Behind The Sparkle Of Bath & Body Works Art Stuff

For one brief moment in time, body glitter ruled the beauty world. Around the time that Lizzie McGuire made her mark, and celebrities holding monogrammed Dooney and Bourke bags covered the pages of glossy magazines, sparkle was everywhere. The limit did not exist when it came to glossy, glitter-filled beauty routines, and Bath & Body Works temporarily joined in on the fun, unveiling its Art Stuff collection.

A forgotten beauty relic once hidden in Caboodles and your inflatable backpack, Art Stuff was specifically marketed towards the younger Bath & Body Works customer. Unlike the Cucumber Melon-scented body care preferred by parents, Art Stuff was all about color, glitter, and embracing your inner beauty artist.

According to Pam Pittman, Bath & Body Works Sample Library Manager, the Art Stuff line spanned multiple items, including lip gloss, roll-on glitter, shower gel, body splash, and spray hair gel that featured glitter. Products came in multiple scents, including Mega Mint Chip, Charmin’ Cherry, Sassy Strawberry, and Goodness Grapeness.

Publicist Chalena Cadenas can still recall shopping for all those glitter-filled goodies, telling NYLON, “As a pre-teen, nothing was as covetable as the glitter selections from the Bath and Body Works Art Stuff collection — roll-ons, lotion, body splash, and hair shine, were some of my most favorite items.”

Along with a collection of beauty goodies, the Art Stuff line expanded into home items, too, and one Bath & Body Works fan still has an original Wallflower plug. “My favorite was the strawberry Wallflower plug that came with a candied strawberry bulb. I can still smell it. The Wallflower plug is a blue shield with stars on it. I loved the primary colors and thought it was very smart to create young Bath & Body Works fans,” the Instagram user noted.

Cadenas particularly recalled how ahead of its time the collection was, saying, “Products were curated and meant to be worn and seen, they catered to a spirit of individuality and encouraged having fun with your everyday look — even if it would only be seen by your friends — which felt very ahead of its time for the pre-social media era that it was.”

Although Art Stuff has since been retired, a bit of sparkle still remains in some Bath & Body Works favorites. And as Pittman revealed, there’s always a chance of a return. “The roll-on glitter was always a fan favorite — with kids and adults. So much so, that Bath & Body Works brought back a version of them for the Christmas 2019 Land of Sweets Collection.”