Back in 1992, The Body Shop became the first global cosmetics company to use hemp as an ingredient and widespread outrage and controversy followed. Much of the world wasn’t ready for hemp – Cannabis sativa – because discourse frequently confused hemp with another variety of the plant – cannabis.
Anti-drug campaigners, politicians and police were involved across the globe from France to the US. Undeterred The Body Shop launched a complete hemp collection in 1998, and its Hemp Hand Protector is still its bestselling product with one sold every nine seconds globally*.
The late Dame Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, knew hemp seed oil was a standout ingredient.
