Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, whose "natural'' cosmetics empire grew from one small hippie store in Brighton, England to more than 1,130 shops around the world including in Bermuda, is to visit in June.

And she will be more than willing to answer questions on recent claims that the Body Shop "exaggerates,'' "fabricates,'' and has a "meagre record of charitable giving,'' says Body Shop-Bermuda owner Ms Ellen Brown.

Ms Brown was commenting on the latest overseas article raising questions about the business ethics of the Body Shop, which boasts annual sales of more than $700 million.

The article angered Ms Brown, who claimed the writer, Mr. Jon Entine, appeared "out to get'' the Body Shop and other successful companies which had mushroomed after starting small. Mr. Entine had written other articles questioning Body Shop's pro-Green and social justice stance.

Ms Brown maintained Body Shop products were naturally based, contending, "In this day and age everything has preservatives. Companies have to cover themselves -- make sure their products have some degree of longevity.'' And her Reid Street franchise, she said, took a very active role in charitable events.

"We do things in our own way. We do not wave a banner,'' she said.

Apart from its controversial AIDS awareness campaign last year, the Body Shop-Bermuda provides gift baskets to charities; volunteers for the Bermuda Zoological Society; Ms Brown personally volunteers for Agape House and Amnesty International, her manager drives the disabled on her days off; and the shop is helping distribute pledge forms for next week's joint anti-physical abuse telethon.

"We do stand by what we say,'' she said, adding, "The facts show Jon Entine isn't very ethical himself. He misconstrues and misquotes.'' When Ms Roddick, whom Ms Brown knows personally, visits in June to check out the Bermuda Body Shop and its marketing strategies, she "would be pleased to go one-on-one'' with the Press to answer criticism and allegations levied against her organisation, Ms Brown said.

In the February issue of Drug and Cosmetic Industry trade magazine, Mr. Entine writes that the last quarter of 1994 "changed the Body Shop's image from a bright green to a less pleasing colour.'' An article in Business Ethics magazine last September touched off a wave of negative press, causing Body Shop stocks to plunge 20 percent, he noted.

"Although Roddick's products sounded natural, they were no more organic than most mainstream cosmetics,'' Mr. Entine writes. The products contain only "tiny infusions (if any) of organic ingredients,'' he contends.

He further noted the Body Shop's anti-animal testing stance went from the slogan "Not Tested on Animals'' to "Against Animal Testing'' after the German Government successfully sued, claiming the label was misleading.

Mr. Entine goes on: "Pressures to match exaggeration of this sort is very real, but it is a risky game. In the short run it may build sales but it may come at a steep price. For even as the `natural' revolution barrels mindlessly ahead, consumers are becoming more sophisticated. Idealistic shoppers are a unique breed, hating to be taken for granted. Once their trust is abused, it is gone forever.'' Honest companies will win over "merchants of hype.'' BODY SHOP FOUNDER Ms Anita Roddick