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.

Oh yes. A friend and colleague used to get our parcels sent to our work place, and used to love opening them together.

She was a dry person and I was a oily one, so we got to have a try of products we wouldn't usually buy

“…and have hardly any chemicals (they use ceramides instead)…”

eh?? 🤔

I've also boycotted them because of the breast binder crap

My problem with that - and I know that this is completely beside the point - is that they ran out of the letter O and started using zeroes.

I mean, there are those of us for whom that is truly triggering. I'm going to have to lie down.

An ethical company, pays living wage. Sources ethically. Committed not to avoid taxes ...cheap still costs is but it's hidden

I was given a present once from Lush, I couldn't even open it because it stank so badly in the wrapping that I didn't want to make it worse by opening it.

I stopped using the brand because they became far too political. They sell soap and some moisturisers - no one wants to know the management team’s ideology (which quite frankly is aggressive as well as disgusting considering their market).

As a side note I had a severe reaction to one of their moisturisers - to the point it was considered an emergency. I was sent to a specialist and prescribed antihistamines and steroids. I haven’t bought anything since - despite previously using their products all the time. I had multiple moisturisers, body washes, soaps and far too many bath bombs. I smelt amazing.

Exactly - ethical my arse. I wish I didn't like their products, but I try to buy them as infrequently as possible. And I won't venture into an actual store because of the pushy assistants. 😒

I used to work for lush about 10 years ago.... It was an ethical company in many ways. For example they would set up supply chains for certain villages in Africa/ Asia making sure the money would go back into the community etc- this is where the cost of the products go.
I really did buy into it all in the beginning but then things changed. I went to the annual conference in Poole and they had someone on stage doing a talk, I can't remember her name but she was there from the beginning of lush with the owner and she was talking about how she picketed Maggie thatchers funeral, very proudly so - this just felt very distasteful giving that the funeral was for the ones grieving etc.
Then if you didn't agree with their campaigns or had a different opinion you were ostracized. I left shortly after the conference.
And on another note my favourite products got fucked with, the olive branch shower gel now just a watery mess and the Buffy bar barely lasted me more than 4 showers!

If bodyshop follow their dewberry relaunch with fuzzy peach then lush are over anyway. Remember the carousel of smells in the body shop. Glass tester bottles you could dab with and smell like a pungent pick and mix stall. Glorious.

Also when they offered the breast binders I was so glad I wasn't there anymore because I probably would have made a scene and quit on the spot!

Lush and it’s ethics are shite.

I have some chemical free bath bombs to sell you, along with a bridge….

I’m another one who wouldn’t use their stuff if it were free, given their breast binding disgustingness. I once was so loyal that I used to get their product newspaper thingy delivered to my door!

I had to google the Mario showergel. What a fine example of the emperor’s new clothes! Only a fool would pay more than £3/4 for something so pathetic looking. If my child had asked for £20 shower gel, I’d have laughed at them while chucking a bar of imperial leather at them. The world is going mad!

I like some of their stuff.

I used to like a good bath bomb but at £6+ a bath it’s too costly now and they cost pennies to make.

in the last 5 years they’ve gone crazy expensive. And crazy with their choice of protests so I struggle to spend my money there.

I think a big part for the prices is they have prime store locations that are £££ and they have to pay those bills somehow.

on the upside little bit of googling you can find DIY recipes for some of their products and they are as good imo as well as dupes for their fragrances.

I agree very distasteful and where’s the feminist support? after all Thatcher was our first female prime minister. Quite the feat and Labour have yet put a female in the seat of power.

their ethics are shite but the cost is something else these days.

I love lush stores and frequently find a reason to treat myself to one of their products. I love their soap bars.

Also Lush are obsessed with Trans ideology, shoving it down the throats of customers, most of whom are young - not acceptable.

I remember one of my (then) teenaged kids getting me some bath stuff from there one Christmas. It smelled of absolutely nothing, produced zero bubbles, simply turned the bath water bright yellow so that it looked as if an elephant had pissed in it. I didn't have the heart to tell them, but either way, I haven't sought any of their products since.

Not to mention all the other dubious shit. Making their staff work naked for example.
Nasty cheap stinky products too. Horrible company

I was confused by that, too.

I do like some of the products and will treat myself on the odd occasion I’m in a place that has a Lush. I agree it’s expensive though but for me it would be a nice treat.

🙋🏻‍♀️ yep, this is all true for me (ND adult with ND kids).

Target market is the under 30s. Someone pointed out it’s those with a higher rate of disposable income which is maybe true but it’s also those willing to spend it on that sort of thing in the first place which by and large will be younger people.

I used to like the bath bombs for DC as a cheap, cheerful Christmas Eve box gift. They had a little polar bear one for £2 I think, I doubt anything in there costs that now! The stench is overpowering and I hate going into the shops because the staff always bombard you.