The Drops of Youth range was one of The Body Shop’s best-selling skin care ranges and the flagship Drops of Youth Concentrate was the brand’s number-one product.
Last year, however, it decided to risk a rebrand of its top-selling range to stand against the negative connotations associated with ageing.
“The rebranding of Edelweiss was to move away from the idealisation of youth. We wanted to move away from thinking or connecting it to anti-ageing. Instead, it's all about embracing your whole self,” said Felicia Sun, head of brand and activism, The Body Shop.
With Edelweiss, the company focused very strongly on one keyword: resilience. After all, its eponymous hero ingredient is celebrated for defying the brutal alpine environment as much as its beauty.
“Today, it’s all about self-love and that’s always been a big topic for The Body Shop. We’re all about helping embrace who you are as person as you move along the journey of life. It’s about ageing gracefully and helping your skin become stronger and more resilient helps you to do so,” said Sun.
“[Edelweiss] does just that. It helps to make your skin stronger and protect it against harsh elements like pollutants or any other external aggressors – that's how it makes skin more resilient.”
With the rise of the inclusivity movement, brands like The Body Shop are moving away from terms like ‘anti-ageing’ and choosing more positive terms like ‘pro-ageing’ and ‘well-ageing’.
As previously reported by CosmeticsDesign-Europe, beauty company Avon expected the term ‘anti-ageing’ to disappear from our vernacular.
The company’s own research from 2021 found that 40% of women over 55 no longer consider fine lines and wrinkles to be their biggest insecurity. Instead, this group was increasingly focused on ‘authentic ageing’.
Double dose of edelweiss
In addition to a new name, Edelweiss also boasts an extended line-up of products as well as a new, more powerful serum formula.
Edelweiss Daily Serum Concentrate, which replaced the brand’s bestselling Drops of Youth Concentrate, now comes with double the concentrate of Edelweiss extract.
Edelweiss extract comprises of an active ingredient known as leontopodic acid, a power antioxidant that enables the plant to protect itself in its harsh conditions. According to The Body Shop, Edelweiss extract has 43% more antioxidant power than retinol.
In addition to Edelweiss extract, the formula also contains natural-origin peptides derived from rice to help maintain the skin’s moisture barrier.
Overall, Sun told us the rebrand has been a successful exercise for the company and the new serum has managed to maintain its top spot. “We slowly phased out Drops of Youth, but people really took to Edelweiss quickly after realising the effects of the formula.”
In addition to the new formula, the company also redesigned the packaging for the Edelweiss range, which now uses 100% recycled plastic. Furthermore, the company has also moved away from the use of paper outer boxes.