Founded in 1995, Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics sells handmade products for body, hair, skincare and more recently, makeup. Known for its ethical and green approach to beauty, it has donated USD 17 million to 1400 environment-related charities. In its business strategy, 100% of Lush’s products are vegetarian while 80% of them are vegan. It sources its materials directly from the producers in order to understand how they impact the people and the environment, in order to make responsible buying decisions.
There are also 4 ethical considerations that Lush makes when deciding whether to purchase from a supplier.
- Workers rights
Workers need to be paid fairly and their health and safety should be of utmost importance. Child labour should not be present in the working premises.
- Environment
No genetic modification should be done to the produce and negative impacts on the environment and endangered species should be kept to a minimal.
- Animal protection
No animal testing to be done and Lush’s buying team only source for vegetarian ingredients.
- Transport
The distance that ingredients travel will be considered.
The Lush experience
Walking into the Lush store at Vivocity, its wide selection of bath bombs and caught my eye. Bath bombs are an eco-friendly alternative to bubble baths, which normally come in plastic bottles. Another interesting thing about Lush is that many of its products come in naked packaging, where no packaging is used for products such as its shampoo bars, naked body lotion and cleansing balms.
Other than personal care products, Lush also has a small range of makeup products namely translucent powder, skin tint and primer. These products are packaged in glass, making it easier to users to recycle them after use. For the remaining products, they are packaged in recycled plastic tubs. Additionally, Lush incentivises the recycling of these containers by offering customers a free tub of mask when they bring back 5 empty Lush plastic containers.
All in all, Lush is a highly accessible retailer with online and physical presence for consumers to shop for sustainable cosmetics which can reduce the amount of waste that they generate.