A fresh handmade cosmetics company that began in Poole, Dorset, selling soaps, bath bombs and skincare in UK shops and online.
Lush makes and sells fresh handmade cosmetics such as soap, bath bombs, shampoo bars, skincare and gifts. Many of its products are sold without packaging. It has more than 800 shops in over 50 countries, and the UK is where the company began. Many products are handmade in small batches, and its shop teams demonstrate them to customers, which makes the shops feel closer to workshops than to typical beauty counters.
Its roots go back to the early 1970s, when trichologist Mark Constantine met beauty therapist Liz Weir at a salon in Poole, Dorset. They sold their products as Cosmetics-To-Go. The first shop called Lush opened in Poole in 1995, after the name was suggested by a customer, Liz Bennett, in a naming competition. A bigger flagship on King's Road in London followed as interest grew, then shops around the world.
Lush describes its philosophy as fresh, vegetarian ingredients, ethical buying with attention to human rights and fair trade, and a long stand against animal testing. Its campaigning page says it actively campaigns on human rights, animal protection and environmental justice, and says it believes in "happy people making happy soap". It reports 15 campaigns in the 2025 financial year and 4.7 million pounds given to causes. Its campaigns page lists limited-edition fundraising products since 2006, including the Liberation Bath Bomb, the Pollinators Bath Bomb and the Flame Fighters soap, as well as the Lush Prize, which awards 250,000 pounds every two years, and the Spring Prize for environmental and social regeneration.
In the UK, Lush's pages mention a UK and Ireland policy on gender affirming care, including transitioning leave for employees, and campaign products raising money for UK groups such as Pesticide Action Network UK. It also funds the Lush Prize for animal testing alternatives. These are the company's own claims. We did not find the UK head office address or the number of UK shops and staff in the pages we could read. The company retired its Charity Pot body lotion in 2024 after raising over 100 million pounds since 2007, and replaced it with giving products aimed at specific issues. Lush says every licensed territory is expected to campaign at least once a year.
Lush employs shop staff, product makers, buyers, creative and product developers, campaigners, digital teams and finance and operations colleagues. It is a good fit for people who care about how products are made and what a company stands for as well as what it sells.
Website: www.lush.com
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