Image: www.lush.com
Editor Shelagh McNally spoke with Mark Constantine, founder and president, about what drives LUSH.
Green Living: You have over 510 stores worldwide and are just about to open your 100th store in North America. How do you maintain quality?
Mark Constantine: We are probably one of the most vigilant companies and we are very careful about what goes into our products. We err more on the side of caution more than any government. We only use two preservatives and while we don’t trust any preservatives these two are the best of a bad bunch. They have the longest history of use. We don’t use the really dangerous things like dye or anti-aging materials. We only every use one sunscreen and we worry about that.
How long did it take you to develop a network of suppliers who don’t use animal products?
It was long process of educating our suppliers and building a relationship with them. It’s ongoing and we are constantly searching out new sources.
On your website you’re pretty upfront about your ingredients.
We want to be even more upfront. I’m hoping that within six months you’ll be able to click on every ingredient and find out where we bought it, what we thought about the circumstances plus read the buyer’s report. I think the Internet enables enables so much more information so if you’re really interested then you can research it.
How do you come up with product names? They’re quite witty and charming.
That is the mentality of the people creating our products. We all sit around in what’s called a mafia meeting and people bat these ideas around. There are a lot of witty people sitting there and they tend to come out with something that makes the others roar with laughter. It’s nice and rather like an editorial meeting at a magazine or a newspaper. Actually it’s exactly like doing headlines for a newspaper.
How do you find the people who work for you?
People come by and we have a little look. Fortunately, we’ve got a lot people who have been around for a long time. I've worked with a team for 25-30 years now. So a lot of people hang around for a long time and we go through the ups and downs together.
Do you think people are educated enough about their cosmetics?
I wouldn’t blame the public for their misconceptions. I just bought a book on advertisers in the U.K. and they say companies are each spending between 107 and 118 million pounds for ads. I would suggest the public is being misled. I don’t understand why these companies can’t use natural ingredients. If you’re formulating a product without using natural ingredients it’s like using only half the alphabet to write a story.
It’s probably because chemicals are cheaper.
Well, they’re already spending a fortune on advertising! They’ve got huge sums of money and great resources. Why don’t they just do it? Why does it constantly have to be pretence? Why can’t they just do it? I would like people to come into the shops, get the right advice, buy the right product and then use it all. If you look at your own bathroom cabinet -- it’s full of stuff that you shouldn’t have bought in the first place. Wouldn’t be lovely to use your money buying the good stuff for yourself that you will use?
I’m a perfume lover. But so many people are becoming allergic.
How can you be a perfume lover? Isn’t it banned everywhere? It’s a disgrace! Particularly in Montreal -- whatever happened to the French influence? I do think it’s strange that in the States you can carry a gun but you can’t wear perfume.
Why isn't there more organic perfumes out there?
Perfume changed with White Linen when they worked out six materials that were really in laundry detergent. These were very powerful scents, particularly synthetic musk. At that point perfumery changed from the myriad of different things and subtleties. Then with Giorgio, it became these really dramatic, mega-perfumes based on just a few strong synthetics.
Should we be suspicious when fragrance is listed as an ingredient?
I put the word fragrance on things so I can hide away an ingredient. It’s not horrible but rather it's a mix my competitors would try and nick. It could be that I have nothing but lemon oil in there and I put it in as fragrance. That’s my naughty bit of mischief.
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