Have you sold out?
I've done exactly what the original staff in The Body Shop would expect. I've sold the company, I've sold my shares and given my money away - that's exactly what the system was about.
I felt personally let down [when you sold to L'Oréal]
Well, I don't know if you were personally let down. I think there is a sense of purism that says you cannot grow, you cannot advance. You should have been personally let down when I sold to the stock market, but you weren't because you never saw anything changing. I think there's a sense of "here's another good institution being bought by the French", but then the Brits never liked us anyway, especially the financial journalists, so, the notion that it was an iconic company, that it was a British treasure, was bullshit. We were a bunch of nutty activists who happened to come into this extraordinary idea of selling products and, bloody hell, we were good at it.
Did the backlash surprise you?
The backlash surprised me, stupid me, about Nestlé. I just didn't get it.
What did you not get?
No one was ever curious about who was investing in The Body Shop and so, knowing that they [Nestlé] were 25% investor-owners [in L'Oréal], I couldn't understand why people were worried, whether you liked them or didn't like them. I don't particularly like Nestlé.
Do you understand now?
No, not really, because everybody thinks that any money made goes to Nestlé but it doesn't - it stays within The Body Shop. L'Oréal ringfences the money. It goes to develop The Body Shop.
But if The Body Shop does spectacularly well, doesn't Nestlé still get some money?
I guess they would but that's not changing The Body Shop's values. People lost sight of what we were good at. We were brilliantat campaigning. We changed the economic structure of purchasing. If L'Oréal is going to adopt that, fantastic. I'm at an age when an approximate solution to these problems has got my vote, so I'm not a purist on this stuff .
What's it like having to justify yourself?
I've always had to justify myself. Every time you put your head above the parapet it's going to get knocked down. L'Oréal is not the enemy. I'm too smart and too old to be tricked.
There was talk of a boycott, did that happen?
It didn't happen.
Were sales affected?
There was protest but it was more headlines. Sales didn't drop.
There's no sense of hypocrisy?
No. Why would I consider it hypocritical if I am allowed to do exactly what I wanted?
How much did you make [from the sale]?
I think we made, Gordon and I, about £127m, so £30m straight away is going into our foundation, which will give us about £3m a year to donate.
Is there ever a sense that you've been doing this too long?
Doing what, activism? No. What's the alternative? Death, I guess. No, I think you get more radical as you get older. When you get to my age there are things you are free from. You're not worried about what you look like, that's for sure.
Really?
Absolutely. What you want to do is look less tired. You do not spend hours, I guarantee you, saying, "Oh my god, my skin has dropped, I've got wrinkles." The idea of a wrinkle-free face is so horrific to most women my age.
Why?
Because it's a plan of your life.
Isn't that the opposite of what the beauty industry says?
The beauty industry can say what it likes, it's all over the place.
But you are part of that industry.
No I'm not. I'm only interested in lives.
Would The Body Shop ever do an anti-ageing cream?
I don't care what The Body Shop does any more. The Body Shop is not my problem, I don't own it. I'm not The Body Shop. Stop talking to me about The Body Shop. Talk to me about my real life.
Do you still go into the shops?
Oh, yes.
Do you still use the products?
Oh, yes.
What's your beauty regime like?
You know, the biggest trick for people my age is exfoliation. Clean like crazy and exfoliate.
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