I thought that Lush was already world-wide and well-known, but apparently that isn't the case in some places. Amsterdam has 2 Lush stores- one on the Leidsestraat and one on the Kalverstraat. One year ago they opened their first Belgian store in Antwerp.
If you are a vegan and an animal rights activist who ecshews all animal-related products in clothes, food, and toiletries, then you know Lush, you love Lush, you are Lush's PRIME target market. Because Lush is more than a soap store- it is a company that cares about animal rights (as well as human rights). It doesn't test it's soaps on animals nor does it buy ingredients from suppliers who do, and it cares about the environment, using organic and fair trade supplies when possible, using as little packaging as possible, and staying away from the harsh chemicals that ruin our beautiful world. And it aligns itself with important human and animal rights causes in the form of support through products, sponsorships, and donations or percentages of sales. (In fact, here is a list of charities that the UK Lush supports.)


There is a lot to be said about Lush's continued contribution to make the world a better place. In short, it is a great company with great ethics- and it SMELLS FANTASTIC in the stores.

On the recommendation of one friend who just discovered the wonderful world of Lush (Hi Rachel!), and another who works for Lush's new in-store salon in the UK (doing massages and things- Hi Mo!), I applied for a job at Lush and last night had my interview there (I have no idea why I didn't think to do this before). It was a group interview with 9 other women, and it was actually more fun than your average interview, even though we covered some of the normal interview questions. And then we each did a little pretend scenario where we tried to sell an item from Lush to one of the 2 people interviewing us.

7 of out of the 10 of us there survived the first cut and now we each have an in-store trial day to see if we are suitable for the job. My day is tomorrow, and I'm really excited to go in and prove myself. This would be a fantastic job, right in line with my ideals and principles, so keep your fingers crossed for me please!ANYWAY! On to the whole point of this blog! MANY (70% actually) of Lush's soaps/shampoos/bubble baths/etc are vegan (and you can easily spot them by the vegan flower symbol on the placard in the store, see below)- so no animal ingredients involved. The company is vegetarian, so the other 30% of the products are vegetarian, with ethically sourced animal-derived ingredients.

After we left the interview for the night, we got a goody-bag with 2 different Lush soaps. What a sweet gesture! I certainly have never been to any job interview where, even if you don't win the job, you walk away with something!

The 2 soaps inside were a Spice Curls soap and a Keep It Fluffy soap.

You can't tell from these pictures (obviously), but these two soaps smell divine! The one on the left is spicier (think cinnamon, chai, mulled wine), the one on the right more flowery (definite hints of rose). I can't wait to try these two out and add them to my ever-growing list of Lush products that I love (the bath bombs and bubble bars are OUT OF THIS WORLD!).
And I'll keep you posted if I get the job, so again, fingers crossed please!!!