Inside the Lush Factory

Lushie

Everybody knows Lush. We all know it’s familiar smell, perfuming our high streets. We most definitely all have favourite products – when I asked on Instagram a bunch of you were able to reel off a list of their wittily titled favourites, the kind of products you buy time and time again.

So when they got in touch to ask if I’d like to go behind-the-scenes and see how their much-loved products are made, I jumped at the chance. How often is a company (especially in cosmetics) willing to share what goes on behind closed doors? When you have as much to shout about as Lush, there is nothing to be worried about. No secrets here. And what I found couldn’t have made me fall in love with them any more.

I went in like (what I’d imagine to be) the average Lush customer – I’d purchased a few products, used a couple for years, and knew they were an animal and eco friendly kind of company – which is usually enough for me. But a tour of their factories in Poole have turned me into a “Lushie”, and not without good reason.

Each of the factories (with sections aptly titled things like ‘Bubbly Bits’) are full of people that really know their stuff, working together to create your fresh products. No big machines doing the work here – fruit is peeled, bath ballistics are formed and soaps are poured by hand, before being shipped off as quickly as possible to their destination to adhere to their strict freshness policy.

Liv and I had a go at creating some bits for ourselves, and whilst I don’t think I’m quite good enough to leave my laptop behind and move to the seaside, I had quite the penchant for gift-wrapping, and felt a bit like an elf in Santa’s workshop. Perhaps a couple of you will be receiving a ‘Happy Bathday‘ box with a ribbon tied by yours truly!

The Charity Pot

It wasn’t just their fresh seaweed and friendly staff that won me over. Aside from spotting their Fighting Animal Testing slogan here and there, I didn’t really know much at all about their eco-friendly, charitable side – but it turns out this is a huge part of what Lush stands for.

Not only do they source their ingredients ethically, they also work with and put money and knowledge back into communities that grow them, creating sustainable solutions that mean their families will be able to earn money for generations to come. This also involved buying six thousand hectares of the Peruvian rainforest to stop it from being cut down – it’s now used to source the rosewood oil used in their products. Cool, eh?

If you’re interested in the specifics, you can read up on all things SLush (the Sustainable Lush Fund) here – they do a far better job of explaining it than I do!

I know I’m totally waxing lyrical over here – but I can assure you that all thoughts are my own and I’m not being paid to say any of this! It’s simply the result of a very effective press trip! Sometimes stripping things back and learning about the love that goes into a product is all you need to make a blogger want to tell everyone about it – take note brands!

TLDR: I went to the Lush factory, and it smelt exactly as you’d imagine it to.

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