pair of cotton socks. The socks will help the moisture to soak in even better, so you’ll wake with softened and protected feet.

• Hands – Hands stay exposed throughout the year, no matter what the season, but it’s important to wear gloves as much as possible in the wintertime for protection. One very important tip to remember for hands is to skip the hot water washes in the wintertime. Try using lukewarm or cold water, and save your delicate hand skin some damage. After moisturizing at night, try pulling on some cotton gloves to trap in the warmth and help absorb the lotion.