Lush Cosmetics: Life on the Inside

Hi, folks!

Like some of you already know, in this past year I used to work at Lush. Lush is a famous British company which produces ‘fresh homemade cosmetics’, as their slogan says. Moreover, it’s one of the first businesses which stressed the issues of plastic pollution and animal testing.

Lush shops are known for their friendly and joyful environment, as well as a victorious customer experience based on free testing of their products.

But let’s take a look at how Lush really is from the inside.

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Job Interview

I first sent my CV through Lush’s website in the section ‘Lavora con Noi’ (Careers). There was a job opportunity for the Duomo Square shop in Milan’s city centre and I took my chance.

Not long after, I was asked to file a document about my availability and to attend a group interview. The job interview took place on September 9th directly at the shop. The Store Manager and one of the Supervisors introduced themselves and made the other four applicants and I feel at ease.

First, we were asked to talk about ourselves, our relationship with Lush and the reason why we chose to apply. Afterwards, Store Manager and Supervisor showed us how to approach customers in the Skincare and Gift areas of the shop. We were then asked to point the highlights of the brand’s experience and reenact it.

Finally, we were interviewed individually. We quickly went through my CV and the availability document I had previously filed. In conclusion, I had a chance to ask questions.

Before leaving, we all received two presents from the Store Manager and the Supervisor.

A couple of hours after, the Supervisor called me to confirm I had successfully passed my interview. In the following days, I had to send some documents which were required for my employment.

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First Day

I officially started to work for Lush on September 17th, about a week after my job interview.

I spent the first hours of the day with the Store Manager, who carefully explained every page of the contract before I signed it. Then, she handled me the Welcome Pack and she introduced me to all the platforms I had to study products and provide an optimal service to our customers.

Lastly, I was assigned to the Welcome Area of the shop. Here, I had a brief training on soaps and bath products. At first, the amount of information about natural ingredients and benefits seems a lot. However, it’s a process.

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Studying Products

Working at Lush requires charisma and expansiveness, but also a lot of effort and diligence. Especially while approaching Christmas, there are new products every month and you’re required to know its ingredients and benefits. Nonetheless, Lush provides various platforms to learn and improve its employees’ knowledge.

Moreover, Lush is extremely transparent about its cosmetics: even its website lists all the ingredients for every product and the benefits there of.

Also, practice makes perfect. After weeks of scrubbing customers’ hands with the amazing ‘Rub Rub Rub’, you’ll remember it contains sea salt, lemon juice and mimosa!

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Behind the Opening Hours

Young people on their first job often don’t consider all the work that is done in a shop when it’s closed to the customers.

Behind the colourful demonstrations and the relaxing hand massages, Lush Stores require their employees to do some chores.

These duties were mainly focused:

- in the mornings, to prepare the shop for the customers

- in the nights, to clean the shop after closing

- on Thursdays for the arrival of goods

In order to avoid overworking, however, we were all encouraged to lift as much weight as we we were able to.

During my time working for Lush, I have always felt like my health and safety came first.

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Colleagues and Environment

Lush’s environment is well-known for its openness of mind and I must confirm that it is true. Also, Milano Duomo Store counted around fifty employees, which allowed our team to be extremely various and interesting.

Colleagues, from Sales Assistants to Supervisors, have always been helpful and understanding. However, during the Christmas holidays, I’ve had some issues with other members of the staff. Nonetheless, I decided to blame it to the stress and let it go.

Nevertheless, I felt a deeper connection with many people. This allowed me to make friends, other than co-workers, and to see them in outer environments as well. For example, we celebrated Halloween and New Year's Eve together, as well as we went to clubs and had nights out.

Working at Lush means being able to be yourself. Unlike other companies, you don’t have to cover your tattooes or remove your piercing. Also, you can change hair colour, wear different accessories and choose your own clothes, as long as they respect the black-and-white policy.

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Downsides

The main downside of my experience as a Lush employee is a speck of unprofessionalism from my management team (Managers and Supervisors).

To evaluate Sales Assistants, Supervisors use two ‘tools’:

- validation, to validate an employee’s work

- feedback, to express a ‘constructive criticism’

However, in some cases, I had the impression that part of the management team would instead assign chores (such as emptying the bins or breaking the cardboard boxes) to those employees who didn’t do good.

Personally, I prefer to be confronted face-to-face in order to acknowledge my mistakes and learn from them.

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Controversies and Ethical Causes

As I mentioned earlier in the article, Lush is one of the first brands which stressed the issues of plastic pollution and animal testing.

I must confirm that all their products are vegetarian and they’re always working on new formulas to release more and more vegan cosmetics. Moreover, they encourage customers to recycle plastic pots and they offer naked options in every area for those who prefer to do without.

Nonetheless, I don’t believe that Lush is entirely eco-friendly.

For starters, Lush Stores are required to keep their doors open for the entirety of their public service. This means that in colder seasons there is a much more important waste of electric power to keep the insides warm for employees and customers.

Furthermore, the British brand’s customer service is based on testing its cosmetics. To do so, not only Lush Stores use up part of their products, but they also consume huge amounts of water and paper towels. However, I must affirm that the testers are all ‘out of shelf’. This means that the products Lush allows its customers to try are still in effect, but cannot be sold anymore due to Lush Policies. Therefore, these products are more ‘recycled’ than wasted.

In conclusion, Lush has often been accused of exploiting ethical causes for their marketing strategy. I believe that there is some truth in that. However, Lush has fought hard for different causes.

For instance, Lush created the Charity Pot cream. Its profits (excluding taxes) are entirely donated to various non-profit organisations. Moreover, Lush Stores occasionally host ‘Charity Pot Events’. During these days, one of these organisations is welcome to present its activities to Lush customers. For a full weekend, the entirety of the profits on Charity Pot creams are donated to this very same organisation.

Is it a strategy to attract more customers? Maybe. Does it do any good to society? For sure!

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In Conclusion

All things considered, I believe that Lush is an incredible brand which has always done its best to provide valid cosmetics, still respecting the world we inhabit (most of the times).

I loved my time at Lush and I learnt a lot from this experience. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the right moment for me as I had a lot going on with university projects. However, I hope I’ll be able to be part of Lush again.

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I'll leave you with a funny video about my experience as a Lush employee.