LUSH Cosmetics. A brand known by all demographics, LUSH is based in the U.K. with stores in 47 countries around the world. LUSH stores can be smelled from the opposite side of whatever shopping center they’re located in. Their Naked philosophy on packaging is the cause for this amazing blend of sweet, herbal and minty smells, with some charcoal thrown in for good measure. So what’s it like to work for a company like this? Settle in.
The application process is intimidating.
To their credit, they do try to put candidates at ease, and are very open and friendly during the interviews. I say the interviews themselves are daunting because when I applied, I was 16 years old, surrounded by applicants in their 20s and 30s. The interview was group style, with an individual component. We were split into groups and cycled to different “stations” where we role-played as staff members demonstrating products. The hiring manager would pull candidates one by one to do the more formal Q&A session. Even if you don’t get the job, you’ll leave the interview with the softest hands you’ve ever had.
Dress code was phenomenal.
White and black for your main articles of clothing. Those were our guidelines. No open-toe shoes (because of the knives used for cutting soap). Always have your (cleanish) apron on and always look presentable. Nobody will want to buy skincare, body care or hair care from somebody who looks a mess. If you wore a black dress, for instance, you could wear neon green tights underneath with a pair of Doc Martens. Accessories could be any color as well, and the knot wraps featured in stores were popular to wear either as scarves or on our heads.
The people are amazing.
Honestly. I miss my LUSH family so much. The motto in our store was always “keep LUSH weird.” Even though I was the youngest employee for about a year, I was never treated as “less than.” I started off as a holiday hire for the Christmas season, and was one of three of my group (maybe 15 others?) to be kept on. The staff was made up of roughly 20 girls, and one guy, and everybody actually got along. There was no petty drama; it was all love and respect for one another. We got together frequently outside of work. When you would come to work, you would get “chatted in” where you would find out how the store was doing so far, and if there were any specific goals the staff was working toward (i.e. find out three fun facts about your customer). Over time, I grew a base of regulars, and seeing them come in to replenish their favorites warmed my heart. Being able to help somebody become more confident by finding them a skincare routine they love was so incredible.
No, we don’t get commission.
Everybody thinks I’m lying about this but I swear we don’t. Yes, the store had goals it wanted to reach per day, like any other retail operation. But we didn’t get any extra money if we sold more than normal on a particular day. A lot of my clients would ask if I made commission, and when I would say no, they would ask, “So why are you being so nice, then?” Because I know how awful it is to be treated rudely by employees. Maybe you’re having a bad day and you’re shopping as a pick-me-up. There’s no sense in me coming in and making your day worse, or ruining your good day. LUSH doesn’t advertise on TV or in print, so we rely on word of mouth and great customer service. It’s my job to give you an amazing experience, and make sure you leave the store smiling.
The products are incredible.
Employees are given a generous discount, so that we’re able to try a wide variety of products and share our own personal experiences with the customer. I’ve tried almost every product LUSH has to offer, and they’re all incredible quality. For me, the skincare is the best section of LUSH, because it has completely changed my skin for the better. There were many times I would be talking to a customer about their skin and everything they would tell me about their skin was the same with mine. I would share my routine with them, demo it on their hand/arm and tell them about my personal experience with the products. Maybe I use this face wash every other day, and that serum every night before bed, because of my sensitive skin.
Many of the products have fun stories about their origin. Like the Dream Wash shower cream and Dream Cream body lotion (which also comes in a self-preserving formula). They were created specifically for people with eczema, as a better-for-you alternative to steroid treatment. I had a customer come in once, and the entirety of his arms were covered in eczema and he told me about how they burned and itched nearly constantly. I used the shower cream to wash a small area on one of his arms, and applied the lotion once I dried his arm off. He walked around the store for a while after that, to see if he would have an adverse reaction to it. Ten minutes later he came up to me and showed me the arm I’d put the products on; the redness had greatly diminished and it was the softest he’d ever felt it. He bought both the shower cream and the lotion and became a regular for those products.
It can be hard sometimes.
The amount of knowledge required is astounding. I studied more for this job than I did for school! They do make sure all their employees are well-trained, and they help a lot with all the product knowledge. My brain became a LUSH catalog, complete with key ingredients for every single product. I had to know which products would be good for someone who wanted something to help get their kids to take a bath, or had oily skin or dry hair, or just needed a gift for a birthday party. The biggest part of the job is customer interaction, so you had to be comfortable with going up to a complete stranger and chatting to them about their day. If that doesn't push you out of your comfort zone enough, you also had to be comfortable with asking a stranger for their hand, and proceeding to rub all sorts of product on them.
While the vast majority of our customers were fabulous, we did get a handful of the not-so-pleasant clientele. The most uncomfortable encounters were people who were adamantly against our campaigns. We ran a Gay isOkay campaign and I had a woman come in with her two young children just to tell me I was going to Hell for supporting “such unholy, disgusting behavior.” The most frequent difficulty I had were complaints about the price. Yes, I understand LUSH can be pricey. You pay for the quality of the products you're getting. No, I can’t help that this block of soap is ten dollars. Yes, I can absolutely cut you a smaller piece, it will just take a few minutes, since the scale is being used to weigh out cleanser at the moment. I promise I’ll do my best to get you what you need as quickly as possible.
What other job lets you play all day?
Seriously, what other job? I got to play with bubble bath and bath bombs multiple times per day and it was glorious. The kids loved seeing the water change colors and swirl all around and fill to the brim with bubbles. Plus, even hours after I’d gotten off work, I still smelled like LUSH (much better than smelling like grease or synthetic butter or burnt coffee, if you ask me). My hands always felt ah-mazing when I got off work, since I’d just spent the past 6+ hours putting all sorts of goodies onto others' hands/arms, softening mine in the process. We got to play our own music over the shop speakers, so it was never the same bland elevator music lulling us to sleep. Whenever it was slow, it was time to reapply that lotion or perfume we adored. Hands rough? Pop on a bit of Ocean Salt and you’ll be good to go.
It is an amazing job and I miss it so much.
Honestly, I was so lucky to have LUSH as my first job. They even sent me a card for my one-year anniversary of working there. I was with LUSH for almost two years. I still pop in as often as I can to see everybody and restock on my essentials. Seeing them feels like home, you know what I mean? They became, and still remain, so important to me. LUSH helped me grow as a friend, as a worker and simply as a human. LUSH is an incredible company to work for, and I would highly recommend it to anybody who’s on the fence about applying. Do it. It might change your life.
Let's keep LUSH weird.
