Lush - how do they get away with charging so much?

[Marissa5]

I've never shopped at Lush before. Not my kind of thing and they're a bit of an odd brand. However I just asked a friend what her child wanted for his birthday, and apparently he's after lush Mario products. I've just had a look online:

• £21 for a relatively small shower gel (290g).
• £12 for an egg bath bomb.
• £35 for a bottle of body spray.

This just seems absolutely insane to me! I buy mostly Korean bath products as they're a safe zone for my eczema, they have decent ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and have hardly any chemicals (they use ceramides instead) or weird colouring. The ingredients are far superior yet they're half the price.

The lush products have SLES listed as the third product so obviously have a lot of it, three different fragrances and tin oxide (glitter) which aren't great.

Do people actually spend this much money on gimmicky products? Are they actually good? Do they smell incredibly to justify that price.

£21 for shower gel just blew my mind.

They get away with it because people are willing to pay that much, it's as simple as that.

And they can't be doing too badly, they're obviously making a shedload given the number of staff they can afford to employ. Every time I have to go in there to buy something for DPs birthday etc., I get mobbed by about 10 staff asking if they can help, it's nuts!

I used to buy quite a lot of stuff from Cosmetics to Go, the Strandlooper shampoo was the best thing ever and there was a lovely grapefruit shower range, but Lush just never did it for me. Didn't like the shops, didn't like the cloying scent and hate the politicking. I'm surprised they haven't gone bust

It’s a private business. It’s so odd the way people moan about the cost of non essential commodities. No one needs to spend their hard earned cash on frivolities. However clearly they make money, so folk are buying their products, or they’d go out of business. Don’t forget increased NMW, national insurance and various other taxes, increase in utility bills, and ingredients, hidden costs like insurance, has gone up in the last few years, so their prices will have needed to rise. I’m no fan of Lush, but I don’t get the outrage of ‘luxury’ products being expensive. At least as a UK company they will be paying UK tax, and keeping people in employment.

They have a very clear demographic when choosing their staff so I assume they must be popular amongst those types of people.

Lol, that's actually quite funny to me - my partner was annoyed that I stopped using their stuff some years back and said 'what am I going to get you for Xmas now?!'. Yeah, was an easy, no think option.

Yes, me too.

I used to work in Poole where the original Cosmetics to Go shop started so used to shop there but Lush is just yuck.

A very particular customer base and certainly not for me.

The ugliest packaging I have ever seen too. Not stuff I would want on display in my bathroom.

I also detest their stance on trans ideology and offering breast binders to young girls.

£12 for a bath bomb! That’s crazy! I love their bath bombs buy haven’t used one in a while. Insane!

Just because the ingredients aren't aligned with your values or requirements, it doesn't mean it's a scam.

Lush isn't the only company to charge £21 for a shower gel, strange to target them.

"Get away with.."
Welcome to capitalism where companies are allowed to charge whatever they want, and you get to choose if you want to buy from them.
They're not scamming anyone, you're not forced to buy, there's no crime.

Pansy perfume, that was glorious and had so many complements wearing that. And their soaps were amazing and lasted months. Ah, they were a fun company - no flipping glitter anywhere if I recall and never stained any skin, baths or grout.

Happy Hippy showergel is still available from their CTG days, one of the few originals that stuck if that helps?

@FloofBunny
They have bath bombs starting at £3.50
https://www.lush.com/uk/en/c/bath-bombs

They market their glitter as plastic free, and make it themselves as a green option afaik. Only it can only be made using very very high temps, lots of energy used which again is hardly green plus I cannot see how, plastic free or otherwise, so much glitter in the waterworks is a good thing. The other prob with the glitter is that it is in so much stuff, even soaps that are designed for facial acne.

I get that it's fun for some products but by putting it and dye in so much of their stuff, they are only really marketed for teens and children.

Probably this!

Used to be a huge fan of Lush, great for Birthdays and Christmas, my family and friends loved goodies from there. Haven't spent a penny there since they told me to fuck off.

I’m really sad to see the downfall of what used to be such an amazing brand! Twenty years ago, Lush was completely different. It was marketed as a kind of hippy, alternative brand that really cared about animals and the planet. The focus was on simple, earthy products with herbal and floral scents. Many of the early items were made in small batches in Poole.

Some of the heritage products (Buffy and Angels on Bare Skin and lots of amazing soaps) felt genuinely unique at the time. They were fresh, handmade and very much part of that early identity. Now it feels like the brand has moved in a totally different direction. With the beauty market so saturated and competitive, it seems like they’ve tried to pivot towards bright colours, artificial scents and constant collaborations that feel really childish.

They used to be slightly above high street prices, but not massively so, and it felt justified. Now you’re paying far more than the average high street shower product for pretty naff quality bottle of purple gunk.

A lot of the original hero products are being discontinued along the way (Figs and Leaves soap most recently) which is a shame because they were the things that built the brand in the first place. I really do miss the old Lush! I believe they have also been caught up in some controversies as well though I don’t care enough about the brand these days to read into it.

What's the Korean stuff you buy, OP? @Marissa5

I’m allergic to Lush, primarily to their beliefs.

It’s overpriced but people love it ? I would put some money in a card tbh. Kids love money.

I got Lush vouchers over christmas and all i could get for £30 was a smallish shampoo and a smallish conditioner. I am getting through them quickly so goodness knows who can afford to but them on a regular basis.

I used to adore lush-i used to save up for a trip to them (I used their first company 'cosmetics to go' as a teenager)

It filled a gap the body shop had left-it was more modern and 'fresh' and the body shop was much more old fashioned

We all loved daddy-o shampoo,flying fox shower gel,dark angels facial wash,rock star soap,snow fairy shower gel and ds loved their bath bombs

Then they started with the breast bindings and other woke crap

I refused to go back and then moved area (which doesn't have one) but often see the one thats in the town centre of where my mil lives-its always full

You couldn't pay me to shop there now

Completely missing the point of your post, for which I apologise, but please would you tell me/us which Korean bath products you use?

I quite like Lush but it is expensive and I would buy it only as a treat rather than all the time. How much do you usually spend on your friend's DC? There are bath bombs starting at £8 (from what I can see on the website) so you could buy one of those?

What has been said above. Used to love the 'home made' feel. Started to get disillusioned when you could only get certain products online.
The moment you got loyal to a product, seems it would go - Tramp, Sonic Death Monkey etc. I bought a 'Posh White Chocolate and Rose' body wash recently and had to throw it out. The smell was pervasive and headachy.

I also hate hate hate being accosted by multiple staff when you go in. For a brand with a neurodivergent - acceptant ethos they are stunningly insensitive.

The only things I buy now are two of the perfumes which have become my signatures, and are complex and challenging (like me) - although I'm equally fond of Rose Exposed and Esscento Molecule 01.

Me too! They did the only perfume I have ever found that I liked!

Probably this - I used to love Lush when I was younger, up until about 22-24yo. Doesn’t appeal to me now. I don’t think I would have been as into it given the choice that today’s tweens and teens have!

Me too! We had CTG stuff delivered to our uni digs, and it was lovely, quirky, fresh-smelling stuff.
Lush OTOH is cloying and overwhelming.

Let’s just say, I’m off to Aldi to do my weekly shop, and leave it at that!