Great source of ethically....sourced.. .cosmetic and toiletry products (Lush)

Member Name: worst_trip

Product:	Lush
Date:	01/07/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sells some excellent products

Disadvantages: Smaller branches keep closing down, 'Lush' shops are hard to keep track of

You can quite literally follow your nose to the nearest 'Lush' shop, as the smell of the bath cosmetics, toiletries etc. they sell casts quite a odour-trail down the high street.....this being particularly helpful in my case as the 'Lush' branch in the main shopping area of Bristol - the one I most regularly frequent - has changed location a couple of times over the years. The citrusy, flowery smell of Lush shops is, in small doses, quite pleasant but I think in the long term would be over-powering I don't know how the staff who work there cope. They always seem cheerful enough however; this company has a policy of recruiting, or training unusually friendly and helpful staff.

'Lush' shops sell a good range of hand-made personal grooming products. The wares - soaps, bath bombs, solid shampoos etc. etc. etc. are by and large laid out in large heaps and artistic piles on either side as you walk into the store - in the case of soaps, in straight-from-the-ethically-sourced-factory, giant multicoloured blocks. It looks a bit like a high-end confetioners' when you first go in there and as smaller soap-nuggets are carved off the big blocks and paper wrapped for purchase (since you buy this stuff by weight) the sweet-shop analogy goes even further.

Their stuff is all very nice but I would say it's largely gift or 'treat yourself' items they sell, as the prices of much of the stock are quite high: you're looking at £3 to £4 for a bar of soap, which seems to me a bit much for everyday use. We've tried over the years a variety of products; the solid shampoos for example worked well but were a novelty that soon wore off as the block got smaller through use - it's not very practical stuff, really. Their bicarbonate of soda deodorants (about £3.50 per tablet) I haven't found of very much use for their intended purpose (the wax base-coat that's supposed to keep them in shape doesn't work well so they crumble; they absorb moisture from the atmosphere, especially if you keep them in the bathroom) but they do smell lastingly great - I bought some to use (lavender, lemon scented) as drawer fresheners instead.

One 'Lush' product I literally couldn't do without is their 'waxy' solid-block deoderant. There is a line of thought that states that blocking your arm-pit pores with a load of aluminium salts isn't the greatest of ideas, healthwise; all commercial roll-on and spray antiperspirant / deoderants contain aluminium salts for this purpose, and as it's a metal that's been implicated in some neurological problems (some forms of Alzheimer's) as well as certain types of breast cancer I prefer to keep aluminium out of my armpits, thanks very much. The 'Lush' deoderant is about the only non-aluminium-containing product I've found that even barely works to keep one getting BO-stinky, and I've been using it for years. It does tend to mark white coloured fabrics but the marks will wash out and this is a small price to pay for using it really.

The only other slight drawback I've found with the solid deoderant I like so much, is that every time I buy it the friendly assistant at the 'Lush' counter invariably asks if I know how to use it (as even of the most 'Lush'-naive of customers wouldn't be capable of taking a wild guess). This was funny for the first few years but now the joke's wearing a bit thin...

Summary: Long-term star of the High Street