‘We're trying to create a cosmetic revolution’: Lush’s Rowena Bird on being ahead of the curve

In 1989, the six co-founders of beauty brand Lush created the now-iconic bath bomb. From there, they haven’t looked back. Lush was officially founded in 1995 as an ethical beauty brand, which now has nearly 1,000 global stores, 210 stores of which are in the U.S. Its bath, skin and hair products are sold via its DTC website and owned brick-and-mortar stores. Amid today's common need among beauty brands for wholesale distribution, Lush has managed to remain independent, setting its own agenda. “We're trying to create a cosmetic revolution and trying to get people [on board],” said Rowena Bird, one of the co-founders, on the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty podcast. From the start, Lush has always favored minimalism and activism. Early on, with a small budget, the company’s co-founders decided to minimize excess packaging. It is a part of the brand's DNA that has been maintained to this day; now nearly 60% of Lush’s products are sold without any packaging and are referred to as "naked."  Its revolutionary agenda also extends to social justice campaigns. Lush uses in-store campaigns, like a 2015 "Gay is OK" U.K.-focused campaign, as a form of social justice education for consumers. In 2015, Lush used its retail stores as billboards when launching the limited edition Love Soap, with 100% of every sale going to the Love Fund that supports the LGBTQ+ community. It raised nearly $400,000 then and recently brought the special soap back in May to inform consumers of the "Don’t Say Gay" bill in Florida. In 2021, the company also took a bold stance regarding social media, after studies demonstrated the harm of social media to young people. Globally, Lush left Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook. When someone goes to the brand's Lush Instagram page, they are confronted with nine posts forming the phrase "Be somewhere else." Despite this stance negatively impacting sales and brand awareness, Bird said, “You have to look at your ethics rather than your bank balance, and think [about] what's right to do.” Since its inception, Lush has always been ahead of the curve, and still, many innovative plans are in the pipeline. The company is continuing to reduce packaging, develop self-preserving products to protect product freshness and become a carbon-positive company.