The sun was shining, the air was fresh, and the soft fragrances of Lush Handmade Cosmetics filled Queen Street. Vittoria and Jessica popped in, drawn by the colours, shapes, and textures throughout the store. Amazed at the different, natural, herbal remedies and the friendly sales associates, we of course were drawn to buying some products. Vittoria left with a couple of remarkable and eco friendly bath products. Jessica left with a pink, sparkly, bubble bath substance. Not only does it look pretty, it is not tested on animals (nor are any of the products in the store) but it makes my water pink, soapy, and sparkly! We pulled over Laura, Amber and Heather for a short interview on what Lush products and company is about. Take a look at what they do to help you and the environment.

Acid- How did Lush start?

Laura- It actually started a while ago in Pool England. The creators of our company had been working together for about twenty-five years plus. They came up with their own company, which was like a mail order business called Cosmetics to Go. When that went under they decided to try everything all over again, to start back up from scratch. They started Lush, and everybody just bought into it.

Acid- Do you know how much work is put into making Lush products? Is it a hard process?

Laura- It is definitely, we have two pitches we have one in Etobicoke and one in Vancouver, and everything is made by hand. So when we make things for example like any of our fresh facemasks, everything is hand poured, hand stirred, lots of love goes into the product. We also use sometimes-fresh fruits and veggies, and very high quality of special oils. So the product is a very high quality product and is also really ethically made. We use as many organic ingredients as possible, and if we cant get it then we make sure we pay a fair price for it, and there is no animal testing whatsoever.

Acid- What are peoples reaction when they come into the store and have never been here before?

Amber- A lot of people think they can eat it!

Heather- Ya a lot of people come in here asking, “Is this cheese?”

Laura- Totally, I think that’s what’s the most endearing things about it, its fun, its personal and its from the environment. So when people walk in the door their like “…can I…can I eat it?”

Amber- And that definitely makes people feel welcome because we can joke with them and say “Well I wouldn’t…but you probably could if you wanted to.”

Laura- And the reason why a lot of the stuff looks like its been made to look like cheese is that, is that molds were made from cheese molds, from flower pots, to things that were found when they first started and they didn’t have any money. So they had to go around and find things to make the molds from.

Acid- What’s the best part about working at Lush?

Laura- Its so much fun, very relaxed, I love interacting with people from all walks of life, and definitely being able to use the products all day long, its really really awesome.

Heather- yea, just being interested in the products that you’re selling

Amber- One thing for me is that I believe the company invests in us and we are going to invest in them and that makes you want to work really hard for this company. They care a lot for people that work for them; it’s like a family, which is awesome.

Acid- Do you have any favourite products?

Laura- I actually really like rehab shampoo, and I’ll actually show it to you. It’s got such a good pepperminty smell; it’s like a hero shampoo. We’ve got so many lovely ingredients in it: olive oil, pineapple, kiwi, and mango. It really makes your hair get nourished and super shiny.

Amber- My favourite is probably the Buffy. Which is a cocoa butter base, it has brown olives in it, and its really really great shower moisturizer /exfoliate. It’s incredible. You get out of the shower and you literally cant stop touching your skin.

Acid- So has this store been in this location since it opened?

Laura- This store has been in this location for about eleven years. Were actually having an anniversary coming up at the end of July and its gonna be really really special.

Acid- Do you feel like your store is different from other natural cosmetic shops?

Laura- There’s definitely a lot more accountability wherever we get things from. It’s very ethical and our creator is actually used to create products for the Body Shop. They just decided to do something that was more their own thing. Our animal testing policy for example, is very extensive. Its not just “we don’t test anything on animals”, we don’t test the ingredients on animals, and we also don’t buy any ingredients that suppliers give to other buyers who are testing on animals. We created an industry boycott that way.

Acid- Do you think the industry is going to grow and hit other locations?

Laura- Well Lush is actually a pretty big company, we have over 300 locations world wide. It is definitely expanding and it’s growing wider. We don’t have any franchises, its still privately owned, for us to keep our ethics apart that way and have a little bit more control over it. Ya for sure, it’s definitely exploding. I think its nice that the whole go green thing is becoming more; we’ve been doing it the entire time but its exploding as a trend, and now more people are paying attention.

Acid- In one word for each of you, how would you describe Lush?

Heather- Fresh!

Amber- You stole my word!

Heather- Vibrant!

Laura- Heartfelt.

Amber- Everything.

Official Website: www.lush.ca