The Lush Life
Lush is more than a brand, it’s a sustainable lifestyle.
By Shelby Evans, Staff Writer
For two years, it was physically impossible for me to smell bad. Working for Lush cosmetics is beautiful like that. The extreme smell of their products stuck to my clothes and snuck into my closet and home.
Everywhere I went, no matter if I hadn’t showered in days, people would compliment me on my scent. To me, I just smelled like work.
Since I was carrying the scent of my job with me everywhere, the Lush brand values also became more present in my daily life.
Lush’s first brand value, which they still include in their, “We Believe Statement,” is “we believe in happy people making happy soap.”
The overbearing Lush employees that greet customers with too much pep and offer product samples eagerly really are that happy about the soap.
Their Charity Pot lotion, that offers 100% proceeds to grassroots charities around the world, inspires their workers to give back. I volunteered at a local women’s shelter with some colleagues. The company even sent one of our floor leaders to The Gambia to help rebuild schools.
The Black Pot Program gives patrons a free facemask if they bring back five of their empty pots from previous Lush products. Those pots get sent back to the kitchen in Toronto to be reused for products. It taught me how to rethink using my other plastic containers, conditioning me to limit my use of single-use plastic.
They are also proprietors of “naked” products. Naked products are self-preserving and solid. They do not require any form of packaging. The reduction of waste made me consider what other products were unnecessarily packed in plastic and what alternatives could be bought. I bought block dish soap, reusable food wraps, and jars to use at co-ops.
Not only did they teach me about how business can be both ethical and on-trend, but they did it in a way that inspired me to implement lifestyle changes, and make an effort to reduce my waste. They taught me how to be kind to the earth and to be excited all the good I can do.