A handmade evening at Lush Nottingham

Lush has an amazing ethos when it comes to their products, all are natural and hand made with ingredients from suppliers that promote sustainable methods and lifestyles for their workers. I spent an evening at the Nottingham store, actually hand-making the products in (almost) the same way as they do in the factory and it was so much fun to see the processes that go into making the products.

We were met by the amazing Lush team who are so enthusiastic and passionate about Lush and what they promote and it’s fab to see the staff with such knowledge and interest in the all things Lush. We each partnered up and were sent to different stations to make various different products to add to our already stuffed goodie bag which we were kindly given, complete with a cute name tag!

First up, my partner Hayley and I, made the Catastrophe Cosmetics Fresh Face Mask. We needed real blueberries for this one, which we mashed by hand in a bowl! It was a lot of fun. I can’t remember what other liquids we used to get it at the right consistency, but we then added a powder, again my memory escapes me as to which one, to bulk it up and pad it out to give it the thick playdoh like texture. Then we scooped it into the tubs by hand and squashed it down nice and flat. This is a great one for literal cosmetic catastrophes such as spots or sun burn.

Next we made actual bath bombs ourselves which was so much fun! We did this as a group and we each took the powders and mixed the colours together, before pressing it into our moulds to form the bath bomb. We had to leave the bath bombs in their moulds for 24 hours to settle down before we could use it.

We made an Intergalactic which was the easiest as it was blue powder, then pink white and yellow then more blue, whereas The Experimenter was more complicated as you had to pack it in to each half and it’s a lot harder than it sounds!

We tried our hand at the Angels On Bare Skin Cleanser (with the best dress Lushie there in his angel costume!) by mixing up the dry and liquid ingredients to form a paste type product which we rolled out with a rolling pin.

Then we rolled up it up like a swiss roll before sprinkling bits of lavender onto the roll. The most satisfying part was cutting it into slices to put into our tubs. This is one to use post makeup removal, so as a second cleanse.

The last thing we made was a bubble bar and we got to make Creamy Candy which smells just like Snow Fairy! A great way to get your Snow Fairy fix before Christmas. We had to mix dry and wet ingredients and rub together, then let it sit for 20 minutes.

This is where the famous Blue Peter saying “here’s one I prepared earlier” came into play and a batch that had been sitting was produced, which we moulded in to the bubble bar shape before pressing a little flower in the middle. I was quite impressed with mine I managed to get it a fairly decent shape! Bath bombs tend to last me a good four baths so I can’t wait to get soaking in Snow Fairy scented bubbles!

It was so much fun learning how each of the products were made and realising just how much goes on down at the main factory! There are so many ways you can get involved with it too as many local stores hold events during the weekend and school holidays where you can go in and make some of your own products.

Every staff member is equipped with the knowledge of every product so if you wanted to know how something is made and where the ingredients come from you can just ask in store! There are loads of things going off in the flagship Oxford Street store too where you can get exclusive products, as well as attending the Lush Summit each year.

We were also gifted the Turtle Jelly Bomb, a sample of the Rose Jam Shower gel and the Charity Cream as well as getting to take home the products we made. Thanks so much to the lovely team at Nottingham who hosted such a lovely evening for us and for our fab gifts! What’s your favourite Lush product? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks so much for reading!

*Products gifted