Hi everyone – happy Tuesday:-)

So as you guys know I love Lush, and I mean LOVE. I am a huge fan of the brand, not just the products, but everything the company stands for including the cruelty free commitment and the large amount of fantastic vegan friendly products. So, when Lush MENA invited me on a press trip to London to be part of the their annual creative showcase I was literally so excited. I spent 3 days with Lush in London which was crazy busy (good crazy) getting to know the brand and learning more about the company values and ethics. I was pampered by a Lush Spa, got a tour of the Oxford Street branch and even got to make my own products!

When someone talks about the brand Lush I am sure you, like myself and a lot people, think about the beautiful bath bombs and the amazing skin care range right? But there is so, so much more. I got to learn about Lush products I didn’t know too much about and some I hadn’t even heard of.

Ok so here is a quick overview of my trip;

Day 1

On day 1 I visited a Lush store which had a Lush Spa – I didn’t even know some of the stores had spas!? I am so insanely jealous of anyone who has one close by – it is such an amazing experience!

The interior/theme of the Lush Spa’s are very homely and comforting, they look similar to a country cottage and had that very welcome and snug feeling.

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Massage bars
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I love that the Lush Spa’s want to try give you a boost of whatever you need!
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Oils for every mood!
Lush Spa Consultation form
Lush Spa Consultation form

I received the Validation Facial – here is the description of the treatment as listed on the Lush Official Webpage –

Skin of amber, skin of honey, it’s time to be radiant. The soft, exquisite subtleties of your face massaged, cleansed and adorned in fruit and the finest essential oils for 60 minutes. Dreamtime. Soft fingers alight on your face. Feather-soft touches, currents of hot and cold taking you out to sea for an hour. Chin up. Rivers of relieving pressure run up and down your skin. Fresh vapours. The scent of lavender. Then peace. A gentle, rolling massage moves across the windswept features of your face, skin blossoming under deft fingers, dimpling, brightening, refreshing. The release of tension from your brows, forehead and temples, tracing the map of your cheekbones, smoothing, soothing, sailing across the expanse of skin. Soft ripples of radiance work outwards from within, brightening, refreshing, awakening. Whoosh! Here you go. Hands walk down your spine, then you’re up, up and away, glowing, going, gone.

Benefits:
Feel like your skin is refreshed and bright.
Feel confident in your own skin – stand taller.
Be radiant inside and out.

Practicalities:
Facial treatment tailored to how you want your skin to feel.
Personalized product consultation with the chance to choose fresh items from the shop floor.
Includes a relaxing, light shoulder and neck massage.
60 minutes + approx. 30 minutes consultation.
Level of nakedness: 2/3 – some undressing required.

What I loved the most about the experience was how personable it was. Before the facial started, I had a consultation, which not only gave the opportunity for the therapist to learn about my skin, she also asked me about how I was feeling. The treatments at the Lush Spa’s aim to not only make you look great, but they want you to feel great too. I explained I wanted to feel refreshed and re-energized and so the products which we chose were ones which would help me feel exactly that. After the consultation we went back to the shop floor and picked the products together based on what the therapist recommend for my skin and what fav smells/products were. My skin literally felt brand new – I had landed from my overnight flight that very morning so as you can probably imagine my skin needed some serious TLC. No matter how much I try to moisturize, flights always leave my skin feeling really dry – the Validation Facial brightened my skin up and it felt amazing! I really hope they open a Lush Spa somewhere in the UAE soon!

After my treatment, I was taken to visit the Lush Oxford Street Branch. I had heard that the store was huge but I had no idea just how big it was! The world’s largest Lush shop, it has a whopping 3 floors and was extremely busy with people trying out products and even making them. They only way I can describe it was like stepping into the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory (but the Lush version lol)

I got a tour of the branch which has a great set up, it leads you from product to product and there are staff at every station full of brand and product knowledge which I love. There was a lot of product testing (and sniffing) involved and I was introduced to the Lush Perfume range, which I didn’t know about at all. They have number of different scents and each has a story behind the ingredients used. Not only do they sell Oxford Street exclusives here, they also hold workshops too. The branch also has an upstairs area which they use to host speakers which fight for the campaigns that Lush lead and are involved in. If you are in London – you have to go!

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Trying out bath bombs
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My fav face cleanser EVER.
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Making products!
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Charity pots – a reason I love this brand so much
Chill out time with my new fav lush mask at the end of day 1
Chill out time with my new fav lush mask at the end of day 1

Day 2 & 3

Days 2 & 3 of the trip was the beginning of the actual event – the Lush Creative Showcase 2016. The event began with a number of business updates from Mark Constantine the Founder of Lush, who talked about the business and answered a few questions such as ‘when are you going to stop using honey and eggs in all your products’ – good question 😉 Lush are a vegetarian company with a huge amount of vegan options and are headed in the right direction. We learned about the ethics behind the brand and the commitment to fair trade and sustainability, which as a consumer is becoming increasingly important to me. We learned about the amazing campaigns that lush have been involved in and I found myself to have a lot in common with the brand in terms of my own personal values. As a company, Lush campaign for a number of issues including animal and human rights and environmental preservation – you can read more about this here.

The event itself was a Lush product and workshop exhibition with an insane amount of lush products and ‘rooms’. They had a Lush Hair lab room where all the lush hair products and ‘holistic hair cut’ and blow dries were on offer and a live demonstration room where you would learn about specific products and volunteered to get up on stage and get involved.

Amazing vegan food at the event!
Amazing vegan food at the event!

I also got to learn about some new products I didn’t even know existed. To add to their never ending list of products, Lush now sell Toothy Tabs as part of their mouth/teeth care range. You put one of these small toothy tabs in your mouth, crunch slightly then brush your teeth for a natural beautiful smile. Made from only natural products, there are no harsh chemicals in these products (unlike most of the well known toothpaste brands) and they have a few flavors. It feels a bit weird to start, it’s like a little fuzzy bathbomb going off in your mouth but they leave you with sparklers and your mouth feeling fresh 🙂 

Toothy Tab
Toothy Tab

Ok but my absolute fav products I got to try on (and ended up taking home with me) was the some of the Lush make up! The eye dush and eye liner range is simply STUNNING. The powders are very light but have great coverage, you really don’t need a lot either which is great. I took home a really funky gold eye liner called ‘Fantasy’ and a beautiful bronze eye dust called ‘Sophisticated’. They also have beautiful light eye dusts which work really well as highlighters, I got one called ‘Optimist’ and have been using it non-stop!

Gorgeous make up by Lush
Gorgeous make up by Lush

Ok, I know it’s still ages away, so don’t freak out BUT THERE WAS A CHRISTMAS MARKET!!

I love Christmas markets, who doesn’t!? Especially being so far away from home, they really get me excited for the festive trip back to my friends and family. I got a sneak peak at the Christmas range for 2016 – and lets just say, you’ll want this stuff on your list to Santa. Personal favorite – ‘Snow Fairy’. A gorgeous, pink shower gel/body wash which also comes as a body conditioner. There are no words to describe the smell. They have lots of cute Christmas bath bombs too – great stocking fillers – (Hint hint to anyone reading this who might buy me something for Christmas).

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I had an amazing time with Lush and can’t believe there was so much I didn’t know about one of my favorite brands. I left the event feeling really motivated and inspired and have been thinking a lot about myself as a person, and the things I stand for and want to continue to share with you guys. I makes me so happy to see a large business who pay their taxes correctly and trade ethically – you don’t see this a lot these days unfortunately. I also left the event smelling like a Lush bathbomb lol. It’s very obvious too that it’s the people who play a large part in the success of the brand. Everyone I met who worked for Lush loved the company and knew EVERYTHING about the products – which is great, I mean if they don’t know then who does? (Pet peeve – going into a shop and being address by a clueless person.)

I personally feel like if you are in a position to shop for beauty products, you have to think about where exactly your products come from. A lot of people from other parts of the world who manufacture products for some of the well-known beauty brands are not in the same situation, and I feel we have a duty of care to make sure you know where your money is going too. So if you are looking for beauty products which are nice to everyone else on the planet, visit Lush and go home knowing you supported a family business somewhere across the globe and that your make up hasn’t been tested on any animals. Thanks for having me Lush! If you guys have any questions just drop me a message here or send me a DM on instagram.

P.S – I didn’t win at the COSMO awards but I wanted to thank everyone who voted for me! I have only been blogging for just over a year, so for me this is a huge achievement to be competing against bloggers who have been in the game for years! Thank you! xx