Handmade Cosmetic Market
Handmade Cosmetic Market

Nature's beauty secrets come to success shelves.

'She's beautiful, and therefore to be wooed; She is a woman to be won', this famous quote from Shakespeare embodies the quintessential nature of a woman- to look beautiful at all times! Even men are not far from this refute. Hence, to complement their beauty needs, Lush brings a gamut of handmade cosmetics whose USP lies in being natural and synthetic free. Seema Seth talks to Sangeeta Kamath, Director of Amaltas Retail Pvt Ltd to know the secrets of this handmade beauty business..

Seema Seth (SS):  Tell us about your company?
Sangeeta Kamath (SK): The Lush creative team has been working together since the late seventies when they first started to hand- make their own cosmetics. Before the inception of Lush, the promoters of the brand sold its first product to Body Shop in 1978. In 1988, they set up Cosmetics to Go, in Poole, Dorset, by the sea on the south coast of England, where they surprised the bathing public by inventing products such as Bath Bombs, Shampoo Bars and Massage Bars and built a hugely successful, catalogue-based mail order cosmetics company, the likes of which was not seen before.

In 1994, LUSH was born. The first shop was at 29 High Street, Poole, where it is to this day, and they opened their second in London's King's Road. They were mobbed! Lush grew from there.

The Lush approach to cosmetics retailing can at best be described as “unorthodox”.   Self-appointed cosmetics grocers, Lush is far more a food retailer than a traditional cosmetics company (think hand-made, natural and fresh merchandise, butchers’ blocks, prices by weight, greaseproof paper wrapping and best-by dates).

In Lush’s “beauty delis”, soaps are piled high on Provincial-style wooden tables like strange exotic cheeses, whilst a myriad of orbs (fizzing bath ballistics) are presented in-store like perfectly round apples. LUSH products are made from fresh fruits and vegetables, the finest essential oils, safe synthetics, without animal ingredients. Today, LUSH has over 650+ shops globally.

The principles have not been altered since the company started despite the pressure of changing times. Absolutely no animal testing, handmade (unique in its field), naked products (which simply put is no or minimal packaging), fresh are LUSH's differentiating edge over others. As well as pioneering the freshest ever cosmetics, Lush has an ecological message.  The majority of products have little or no packaging, with the creative team constantly rising to the challenge of making innovative products in solid formulations that don’t require bottling. Ingredients are quantitatively marked on labels – and have been since the company’s launch.   Items suitable for both vegetarians and vegans are clearly marked.   Nothing is tested on animals, and Lush also guarantees none of its suppliers tests any of their raw materials (including those not bought directly by Lush) on animals either.

Our aim is to have the youngest, freshest products in the history of cosmetics.

SS:  What is the vision behind Lush?
SK: The original plan was to make cosmetics that were as natural as possible and to avoid using synthetic preservatives. Thus, every Lush product is crammed with the highest quality – and importantly, organic wherever possible – ingredients:  herbs, fruit, flowers and essential oils. Mark Constantine, the creator and founder of LUSH was highly inspired by the cheese shops and German veggie restaurants – and any fresh fish counter. The store designs too were created keeping this in mind!

SS:  What are your products and how is it different from other products in the market?
SK: LUSH has an exquisite bath and shower range which include – shower jellies, shower gels, shower cream, body polish, bath ballistics and bubble bars, soaps, butter cream, foot scrubs, body scrubs, solid (yes that’s right!) and liquid shampoos. We also have moisturizers, hand & body lotions, body butter, lip scrubs and massage bars. We have a men range as well, unlike what most think.

LUSH has just launched Black Stockings which is a body tint, Double Choc lip tint, color supplements, Hair Doctor Hair mask and R&B hair moisturizer.

How is it different from other products; we are the pioneers of solid shampoo bar.  Our soaps come in solid, liquid, gels, jellies and liquid form. Our solid soaps are stacked like blocks of cheese and are weighed and cut according to customer requirement.  Our cleansers too are weighed and sold as per customer need. Where else will you get solid massage bars, which is the LUSH version of body oils? When you buy our products you pay for quality of the ingredients and not for glossy packaging. That is our USP!

SS: What has been the response so far?
SK: LUSH has been in India for six years now. Response so far has been phenomenal. Our customer base is growing and people love the idea of fresh handmade cosmetics. We are introducing more new products which are being loved by our clientele.

SS: What is your marketing strategy?
SK: Word-of-mouth is our way of seeping into the market. Our customers love us and they talk about us to others. What also works fantastically for us is that we reinvent and create new products every month. We understand the needs of our customers and launch products accordingly. This keeps us going. We do not waste our money on ads or glossy packaging instead we would use the same money to buy quality ingredients that go into the products.

SS:  What are the expansion plans?
SK: Right now, we are 12 stores in India. Four in Bangalore, two in Mumbai and two in Kolkata and one each in Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Mangalore. We have a mail order business and we are looking at setting our foot in Chennai and Pune. We are looking at opening another in Mumbai and Delhi as well. So, yes we have big plans and LUSH is growing in India.

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