Lush

Lush is a British cosmetics company based in Poole, England, known for handmade bath, body and hair products, including the bath bombs and shampoo bars that became its best-known items. The company makes fresh products by hand, uses only vegetarian ingredients, sells much of its range without packaging, and campaigns against animal testing — a stance it traces back to before the brand existed. It remains an active global business, operating 886 stores across 51 countries as of 2024 [8].

The founders describe Lush as "a beauty company with a campaigning heart," with a stated mission to "create a product for every need and a cosmetic revolution to save the planet" [7]. That activist streak runs through both its products and its public conduct, and has at times drawn the company into controversy.

Lush grew directly out of an earlier failure. Several of its founders had run Cosmetics To Go, a mail-order company launched in 1988 that the company calls "bold and brilliant" but which collapsed in 1994 through over-trading and supply problems [7]. The same group regrouped and opened a small shop in Poole, reusing ideas — and product formats — developed during the earlier venture.

The precise founding date is recorded differently across sources. Lush's own press material and editorial coverage state the company was established in 1995, when the first store opened on Poole's High Street [7]. Wikipedia's infobox instead gives a founding date of 17 June 1994, which likely reflects the legal incorporation rather than the public launch [8].

The list of founders is similarly contested. Lush names six co-founders: Mark Constantine, Mo Constantine, Rowena Bird, Helen Ambrosen, Liz Bennett and Paul Greeves [7]. Wikipedia lists seven, replacing Liz Bennett with Liz Weir and adding Karl Bygrave [8]. Mark Constantine, a herbalist and trichologist, had earlier formulated products for The Body Shop in the 1980s; according to Adweek, The Body Shop bought a number of his creations [9]. By his own account he had no part in choosing the Lush name, describing himself as a formulator rather than a marketer.

The brand is most closely associated with the bath bomb. Mo Constantine is credited with inventing it in her garden shed in 1989, working alongside Jeff Brown [10]. Roughly 30,000 were sold in the United Kingdom during Lush's first year; the trade title Cosmetics Business reports the figure now exceeds 20 million worldwide each year, and describes the product as "category-defining" [10]. Shampoo bars, solid bath oils and fresh face masks — several of them carried over from the Cosmetics To Go era — round out the signature range, alongside later launches such as Gorilla Perfume in 2010 and a packaging-free "Naked" skincare line in 2018.

Products are made fresh by hand in Lush's own kitchens, with little or no preservative and exclusively vegetarian ingredients, according to the company. Lush says it formulates from fresh organic fruit and vegetables and develops its own products and fragrances in-house. Manufacturing takes place across several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Japan and Australia.

Much of Lush's identity rests on ethics rather than product claims. The company says it buys ingredients directly from farmers and growers, refuses suppliers that test on animals, and offers a large share of its range without packaging. It frames opposition to animal testing as "a lifetime goal and foundation for our entire company," and notes that the policy predates the brand: it was set in June 1993, before Lush launched. The company states that all of its products are tested on people rather than animals, and that it is fully vegetarian, with most products also vegan.

Lush positions itself deliberately apart from larger rivals, summarised in a line from its corporate material: "We will never be L'Oréal, but we don't want to be." Its self-described masterplan pairs commercial ambition — a product for every need, leadership in every category — with a campaigning purpose it calls a "cosmetic revolution."

Cosmetics Business treats the bath bomb as a cultural fixture, calling it "synonymous with the bathing ritual" decades after its creation. Adweek similarly notes that consumers came to associate the word "lush" with the shop selling fragrant soap. The company received an Award of Earth Defender from the Environment Possibility Award in 2020, and co-founders Mark and Mo Constantine were each appointed OBE in 2010 [8].

Lush's activism and its labour record have both attracted criticism. In July 2018, Lush Australia admitted owing more than 5,000 staff members up to two million Australian dollars in back pay [8]. During a Toronto unionisation campaign in 2020, the company faced allegations of "union busting," anti-union leaflets and captive-audience meetings, alongside concerns about a high injury rate at a Sydney production kitchen.

Several political campaigns have also been contentious. Its 2018 "#Spycops" campaign, concerning undercover policing, was criticised for a "broad brush" approach toward police. In 2023, a "Boycott Israel" sign displayed in a Dublin store during the Gaza war drew attention [8]. In 2021, Lush removed its main Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok accounts, with the company's head saying he was content to lose ten million pounds by quitting Facebook.

Lush remains an active, privately held global company. As of 2024 it operated 886 stores across 51 countries and shipped from dozens of websites worldwide. In 2024 it reported £100 million in charitable giving since 2007 and discontinued its long-running Charity Pot product [8]. The following year, on 3 September 2025, it closed its UK shops, website and factories for one day in solidarity with the people of Gaza.