The Body Shop Ananya Perfume Vintage

It has been many years since The Body Shop discontinued their original formulation of the Ananya scent, my best guess while combing through the Internet Archive is the early 2000s. Despite it being out of circulation for over 2 decades, there is still a devoted following to this classic Body Shop perfume.

At the height of The Body Shop dominance, my fragrance preferences leaned more towards the taste of a tween (which I was at the time.) Ananya always felt mature and mysterious to me whereas Oceanus or Strawberry was more approachable. And while I wouldn’t dream of being able to carry such a full bodied scent at the age of 12, I was always thrilled when I received a bar of soap or a bath bead in one of the coveted Christmas gift baskets.

Original Body Shop Perfume Oils For Sale

As I’ve mentioned in my previous Body Shop features on Oceanus and White Musk, my sister and I are selling the original late 90s/early 2000s (pre L’Oreal’s buyout of the brand) perfume oils. More on that later!

The History of The Body Shop’s Ananya Scent

It’s not easy to find in depth product information from The Body Shop. Their marketing efforts in the earlier days could be described as guerrilla and word of mouth. As a company, they seemed to emphasize their activism over their products which was a radical notion during the height of 1980s excess. I was only able to piece together a few tidbits about Ananya simply because it was tied to one of their charity initiatives.

As per a 1996 product catalogue: This fragrance was originally sold to The Body Shop staff to raise money for our Romanian Relief Appeal. Since its launch this warm blend of fruits, florals, and spices has become one of our top selling perfumes.

Naturally, the catalogue blurb didn’t bother to mention what year that was so I had to do more digging. I came across a book published in 1996 by Paul Brown titled: Great Business Stories. Anita Roddick and The Body Shop. According to that text, Roddick travelled to the Romanian village of Halaucesti to visit orphaned children in May 1990 and by July she had launched the Romanian Relief Project.

Ananya was such a hit with the staff that they decided to launch the fragrance to the public in August of 1994. Followed by the bath and body line in October. By 1996 it was one of the top three most popular scents in store next to White Musk (their all time best seller) and Dewberry, which they recently relaunched in 2026. The latter of which I recently went in store to sniff and was disappointed. It has the DNA of Dewberry but it’s like a cousin of the original scent.

Ananya in the 2000s

Like most commercial products, trends within in the fragrance sector changed in the 2000s and The Body Shop moved on to newer scents they were promoting. In the meantime, The Body Shop was sold off to L’Oreal in 2006 which resulted in the drastic changing of MANY beloved formulas. The final bottle design I was able to find had a trademark of 2006 so that was most likely the final run before the company’s sale. In 2011, they brought back Ananya as a limited edition launch and the packaging was BLUE! Ananya is NOT a blue scent.

The Evolution of Ananya Packaging & Branding

I have tried my best to catalogue the evolution of the changing Ananya packaging by piecing together fragments from old web pages, catalogues, and my memory of visiting the store throughout my childhood and teen years. This is roughly the timeline of the changing bottles. If anyone has more insight on this timeline, please let me know! I would love to hear about it. I do wonder if some of the bottle variations were regional and/or due to different franchised stores.

The Body Shop Ananya Line

The best part about having a signature scent from The Body Shop was that you were guaranteed an opportunity to fully immerse yourself in your favourite scent. Many of their fragrances had corresponding bath and body products like soap, cream, bath salts, talc powder, bubble bath, solid perfumes, eau de toilette, body spray and more.

In addition to the body care lines, The Body Shop also had a home fragrance line. Oil burners, scented candles, drawer liners, incense, and potpourri insured complete nose blindness when it came to your favourite scent. As a top seller Ananya came in every imaginable format made available by the brand.

Ananya Perfume Notes

I couldn’t find an official note breakdown from the brand via old web pages on the Wayback. They chose to simply describe the feeling of the scent as: “A sophisticated blend of fruity, floral and spicy notes.”

As per the Perfumo website, the notes are listed as:

TOP: Bergamot, Melon, Violet, Coconut, Peach
MID: Tuberose, Ylang-ylang, Freesia, Jasmine, Rose
BASE: Musk, Sandalwood, Cedar, Vanilla

Vintage Ananya Perfume Oil vs Eau de Toilette

The perfume oil is the most concentrated version of Ananya (and is alcohol-free) thusly makes it have more longevity when wearing it. However, it is such a robust and loud scent that both variations of it has a lasting power the likes of which I can’t say I’ve ever experienced.

Ananya just won’t quit, it’s the scent equivalent of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound technique. But in this case, it’s a wall of smell. I find it near impossible to decipher the individual notes because of this. When it does dry down and wear off, some of the single notes become more prominent but that took DAYS after spraying on a test strip. It’s that potent.

If the Ananya scent was a person:

She would be a mysterious 90s lady. Her room would be filled with dried flowers, deep burgundy curtains, and Enya playing softly on the stereo. Or really any Pure Moods compilation. She favours velvet dresses and spends her time in coffee shops reading Prozac Nation or Infinite Jest while smoking long menthol cigarettes.

As I was writing this, I came across perfume sample packaging for Ananya and this is how The Body Shop described her:

“Legend speaks of a woman from the west who wandered through Asian gardens in search of a memory… a time in her past that held romance and heartbreak. Mystery and intrigue. Today an exotic fragrance evokes that memory… a blend of oriental flowers and a soft hint of citrus. A fragrance that transcends the passage of time and change of place. Of a woman who is Ananya.”

[Side note: The Body Shop later released a perfume called “Of a Woman” as well.]

Ananya is a scent that could not be dreamed up today, it’s a snapshot of a late 80s/early 90s fruity spicy floral that punches you in the face with its intensity. It announces your arrival before you’ve stepped into the room. Today’s vanilla worshippers would have their faces melt off if they caught a whiff of it.

Whispers of Ananya

In the latter part of the 90s and early 2000s, a flanker was added to both the Ananya line as well as White Musk. Down the road, White Musk would spawn a litany of flankers however, the first wave of these (pun intended) was Waves of White Musk and Whispers of Ananya. From what I can ascertain, these were lighter versions of the originals. Once I get my grubby little hands on these bottles, I will update this ASAP.

The Body Shop Ananya Vintage Perfume Decant

Want to revisit this scent memory with me? My sister and I stumbled on a cache of The Body Shop perfume oils from the 90s/early 2000s and we’re selling them on her The Witchery website (located in Canada). Ananya, Leap!, Satsuma, Tobacco Flower, and more.

I heard rumours that Ananya is coming back to The Body Shop but I fear it will be like Dewberry; a shadow of its former self. Regardless, it brings me great pleasure knowing they’re finally listening to their customers…. it only took a bankruptcy!