Lily Cole named as The Body Shop’s first ambassador

We talk exclusively to the British model as she fronts the store’s new Beauty with Heart campaign

She’s already ticked modelling, acting and TV presenting off the list, and now Lily Cole can add beauty ambassador to her bulging CV as she’s named The Body Shop’s first ever brand advocate.

The brainy Cambridge University graduate has joined forces with the high street cosmetics giant as part of their new beauty movement, Beauty with Heart, which aims to promote their skincare and make-up products – all made using vegetarian and fairtrade ingredients that are never tested on animals – as well as the brand’s global campaigning initiatives.

Already an active campaigner for people and planet issues with the Environmental Justice Foundation, Lily seems like the perfect fit for the role.

She told us in an exclusive interview: ‘Whenever you buy something there’s a whole chain of people around the world who are affected. But by changing production lines in a positive way, like the work that The Body Shop does, you can lift people out of poverty and protect the environment, by empowering consumers to drive for change rather than asking for charity. And this has always been something I wanted to explore further.’

Lily added: ‘It’s been wonderful to work with The Body Shop because they’ve been championing this for years so successfully. But the bigger their presence is the more they can help different communities around the world. And at the end of the line, they make great products too, so it’s a win-win situation!’

The 23-year-old will front the new The Body Shop campaign, as well as lend her name to the new Cruelty Free Make-up collection, which hits the shop shelves from the end of May, that combines beauty bag staples with the store’s firm policy against testing on animals.

If that wasn’t enough of a treat for Body Shop fans, many of their UK stores are having a revamp to coincide with the new movement, and will be rebranded as ‘pulse boutiques’, which will mix fresh, contemporary design with interactive functionality and a ‘create your own gift’ areas.

Does Lily have any Body Shop favourites? ‘I love the body butters,’ she says. ‘There’s so much choice, with such an array of scents to pick from, and right now I’m obsessed with the Chocomania chocolate collection. Ooh, and I adore the sheer beautifying oil too, because it feels so fresh and natural.’

Aside from her new Body Shop gig, the diligent star has got lots of other exciting projects in the pipeline, including (deep breath) acting roles in this summer’s Kristen Stewart-starring blockbuster, Snow White and the Huntsman, horror flick The Moth Diaries and the French film, Confessions of a Child of the Century, as well as making her TV presenting debut with the Sky Arts show, Art Matters, which is scheduled to hit screens early next year.

But for the moment, she’s concentrating on The Body Shop project.

She says: ‘This runs much deeper than just being the face of a campaign, it’s really important, so it’s a really exciting project to be part of!’

And we couldn’t think of a better person to front it.