On Friday, 18 January 2019, Lush will open the first plastic packaging-free cosmetics shop in the UK. The new shop in Manchester follows the success of Lush’s other ‘naked shops’ in Milan and Berlin.
Lush has made a name for itself with its fizzing bath bombs made of fresh, organic ingredients in bright colours and bold shapes. Now, the global cosmetics retailer is taking the lead in combating over-packaging by developing products that can be sold ‘naked’ to the consumer without any packaging.
Its newly renovated store in Manchester will open its doors to the public on Friday, 18 January as the first plastic packaging-free cosmetics store in the UK. What’s more, visitors will be able to scan products directly using the #LushLabs apps. It not only replaces packaging with a digital solution, but also uses the user’s smartphone camera to give the customer detailed ingredient information and ‘how to use’ demonstrations via the app.
“In Lush we work in an industry where the packaging costs the customer more than the product,” Mark Constantine, Lush co-founder and managing director, said in a press release. “If we can cut out all the plastic packaging, we can give our customers better value for money.”
The new shop in Manchester follows the success of Lush’s first ‘naked’ shops in Milan and Berlin. According to Lush, the solid shampoo bars have been their most popular products: nearly 8,000 have been sold since the shops opened in 2018, the equivalent of up to 616,880 hair washes that haven’t come from plastic bottles.
Launching alongside the new shop on 18 January is Lush’s global ‘naked’ skincare campaign, which highlights all the plastic packaging-free products available in Lush shops worldwide as well as a new ‘naked’ skincare collection launching in Europe. Currently, ‘naked’ products make up almost 50 per cent of Lush’s core range.
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