Lush Is Changing The Cosmetics Game W/ Naked Makeup & We Want Everything
Aside from creating stores that smell orgasmic and look like a unicorn wonderland, Lush is shaking up the cosmetics industry with naked makeup… aka products that come without wasteful packaging.
In Manchester last month, Lush held a showcase that brought influencers and game-changers together in one place, engaging in talks and think-tanks over plans for the company’s future.
Founder Mark Constantine vision for Lush was nothing short of idyllic.
“This is the secret plan” he said. “[To] create a cosmetic revolution to save the planet. We’re running out of time. We need a revolution. We all know it, we can feel it.”
What Constantine is referring to is the excess plastic that cosmetics products are often packaged inside, and the situation right now is dire. According to Zero Waste Week, every year 120 billion units of packaging are produced by the global cosmetics industry.
“How many of you have unused products sitting in your bathrooms?” he asked. “You end up with bathroom cabinets filled up with unwanted stuff on its way to landfill.”
Recycling cosmetics is not a new thing. L’Oreal Australia has even developed their own recycling program, while other brands encourage take-back initiatives.
But Lush have set out to extinguish the problem at its source. To combat the excess plastic still being churned out by all the major cosmetic brands, Lush’s plan is to start a naked makeup revolution.
This year Lush opened its first ‘Naked Store’ in Milan, a 100-metre square flagship outlet only selling the company’s handmade products that come without any packaging. Another naked store has just opened in Berlin.
Lush co-founder Rowena Bird said she was surprised by how much customers are embracing the package-less makeup range, which includes foundation, concealer, eyeshadow and glow sticks.
“When we opened the first naked shop, we thought we’d only open it for a couple of months when we opened it in Milan. But it’s not changing back. People are loving it and they’re realising they can buy these things without plastic packaging.”
During the showcase, Bird unveiled a new range of naked lipsticks which are intended to be used with old lipstick tubes to encourage recycling.
“We don’t want to do the glass packaging now, you can see where we’re going with lipstick, we want to make products that you can stick in your own [used tube of lipstick] or can be fully recyclable,” Bird said.
“I don’t care what tube you use to stick our lipstick into. Use the packaging again. Give it another life and save the planet from one more lipstick container.”
Along with lipsticks, Bird also revealed at the showcase that Lush are launching their first naked mascara as another move in their collective effort to remove packaging from their products.
“The future I would like to see is that it’s more naked, there’s less packaging in it. I think we lead the way. We are probably the most unpackaged makeup company out there. I would like to see the other people joining in,” she said.
“The future is naked. It has to be because we have to save the planet.”
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