United Kingdom
www.lush.com

Sales: $1.2 billion.

Key Personnel: Mark Constantine, co-founder and managing director; Mo Constantine, co-founder and director; Rowena Bird; co-founder and makeup creator; Gabbi Loedolff, head of raw materials and safe synthetic sourcing.

Products: Personal cleansers, hair care, makeup and fragrances.

New Products: Dear John shampoo bar, shower gel and perfume.

Comments: Total brand turnover (including JVs, associates, licensees and franchises) fell less than 1% at Lush Cosmetics for its fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. Sales in its largest retail market, the US, dropped 7.5%.

Lush takes great care when it comes to environmental and societal issues—and sometimes those worlds collide. On January 1, 2018, for example, the company dropped natural mica from its products because it is was no longer able to guarantee transparency in the supply chain. According to Lush, when it first started buying materials containing natural mica in 2012, it worked with a supplier that provided verified audit reports stating it did not use children in the production process. However, the operation changed hands and the company could no longer offer the same verification, so the firm decided it was time to sever ties. “It was then that we decided to switch all of our materials containing natural mica to a synthetic-based mica instead,” according to Gabbi Loedolff, head of raw materials and safe synthetic sourcing.

One June 8, World Oceans Day, Lush kicked off its “Shark Attack” campaign to help save sharks from slaughter. In addition to its well-known Charity Pot, which is filled with body lotion (a.k.a. its “philanthropic skin softener”), Lush donated 100% of sales of its vegan Shark Fin Soap to the Rob Stewart Sharkwater Foundation.

According to its own estimates, 35% of Lush’s products are packaging-free, or “naked,” and the company continues to push further in that direction. To that end, the firm has opened more Naked Shops, where it sells only packaging-free products. Shoppers can find these stores in Milan and Berlin and most recently in Manchester, UK. The stores carry package-free staples like bath bombs and bar soaps, but also some new options—like a package-free shower gel, that is formed to look like an actual bottle, complete with a cap. While the packaging is gone, product information is readily available; artificial intelligence (known as Lush Lens) allows consumers in the store to scan bottle-, tube- and container-free products and get details on their phone.

United Kingdom
www.lush.com

Sales: $1.2 billion

Key Personnel: Mark and Mo Constantine, co-founders; Jack Constantine, chief digital officer.

Major Products: Homemade bath and beauty products.

Comments: Lush’s handmade products can be found in 50 countries. All told, there are more than 900 shops located across the globe (some are franchises and joint ventures).
For the year to June 30, 2017, Lush’s turnover rose more than 36%, with sales from company-owned stores contributing about $616 million.

According to co-founder Mark Constantine, the firm came “tantalizingly” close to reaching the £1 billion milestone.

Always outspoken about issues beyond bath bombs (think animal rights, marriage rights and pipelines, to name just a few topics), Lush’s recent UK campaign about police spying experienced some negative press and pushback from groups like the Police Federation of England and Wales. The goal of the month-long campaign, which was unveiled in June and teamed the beauty brand with UK support group Police Spies Out of Lives, was to “raise awareness of the ongoing undercover policing scandal, where officers have infiltrated the lives, homes and beds of activists,” Lush wrote in a statement.

In July, Lush announced plans to open its first shop in Malaysia.

United Kingdom
www.lush.com

Sales: $720 million

Key Personnel: Mark Constantine, co-founder and co-chief executive officer; Andrew Gerrie, co-founder and co-chief executive officer; Mark Wolverton, chief executive, Lush North America and president, Lush North America.

Major Products: Handmade bath and beauty products.

New Products: Dirty Springwash and Plum Rain shower gels, Honey and Chocolate lip scrubs, Drop of Hope soap, Over and Over bath bomb.

Comments: Lush is more than a purveyor of lavish, environmentally-friendly personal care products. Company executives are quick to point out that their company develops and manufactures its entire product line to ensure Lush products are what they promise. There’s even a commitment to create 100% vegetarian products that are more than 80% vegan. The company operates seven manufacturing plants throughout the world, including two in Canada.

Lush was founded in 1993 and is based in Vancouver. It has retail stores throughout Canada, the US and Europe. Lush’s global store count is approaching 1,000. Same store sales have posted double digit gains, year in and year out, as consumers clamor for more and more of Lush’s “handmade” personal care and beauty products. In fact, retail sales rose 33% last year.

Lush concerns itself with much more than environmental issues. For example, this summer, in partnership with a group called Death Penalty Focus, Lush is attempting to abolish the death penalty in the US. The national campaign includes store events designed to raise awareness of the flaws in the death penalty system and encourage community members to get involved in the national effort to end capital punishment.

The partnership between Lush and DPF began last year when DPF became a recipient of a Charity Pot grant. Lush donates 100% of the sales proceeds from its Charity Pot hand and body lotions to nonprofits and charitable organizations. Since launching the program in 2007, Lush has supported 850 grassroots organizations with more than $10 million in 42 countries.

Last year, the company opened Lush Oxford Street, a three-story, 9000-foot retail space and spa in London. That opening helped push Lush’s retail sales to $1.2 billion.