I have become very aware that LUSH, even though it has been around for over 20 years, seems to be reaching more people than ever lately. I always felt like LUSH was my little thing, my place that not many people knew about or hurried past in the street because they could, 'smell it a mile away' and refereed to it as the 'headache' shop. I think all the hype that hit the internet last year about the Sleepy body lotion curing insomnia, has really worked in LUSH's favour in bringing much more attention to the brand, meaning that their regular customers are growing.
When I first started shopping at LUSH on a regular basis, I really wish I'd had a hand from someone to explain how things work, to let me know that some products won't be around forever and that I should have kept hold of all them pots I was going through! I think the first time that a person enters a LUSH store, it can be very overwhelming, there are products for things you didn't even know existed and so many scents, your nose doesn't know what it's smelling! Therefore, I thought I would compile a list of things I wish I had known all them years ago, to give a helping hand to anybody who is just starting or thinking of buying from LUSH.
1. VISITING THE STORE
For a lot of people, visiting an actual LUSH store can be an anxious idea. LUSH thrive on their customer service and each employee of LUSH is trained to help you from the moment you walk in the door until the moment you leave the shop. Some people feel like the staff can be very forward and in your face and will stick to you like glue, which to a point it true. If you're new to LUSH, this is going to benefit you more than anything, as the employees can be your best friend when you are thrown into the depths of a LUSH store, as there are so many products to take in, you may feel a bit overwhelmed. You can ask an employee anything, you can describe your skin type and they can suggest products that are the best for you, you can tell them of any allergies you may have and they can inform you of products to steer clear of, you can tell them what kind of scents you like and they can point you in the right direction for products you may fall in love with. You should be able to ask any LUSH employee any question about the products and their intense training should allow them to be able to answer your query.
2. RECYCLING YOUR BLACK POTS
The way that LUSH black pots are made means that they can not be recycled with our usual plastics, therefore LUSH have a system in place where you can return 5 empty and clean black pots and receive one free fresh face mask in return. LUSH will then recycle your black pots to create brand new ones. This benefits us as customers, LUSH as a company and the environment - so don't throw them pots away! In regards to picking up a fresh face mask, you can ask any employee at the store which mask they think would suit your skin type and they can provide you a demo on your hand in the store or they may even give you a sample of a couple that they feel may work with your skin, so you can go home and test them out and then come back when you know which one you want to trade your pots for. It may feel like it will take you forever to empty your black pots, but they are definitely worth keeping hold of. Just make sure you clean them out properly before handing them in.
3. HIDDEN SCENT FAMILY PRODUCTS
If you fall in love with a particular product for the scent, there is a high chance that there may be other products that carry the same scent you enjoy. Sometimes this can be quite hard to work out unless you actually smell the product and pair them together, as the name will not usually be along the same line. Take The Body Shop for instance, if you enjoy the Tea Tree line, you can go into the store and see all the Tea Tree items, with the same colour packaging and the same name. LUSH is completely different, for example there is a soap called Honey I Washed the Kids which also shares the same scent as Scrubee body scrub and It's Raining Men shower gel. If you're new to LUSH and haven't been around the entire store and sniffed all these products, you wouldn't know that these belong to the same scent family. If you have fallen in love with a particular product and would like to try the same scent in a different product, I would suggest asking a fellow Lushie, like myself, or an in store employee for any suggestions.
4. EXCLUSIVE PRODUCTS
LUSH has a lot of regular line items that 99% of are available in all stores across the world, but there are also a small amount of exclusive items that are only available in certain stores and online, and also products that are only available in store for a certain amount of time. LUSH has a flagship store which is based on Oxford Street in London which opened back in 2015. This store is home to many exclusive products, including bath bombs, bubble bars, perfumes and body sprays. These products are also available to purchase on the UK website and some products are available in gift sets that you can buy in all stores. LUSH also used to have a section online called the LUSH Kitchen, which is still there, but works very differently now. The LUSH Kitchen used to reveal a menu of products on a Friday that would be available to purchase daily, starting from the following Monday. The LUSH Kitchen brought back products which had been discontinued, retro items from the old forum days and brand new products that had never been created before. LUSH also release products for special events throughout the year like Christmas, Valentines Day and Easter, and these products are only available for a limited time. My point is, if you see a product on Instagram or online, this doesn't always mean that the product will be available in your local store. If the product online states 'exclusive' next to it, then it will be exclusive to online and the Oxford Street store, so I would strongly suggest taking notice of this before looking online to see what to purchase and then being disappointed when you visit the store and the products are not available to buy there.
5. USE BY DATE & STORING YOUR STASH
Every item you purchase from LUSH will have a small circular sticker which will show you a cartoon style image of the person who made your product, the date that they made your product and a use by date. A lot of people refuse to use products past their use by date, which is completely fine, but I have products that are over three years past their use by date and they smell just as good as they did the day that I purchased them. There are few products that I would discard as soon as the use by date is reached, like the fresh face masks for instance, they get emptied into the bin as soon as that date is reached as these are to be kept in the fridge, therefore they must be used fresh. I also wouldn't feel comfortable slathering my face with a face mask that includes fresh products, like blueberry in Catastrophe Cosmetic, when the product is past it's use by date. For shower gels and shower jellies, I have many of these which are past their use by date and I would only throw them out if they started to smell bad, which none of them do. For these products, LUSH usually suggest a use by time period of 14 months, which is a good amount of time to use the product, but when you have a collection the size of mine, there is no way I could get through everything by it's use by date, so I'm glad that the products definitely last longer. If you want to make your products last as long as possible, I would suggest storing your pots and bottles in a dark and dry place and I would also suggest purchasing some polypropylene bags, (size C5 should be good) if you are starting to stack up on bath bombs and bubble bars. The polypropylene keeps the moisture in the product which and stops them from drying out, keeps extra moisture out and also keeps the scent in the product without drawing it out, like cling film does.
6. GIFT SETS
Usually you would imagine that when you are purchasing a gift set, you are getting a good deal and some money off the total amount. This isn't the case with LUSH. Every gift set that LUSH sells costs the total amount of the products inside, plus a little extra to cover the cost of the gift box. This is why so many people go crazy for the gift sets when the Boxing Day sale comes around (which by the way, is the only time LUSH ever have a sale). I don't mind paying a little extra for a gift set as I collect the boxes that the products come in, but for a new Lushie who may not be sure whether they want to start collecting, I would definitely suggest purchasing the items singular, unless the gift contains an exclusive product that isn't available separately.
7. FAULTY PRODUCTS & PRODUCTS YOU DON'T LIKE
LUSH are one of the best companies I have ever dealt with for when you receive a broken product, a faulty product or a messed up order. I have heard so many stories of bad customer service when it comes to returns with so many other companies, but LUSH really are one of the best when it comes to this kind of situation. I have had to contact LUSH a few times because I've bought a bath bomb brand new and it's been a complete dud and not fizzed once it's hit the water, or I've received a product that I am not happy with, and 99% of the time I have received an apologetic reply and either a refund for the item or a care package sent out for free. If you ever have an issue with an online order or a faulty product, a simple email or phone call to the WeCare team and they will have your issue sorted in no time. The only thing I would like to say here, is that I feel like some people take LUSH's generosity for granted at times and complain for the sake of complaining, purely in the hope of receiving something for free, please don't be one of those people! If you ever purchase a product that you get home and decide you aren't a fan of, you can always sell the product on to another Lushie via a Facebook group or a selling app like Depop. More times than not, some Lushie out there may be searching for a product that you have and you're not keen on, better to make a little bit of money for yourself than the product end up in the bin!
8. SAMPLES
When you are making an online order, you can request samples of certain products that you would like to try out before committing yourself to the product and purchasing blind. When you get to the point of your order where you are ready to pay, there will be an option for a 'delivery request.' You can pop a little message in here to ask for samples, being as specific or broad as you wish to be. There are some products that LUSH won't sample, so don't ask for a sample of a bath bomb or bubble bar, but if there is a hair conditioner or a body lotion you've been looking at and can't decide on, you can request a sample of it here. You can also request samples of their soap and these can be very generous sample sizes, so you get a really good amount to work with and get the chance to cast a proper opinion on whether you want to purchase the item or not. Some stores will also sample items for you, so if you are speaking with an employee whilst visiting the store and they are suggesting products to you but you're hesitant to purchase, just ask them if they could grab you a sample and they usually will be more than happy to.
9. SCENT DESCRIPTIONS
LUSH scent descriptions can be so different to the actual product sometimes. I have found that when I read the description of a product online, I think it sounds awful but then when I actually smell the product, it's completely different to what I thought it was going to be. It has worked the other way as well! When you visit the LUSH website, if you scroll down the page, every item will have a list of ingredients that are used to create that product. There will usually be a couple of ingredients listed with images next to them, for example if the product contains Sicilian lemon oil, there will be an image of a lemon and the words, 'Sicilian lemon oil.' My advice would be to carry on scrolling down the page and read the whole list of ingredients to get a full picture of the ingredients so you can get a proper description of the scent. For example, on the LUSH website, the main ingredients listed for my favourite hair conditioner American Cream, is English honey, vanilla pod infusion, fresh strawberries and benzoin resinoid. When you look further down the page, you can see that Clary sage oil and lavender oil are also ingredients that are listed. In my opinion, I can't smell any honey at all when I smell my American Cream, but I can smell the Clary sage and lavender. I would say it is definitely beneficial to visit the store and smell the products before buying them, as you may pick up some stuff that sounds good to you but smells totally different than your expectations and you may also pass on some products that you may fall in love with.
10. WELCOME TO THE FAMILY
Every person I know who has fallen into a LUSH store and purchased one or two items, has became a fully fledged Lushie and has became obsessed with trying everything! I don't think I know a person who has popped in and picked up a couple items and then never revisited. Getting into LUSH can be torturous at times, especially when you get to the stage where you start collecting products and then you find products that were released forever ago that you really want to try, so you start hounding eBay and Depop for listings. Be prepared to fall in love with the company and everything it stands for, for your opinions on certain matters to change and to make great friends with other people who also share a passion for the products and company. I have met some really great people through LUSH, it has been a great way to meet people who have the same interest as you, someone you can chat to about products and ask for help with bath cocktails. Welcome to the family, you've been caught hook line and sinker and you can not get out!
I hope that these points can help you out if you are looking to start buying from LUSH or you've been intrigued by that amazing scent every time you've walked past the shop. Just do it, take a step in and join the LUSH family!
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**Disclaimer: All views and opinions are my own. Photo credit to Google Images**