Introducing The Body Shop's new flagship concept store, the Changemaker's Workshop, where sustainability, activism and of course, amazing beauty and makeup products take centre stage.

Located inside Toronto's Yorkdale Shopping Centre, this new concept store is providing customers with immersive and personal product experiences while giving them the opportunity to participate in local activism related to environmental or social causes.

The Body Shop invited me to visit the new Yorkdale flagship and experience everything the Changemaker's Workshop has to offer. Here are four new aspects of the store that combine beauty and activism.

The refill station

A big priority for The Body Shop is to create less waste. At the new flagship and all other Changemaker's Workshop stores around the country (Yorkdale is the sixth to open in Canada), shoppers have the opportunity to refill their favourite shower gels, shampoos, conditioners and hand soap.

Twelve best-selling products from The Body Shop (including their iconic Shea Shower Cream) are available to purchase in a 300 ml aluminum bottle and can be refilled after the product is done.

I chose the much-loved Ginger Scalp Care Shampoo (hello, silky tresses) and even got to decorate my reusable bottle with activism-centred stickers.

So far, some 90,000 bottles have been saved and diverted from landfills — and that's a win for beauty and the environment.

An accessible central sink

To provide shoppers with a more interactive experience, the Changemaker's Workshop features a large-scale sink, smack-dab in the middle of the store, which is a first in the long history of The Body Shop. Customers are encouraged to test out products at the sink and get a first-hand experience of the luxurious body scrubs and creams.

I tried out the limited edition Luscious Lychee Body Scrub per the recommendation of a helpful store employee, and the scrub quickly turned my dry hands into soft and supple grabbers! I was encouraged to massage and lather to my heart's delight, then I simply washed it off in the sink to repeat.

Gifting station

Everyone loves a gift — but The Body Shop has taken the gifting experience one step further by giving shoppers the opportunity to customize gifts for any occasion, big or small. 

Pick from recyclable paper, ribbons and cards in order to create a completely custom and thoughtful beauty gift. If simplicity is your thing, The Body Shop is making things even easier for you with a selection of pre-packaged gift sets.

ACT area

One of the most important elements of the Changemaker's Workshop is the safe spaces they provide for activism on a local and national level.

This is the ethos of the ACT area, a dedicated space in-store where customers can learn about specific issues affecting their community, engage with like-minded individuals who are committed to driving positive change and take action in order to see this commitment take shape in the form of tangible differences.

Right now across The Body Shop stores, a petition posed to the Canadian federal government is asking the House of Commons to move federal election day to the weekend, making it more accessible for students and workers to get out and vote.

But that's not all, 90 per cent of the store has been outfitted with sustainable materials like reclaimed wood products and recycled plastic storage crates, from the tables used to hold merchandise to countertops made from recycled plastic.

Unique to the Yorkdale flagship is a custom piece of textile art by Toronto-based artist Laura Moore. Using upcycled totes, aprons and scarves, Moore has created a handmade memory quilt outlining the map of Toronto that represents the power of community and The Body Shop's history of making change.

My experience of the Changemaker's Workshop was totally different from any prior visit to The Body Shop I've made. I felt truly welcomed into the space and was encouraged to ask any and all questions about products, petitions, and basically anything that jumped into my brain.

Not only did I get to try out some best-selling beauty, skin, and makeup products, but I was also so glad to learn that Community Fair Trade aloe vera and tea tree oils are used in my favourite scrubs and creams. This means that the people harvesting and taking care of these plants were benefiting from the transaction too.

But don't just take our word for it. Head over to The Body Shop's Changemaker's Workshop at Yorkdale Mall and experience beauty and activism coming together in a completely unique way.