TWELVE months ago, Amanda Alcock swapped a life of reporting on crime for body butters, lip glosses and pamper parties.

As an executive manager for The Body Shop At Home, the 29-year-old former journalist is now an expert on the company’s products — from the argan oil range to new nail polishes due to launch next month.

Since it was founded in 1976, by businesswoman and environmental campaigner Dame Anita Roddick, The Body Shop has become known for its popular products such as the range of super-rich and creamy body butters and iconic fragrances.

Having shopped at The Body Shop’s high street stores since being a teenager, Amanda said: “White musk, that’s one of the things that everyone associates with Body Shop and Dewberry, which we don’t do anymore.

"We still do the White Musk.

“When you say to people, what’s your favourite product, most people say the body butter.

“Again that’s one of the things that’s always been associated with the brand.

“The nail varnish is a new line. It’s 100% vegan and doesn’t have a lot of chemicals other nail varnishes have in them.”

It was while at a Body Shop pamper party three years ago that Amanda was offered the chance to become a consultant and started working part-time to earn extra money for her wedding in 2012.

Last year she left her job as crime reporter at The Bolton News, where she had worked for seven years.

Amanda, who lives in Sharples with husband Adam, said: “I did use their skincare range and make-up and things and I have always liked make-up but it’s great because you do get a lot of training through the company so that’s good.

“They teach us about the products and the ingredients.

“We’ve got the Honey Bronze, that’s a make-up range that we do using Fair Trade honey from Ethiopia.”

Speaking of her Body Shop must-haves, she said: “There’s so many. It’s really hard to pick.
“I really like the argan oil range.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous and argan oil is huge at the moment for haircare.

“Body Shop has done a whole range, body butters, an oil, bubble bath.”

Amanda is now recruiting for people to join her team in time for Christmas, as 46% of the annual trade is done between October and December.

She said: “It keeps me busy, definitely.

“Some of the stores have closed but not that many. Bolton’s has unfortunately closed but they are investing in other stores."

Anyone interested in booking a party or joining The Body Shop At Home can call Amanda on 07841 849430.

Argan oil range
The community Fair Trade organic argan oil is carefully pressed from the best argan nuts, hand-cracked by Berber women in south west Morocco. The kernels are pressed and filtered slowly over 48 hours to extract the purest oil possible, to infuse the products with the most sublime radiance for the skin.
The Body Shop's trade with the six Targanine co-operatives provides women with a fair and regular income, helping them raise their living standards and increase their independence.

Community Fair Trade shea butter
High-quality butter is made from shea fruit fallen from the tree of life, made by 476 women in Ghana. The shea butter is extracted from the kernel of ripe shea fruits by hand. It takes one woman two days to extract 25kg of shea butter.