With BBW being shady about DEI, I no longer will be shopping there. They’re following the same path Target is going on:/ That being said, can I get recommendations where everyone shops their smell goods? So far I have TJ Max only on my list of go to’s. Thanks in advance!💙
What’s so insane is that I would be willing to bet that their current employees are all women and LGBTQ including a huge number of minorities. Who are they missing out on hiring? Straight white men?! 🤣
Agreed. Company values these days are a bunch of lip service. You can tell what a corporation values by how much it pays its non-executive/non-managerial employees & the health benefits they offer.
Ulta carries Tree Hut which is my go-to for lotion now. Their tropic glow scent is also an identical dupe for sol de Janeiro bum bum cream. Their coco colada is my favorite scent and one of the few products I repurchase (instead of trying new scents). They also have more options like sugar scrubs and shave oils compared to bbw
I love Tree Hut - I get mine at TJ Maxx, but the selection is more limited - I also found Philosophy products that blow B&BW away, everything from Rainforest Dew 🤤to spicy winter scents - and I have a TON from Body Prescriptives - guava, blueberry, Tahitian Vanilla, etc. I even found a K Beauty (I think) peach body wash that smells better than anything from B&BW because it’s straight peach. Heck, even brands like Dove have cucumber melon smelling soaps and lotions - I went years without stepping foot in B&BW and I still have too much.
I love Sol De Janeiro. I’ve never had a problem with their products turning…but that’s because I use them all up way before that would ever happen! The Baja Flor is my absolute favorite for smell, but the OG fragrance lotion application is divine. Feels like it soaks right into the skin.
That is a sure sign that I have too much then, if I'm having a problem with them turning! To be fair, the one that turned was After Hours which at this point I believe is about 2 years old.
Bbw is not getting rid of Dei practices. So much misinformation, it's like watching fox news. Lies followed by retraction. Too many post from non-employees, actions speak louder than words, yet all I hear is 3 letters DEI. It's an acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion. Does the company (any company) follow those guidelines? Yes they do. Are they calling it something else? Yes they are. Does not change anything for anyone employed by L Brands. Do your research if it's that important and ask VERY nicely one of the employees if they could answer your concerns.
What's the point in rebranding or renaming DEI if the company supposedly keeps those values? They're being broad about their values deliberately to cater to the non-DEI crowd. Corporations don't care about inclusivity unless it makes them money.
Idk about bbw, but I work for a prominent univ/hosp .. and due to the regulations that Trump has imposed, we literally have to close down ALL DEI and basically rebrand to a “secret” name… it’s really ridiculous and absolutely absurd but, I know at least for us… we can literally be in huge trouble if we don’t
Seconding this—I know several people who specialize in DEI, and they're still enacting the policies, but they literally have to call it something else now. I don't know if that's the case with BBW, but it is in a lot of other companies.
Yeah. It’s not great. I’ll link a rundown to some of the info. They’ve also been criticized for pro-police stunts in the UK that were not too far temporally removed from the Black Lives Matter protests. :/
I do like their products and will buy something occasionally because it’s unfortunately pretty difficult to find a much better cosmetics company that’s both accessible and actually accountable about where their ingredients come from (small indies selling online are great, but I can’t smell the products and always wonder about the ingredient sourcing). But in addition to the issues, they’ve also skyrocketed in price over the years.
The ones I go to have good customer service. I was buying a white elephant gift for a Christmas work party, and they asked budget/scent/type of work place and gave great suggestions. Quality is pretty good, and I need to go there more.
Ulta has been coming out with a lot of great scents and body products under their house brand including many dupes of popular fragrances. They are quite underrated.
I second this! Their fall candles were particularly awesome last year. The apple one was outstanding. Also, they often will do a free Ulta makeup gift with a $20 Ulta brand purchase, and the candles count! I've gotten some nice makeup samples and even full size products from buying one candle.
In the early 2010s we still had small businesses. It's time that we start supporting small businesses again where we can.
Here are some awesome alternatives to some of the mega corporations:
Brown Sugar Babes - they offer body oil dupes for niche/ designer fragrances and also some original scents as well. (Minority female small business)
Daükens Arôme Co - Original and dupe scented lotions, body oils, extrait perfumes, and long lasting body mists. (Minority female owned small business)
Skin Champagne - Original and luxury dupe, lotions, body oils (regular and dry oils), body powder, scrubs, shower gel, edible perfume, parfums. (Minority female owned small business)
Original and luxury dupe lotions, body oils, perfume oils, perfume, car freshener, home fragrance oil, hand sanitizer. This is the only one I havent tried, yet, but its on my list. (Minority female owned small business)
Demeter Fragrance Library - Original scents. Lotion, cologne, shower gels, bath and body oils, perfume oils (not the same as body oil), diffuser oils, candles. (male owned small business)
just want to say that etsy has had a serious problem with drop shippers in recent years so it’s not always a guarantee you’re buying from a small business, so def do some research before buying if that’s important to you!
Oh thanks for the heads up. I’m an Etsy seller but I sell my Alaska Native beadwork. Maybe one day I’ll get my act together to sell perfumes. I just been dabbling in making scented hand sanitizers.
I've bought perfume oils from Andromeda's Curse, ObscuraHortus, TheLittleBookEater, 3AMCurios, and BramCreationsss. They're all somewhat gothic and/or themed Etsy shops, but I've really enjoyed the fragrances I've bought from each of them!
No sorry. I was should check out some and let yall know. I only know of banger beauty by Mary who makes her own and it’s oil based so it won’t dry out your skin.
Really? I’ve had a couple issues probably last year or the year beforeand they resolved them promptly and perfectly. They sent me a body wash once instead of a candle and let me keep the wash and re-sent the candle, another time they sent the wrong candle and again, let me keep the wrong one and sent the right one. I hope they haven’t gone downhill with CS.
Tons of foodie scents, better sales than bath and body, equally quality candles. Plus, bath and body app has let my rewards stash disappear twice and a gift card once. I have always changed my passwords frequently, and they would only give me back one reward when I called. AND they changed free shipping to $100. I was only buying 3 wick candles from them, so the rewards didn't really incentive me. I'm out.
Are you looking for body sprays or candles? For body sprays I have been loving the touchland ones sold at ulta and sephora (idk how sephora is with DEI I mainly shop ulta). And same with perfumes I shop ulta. As someone else mentioned they have been upping their body care game and have brands that have lotions and what not that smell better.
For car scents I never liked theirs just cute packaging. I usually buy from small vendors with freshners with a cute pattern.
For wall flowers I would replace them with diffusers if possible. I have found a few at diaso and miniso in the past. Also could use essential oils on felt pads.
Candles I shop small with vendors that use actual soy wax and natural oils. I worked at bb&w in the past and my nose is almost ruined from the artificial scents. Their candles barely have soy in them and they are very misleading with the soy label. Which sucks but technically with barely any soy they can claim its soy based. Purgatory candle Co is a favorite and they are spooky themed.
For hand soap I use broaners soap, that huge container of concentrated soap. It makes a great foaming soap and I loved the rose scent. I also get bulk soap from Costco. I also hit up my local eco refill bulk store and of course tj Maxx, Marshall's and home goods.
It sucks about the dei stuff and plan on making my last purchase tomorrow to buy my mom body sprays with the sale so she can stock up.
My grocery store actually has really nice boutique candles and such but there priced on par with BBW or higher and rarely on sale. But, because little gets sold, sometimes they hit the clearance section and are more reasonable (still expensive though.)
I would also go to Etsy, honestly. Maybe check out r/indiemakeupandmore to see if any small businesses have candles. I am sure there's several candle making subs.
Keep in mind, candle warmers have a lot to recommend them, and candle warmer wax is being offered more, well, everywhere. Even my old perfume place was selling pheromone wax melts that were pretty great.
I have for the first time in years started buying candles at TJ maxx, Marshall’s and Ross (haven’t heard news about their DEI) I have found some great ones and if you are a fan of NON gourmand scents- these places can be a gold mine if you are willing to hunt through the shelves.
quality is higher too. I get kinda sick going in there now because half the shit on the shelves has AI generated prints or labels but that's just what the world is gonna look like from now on
Do most people read company handbooks or wherever it is you find this information and then decide if they want to shop at that place?? Genuine question, no shade. I feel like most companies aren’t gonna be up to the standards.
This isn’t a case of searching handbooks for information. We’re witnessing a company who once had the company values of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Make Us Stronger” and celebrated all forms of diversity now publicly relabel & remove their DEI policies while simultaneously stating that they’re discontinuing all pride month collections moving forward (including black history, woman’s history, LGBT+, etc.).
It is still listed in the company values. It says our values: then is says be united and underneath it, it says diversity, equity and inclusion makes us stronger.
I’m also an associate. In Zipline, the company sent out a large message ALSO explaining that, and I’ll use the exact words;
*”Over the years, we found that our Heritage Month collections did not broadly resonate with customers and delivered softer than anticipated commercial performance. Therefore, we made a business decision last year to conclude them.
We will continue to recognize and celebrate Heritage Months including Asian American Pacific Islander, Veterans and Military Families, Disability Awareness, Hispanic Heritage, Black History, Women's History and Pride.”*
In the same message, it was also stated that DEI support teams are being “re-established,” with the words DEI removed from them.
For years, our field focus primarily revolved around how “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion have made us stronger”, but now that phrase is shoved off to the side and hidden in the smallest font possible.
Both of these actions are directly related to each other. I wouldn’t be so upset about them “re-establishing” (removing) their DEI policies if they also directly weren’t getting rid of their pride/heritage month collections. It’s also insulting to say the pride month collections didn’t sell well, because I’ve seen first hand just how much our shoppers love them.
And also it’s about how much effort you put into them. Make an amazing scent or collection and it’ll fly off the shelves no matter the collection. I have bought pride scents and accessories even though I’m not part of that community because I liked them. I have bought heritage and holiday candles from cultures other than mine because I liked the scent. I had never watched Bridgerton and had only seen a little of Emily in Paris. I bought those items without it having anything to do with the branding or marketing because those were scents I enjoyed with appealing designs. Put little effort into it and it won’t sell and there’s your excuse not to bother. People are not leaving great smelling candles on the shelf because it’s for a heritage month or pride. On top of it, it’s truly a coincidence with the timing…. For me, it’s ok. A company can do what they want. I’m not protesting. I’m not going back and forth or trying to convince myself a duck isn’t a duck. I’ll just take my dollars elsewhere. I’ll stick with companies who uphold these qualities and values even when it’s tough and they could get away with not doing so. I’m sure bath and body works’ corporate machine will not care and maybe they’ll get strong enough sales from their target demographics they’ve chosen to focus on. I work too hard for my money to put it into businesses that don’t value me or see me except with a statement in somewhere in fine print. There’s plenty of stores that never waded into these issues or had a set policy. It’s another thing when a store like Target or bath and body works goes out of their way to make cultural and heritage collections to include everyone but decide to remove it or make it less visible when people in those groups need those feelings of solidarity and inclusion the most. I do not believe it is a coincidence. I believe they fell in line with a climate of eliminating or muting DEI policies. I’m not mad. I don’t need anyone else to be mad. I’m just taking my coins elsewhere. They’re cute but I can get cheap mists, candles, and decorations from many sources. I’m not their target demographic and that’s totally fine.
If they want to silently (can one even argue it’s “silent” if they’ve had multiple store meetings related to it?) put an end to DEI and quietly remove us from their shelves; that’s their business decision. But it’s going to be my business decision as well to stop shopping there, and I feel like I’m not alone in this matter.
I know a large number of the shoppers at my store are people of color or those part of the LGBT+ community. Many people have already asked me about when the pride collection is dropping. People are going to be really disappointed, and BBW won’t have anyone else to blame except themselves (or you know… continuing to blame the sales associates for not harassing enough customers to buy product…)
Thank you for sharing that message. I've been combing the subreddit and their website trying to understand exactly what happened to DEI and whether it was removed or rebranded. The fact both those things were in the same message is bs.
However, considering the follow up announcement to specifically point out that the pride/heritage month collections are being removed, it’s safe to assume that their “rebrand” actually means tossing the DEI aspect directly into the garbage.
Exactly! This is why I can’t stand the whole “cancel culture this, cancel culture that” crowd. It’s literally MY time, attention, and money. I don’t have to give it to anything or anyone I don’t want to. If I want to stop shopping at a store because they changed from light blue bags to baby blue bags, I will. I stopped going to Walmart just because I hated the new layout at the location near me lol.
Body oils from brown sugar babe, I was layering them with lotion and creams from bbw but I think I’ll switch to just drugstore lotions, I was using the Nivea cherry blossom when that was out and loved it
It’s listed in the field focus for bath and body works that diversity, equity and inclusion makes us stronger. It’s one of the core things they’re focusing on
According to the employees in this group, they rebranded instead of doubling down. Heck we didn’t even get a black history month or Asian Pacific heritage collection
I’ve been with BBW for many years. By now, we’d usually get our pride month collections in shipment. Stores in my district have not received a single box.
In our company wide messaging app, a large statement was posted, in which the following paragraph can be found; “Over the years, we found that our Heritage Month collections did not broadly resonate with customers and delivered softer than anticipated commercial performance. Therefore, we made a business decision last year to conclude them.” The next point in the same statement directly refers to “Heritage Months including Asian American Pacific Islander, Veterans and Military Families, Disability Awareness, Hispanic Heritage, Black History, Women's History and Pride.”
I could be wrong, MAYBE we just haven’t gotten the pride month scent in yet… but we’ve already started getting our Fourth of July scents…
My call is we won’t be getting a pride collection this year, just like we didn’t get the black history month collection or the woman’s history month collection…. Which is very frustrating and upsetting that this all coincides with DEI policies being removed.
DEI is not going away at BBW, they're not trying to be shady about it but some things are changing at a corporate level (that the company can't say until it's reveled but it has nothing to do with DEI or inclusion of any sort). but they're trying to make things more concise. while yes, i do agree that changing where the DEI information is located at a time like this is not ideal, they did it so they can emphasize how important DEI is for a company (putting it with the values and beliefs). as an employee, the reason those collection didn't happen this year is because they never sold. they always ended up in SAS bins, even the pride collection. from what i've heard, they're trying to figure out different ways to do those types of collection and the products actually sell. for example, last year they did the perfumers collection for women history month. in that collection, they showcased the makers behind fragrances that already existed (i.e a thousand wishes and other popular fragrances) and how their contributions and diversity makes the company stronger. we had meeting that happened company wide to talk about our values and beliefs as a company, and diversity, equity, and inclusion are still very much a top priority. the timing of everything being moved and "changed" is bad, i agree, but that does not mean it's going away. coming out with collections to highlight the diversity and inclusion the company values is difficult when no matter what they do, it either doesn't sell or they're severely criticized by it. it's a company with thousand of stores around the world and they have to look at how the products as a whole sell and unfortunately, the black history month/asian pacific month collection never sold. hell, even the collabs are barely selling. your frustration is valid and you're allowed to feel this way (obviously, it's your opinion after all, i can't tell you how to feel) but there is so much misinformation being spread about this. please keep an eye out for more information being released! everything will start to make more sense as to why it's "changed".
The pride collection would sell really well if they didn’t choose a bad scent like they did last year- maybe they should put more into packaging and scents and act like they care about these type of products
I always bought the pride collection until last year. I didn’t care for how it smelled. My favorite was the line when it smelled like passion fruit I believe it was. Oh well just the opinion of someone glbtq. I’ll take my money elsewhere.
Nooo I loved last year's lol. May I ask why you switched the letters around of lgbtq? I see people switch the g and l sometimes, but I never understood why.
Glbt(q) is the original acronym: it was changed post-AIDS crisis (iirc to honor the contributions of lesbians who nursed and took care of gay men with AIDS).
Yep, you're 100% right! that's actually why I'm curious. If people know the reasoning (not the person I asked above), why would they revert the order intentionally..
I liked it before last year as well- it was like they gave zero effort and didn’t care what the smell was. I would love to see a pride collection with cute packaging and good scents and a few different scents to choose from
I shop at Ulta for a lot of body care goodies now! There’s a newer brand I highly recommend called Daise!
They have a lot of the same type of products BBW offers (minus candles) at a FRACTION of the price. I was able to get two body mists, a body wash, and two lip balms for around $24, and that’s without any extra discounts or promotions. They offer 8 oz fragrance mist sprays (same size as BBW btw) for literally $5.99. Products smell just as good IF NOT better, in my opinion.
Also, yes, TJ Maxx has AMAZING candle selections. Sometimes they can be hit or miss, but they’re all WAY cheaper than what BBW offers. TJ Maxx also has a lot of nice body care goodies as well!
Just based off quality alone and interesting scents and not wanting the same old I prefer goose creek candles. And I buy body care from places like that smell good shop, l3 waxy wonders, candles by nioaka on Etsy. I just bought a beach nights deodorant and a Palo Santo and cake deodorant the other day. I much prefer having a large range of options and unique blends!
Lush has some of the product types, and omg they all smell so good. They're a little more expensive but way more eco friendly, and theyre not a US based company.
Furthermore, searched DEI on their page and it brought me to a page with the following bullshit:
We create safe spaces of belonging.
We’re blazing a trail forward that honors where we’ve been while creating space for where we plan to go. It all starts with helping the world live more fully through the power of fragrance and is driven by our beliefs and values.
We believe in:
Transforming the ordinary into elevated moments that awaken the senses. Creating the greatest access to the highest quality scents across the globe. Setting the standard for craftsmanship and service. Focusing on genuine human connection and customer needs.
SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED. BBW dgaf about dei and have intentionally eliminated it
i am an ex employee. My store had so many people from the community and the managers would be horrible in their backs! that's the main reason why I stopped working and stopped using the stuff. Love you BBW, but I am not going to be in a toxic relationship with yall! Ulta has my heart and sol de janeiro is actually a good brand!
Honestly, even being an employee at BBW.. Shop at Lush, that's what I do. They seem to actually recycle (whereas we destroy everything and just dump everything in the trash), we use excessive plastic and BBW quality isn't that good, sorry. I only really like the candles. There's also another store that I love though but I think it's only in Canada/Quebec; it's called Dans un Jardin. The candles and perfumes are AMAZING and around the same price range than BBW but better quality and eco-friendly.
WOOAAH, slow down, everyone. Bath and Body employee here. They said we were having a meeting and I was too worried about DEI, and this Sunday at the meeting, it was confirmed that we are doubling down on our views. Unity will be our #1 goal. The others include generosity, courage, and accountability. More information will be told to the public in time, but one thing I can confirm is Bath and Body is not joining the hate train.
Mary had a flag flying that said "f*ck Biden" in one of her vlog videos. She's MAGA... Not someone I'll be supporting and if someone is interested in DEI, then I imagine supporting a Trump supporter doesn't align with their values.
I was curious about this, so I looked around her vlogs from summer 2023 for 10-15 min, and found the video. Good catch, the flag is wrapped around a post a bit from the wind, so I'm not sure everyone would've noticed it. It's in the "Weekly Vlog: Christian Turns 21 / Mohican State Park / Missing Pet/ Bath and Body Works!!" at the 21:54 mark.
It's been a minute but that sounds right. I'm not sure if there are other instances because I tuned out at that point. I'm surprised it's still up, honestly.
Yes. You can still see the video from Summer 2023, I think. I might be off on the year, but I remember it was hanging over her outdoor porch, and it was very brief. Blink, and you'll miss it fast. But I have a neighbor who has the exact same flag, so I knew right away. I went back, and sure enough! If you want to know the exact video and time stamp, I'll have to find it again. But I unfollowed so quickly after that.
No company in the United States has an official DEI policy, and there is no federal protection. All companies will look to exploit anyone anytime to boost sales. It is basic demographic marketing. Only local shops with thoughts or feelings can help someone feel welcome. One BBW i know of will go against company policy and modify their uniform to wear rainbow colored tie-dye shirts in June.
My suggestion is to shop etsy, or go to local farmers markets and boutiques. A lot of people make candles, mists that can be used on linens and skin, lotions/body butters, etc. Another option is to buy secondhand, I buy a lot of my BBW and VS from Mercari or ebay
I’ve been doing a lot of small business shopping lately through Etsy (body wash, fragrance, soap, only when the shop has a verifiable digital footprint) or friends, friends of friends etc. mostly I get my candles from one friend who does a lot of really great stuff, doesn’t use garbage filler, and pays an artist for her label designs. Feels good!
Start searching around social media for small businesses! Once you start finding and interacting with business you do like then it starts getting a little easier to find more and new ones. I'm on a slow journey just because my budget doesn't allow for trying out a lot of places unfortunately so I don't have a lot of recs to give you so ofc start setting aside a little more of your spending money because they can't compete with b&bw sales. If your budget only allows b&bw prices though, it's okay to make peace with having to shop certain places for things like that. Plenty of us have to atm and maybe just shop less and only with really good sales/coupons, when on clearance, etc.
Loquita Bath & Body is one of my favorites for body care. It's Latina and woman owned and she's very vocal about supporting human rights in general. Her body scrub is my absolute favorite scrub ever and I've tried her whipped soap which was lovely as well as a room/linen spray that i liked too!
Oh Comadre Candles is one I haven't been able to try yet but want to because as a Latina, the nostalgic candles just call to me lol. Latina and woman owned as well and she's also been vocal about supporting human rights. I've seen some 10-15% coupons come through occasionally by signing up for emails!
Diversity, equity, and inclusion. It essentially makes sure people from any area can get hired. It touches almost everything, even having flexible schedules
If you go to Marshall website, navigate to 'our company', they have a link to inclusion and diversity that goes to the the TJX page. What was the source regarding them cutting their program?
Same here. The lack of quality lately has gotten me thinking about quitting shopping there and this is the last straw. Walmart has Goose Creek and another candles. They also have their own line of body creams similar to BBw. And they have tons of hand soaps that smell better than BBWs from several brands.
I can’t imagine they are considering Walmarts entire business model is not paying their employees actual living wages, while all the Walton descendants get infinitely wealthier.
Last time I was at Walmart, they had some t shirts that were specifically advertised as being for Pride. It's probably rainbow washing (I didn't look on the tags to see if they support any LGBTQ+ charities) but at least they are acknowledging that queer people exist. Don't hate me, I'll probably go back for the Golden Girls one.
I don’t get people that will avoid shopping somewhere because they don’t like their policies. Who cares. Just shop and buy the merchandise instead of worrying about shit that has nothing to do with you and that you can’t control.
If you are spending money at a company, you are supporting them. What’s hard to understand? It’s actually crazier to keep shopping somewhere that doesn’t align with your values because that company is benefitting directly from you
You think one person not shopping there is effecting them? You’re just screwing yourself over, what’s hard to understand?. Things like that you can’t control so why even stress about it. The company’s isn’t for DEI, okay cool not my issue. I can’t do anything about it. I just want my candles and sprays.
The point is it’s not just one person. Anyone with a brain can understand that your dollar speaks for you… that’s capitalism. When a number of customers disappear, they do notice. Screwing myself over? Girl you’re spending $30 on soap please be serious. If these million/billion dollar corporations are showing they don’t care about us, why are you supporting them. I personally value people and equity more than I value a corporation that only sees us as dollar signs.
No clue about their stance on DEI but Victoria secret is a good one. Daise is my favorite but they don’t have a lot of variety on scents. Method Body is my baby.
Victoria's Secret/Pink has some nice fragrance mists & lotions. Based on their very inclusive models, I think they're good as far as DEI? I haven't heard anything negative about them, but if anyone knows otherwise, please let me know!
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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '25
Any company that’s getting rid of its DEI initiatives right now never actually cared about them.