A comment about the price increases that has evolved into some rather boring / interesting / [select a verb of your choice] thoughts.

I visited the store near where I live on the walk back home this evening. I planned only to browse and left with a few bottles of shower gel and a bottle of shampoo. 🙃

One of the staff told me that the prices had increased since I last visited the store and I said that I was sure the increases weren't too bad. I let out a slightly too loud "What the fuck?!" when they gave me examples such as the Rose Jam perfume increasing from £50.00 to £70.00 and shampoo bars now being £10.00 each. I've always considered the products to be luxuries despite owning an obscene amount of products and Lush being my everyday cosmetics brand. I've been fortunate enough to think nothing of buying a few bottles of shower gel or enough bath bombs for a week of wicked baths or a couple of 100 ml bottles of perfume. They make me happy, they smell great and I'm okay with spending money on things that make me feel good.

However, seeing some of the new prices this evening made me feel dirty in a way. Not in the refreshing kind of way that Dirty Springwash makes me feel, not in the slightly naughty way that the Dirty perfume makes me feel, but in a really disgusted and unpleasant way. I used to justify the prices of everything I bought to anyone; especially if they commented that they were silly. For the first time, I confidently feel that I can't and I don't want to. I checked out some of the e-receipts I had from the past and was shocked. Lakes, a bath bomb I really like, was £5.50 in January 2022. When I searched for it, the price was £10.00 in the search results. When I tapped the item, I was directed to the page for it and the price was £11.50. It's more than doubled in price even if it's happened over three years. I could say that a bubble bar was worth that price but it's completely ridiculous for a bath bomb. Roots! I love this product and it makes my hair feel fantastic. I bought the 450 g tub at the end of July last year for £26.00 which I already found slightly steep. It's £30.00 now. A 1 kg bottle of Fairly Traded Honey has jumped from £55.00 to £59.00. Everyone, we're going to see a £60.00 bottle of shampoo for the first time ever soon. I remember when the last price increase resulted in most products increasing by £0.50 or £1.00. I agree that everything has become more expensive, including the costs of raw ingredients, production and wage increases. Notwithstanding these things, nor the quality of the products remaining fairly decent, this latest wave of price increases feels wrong.

Pertaining to the price increases, I asked the same member of staff, simply, "Why?". Without much hesitation, their reply was a slightly disappointed "Greed." We laughed, I loved the honesty, but it was a really sad sign that staff aren't even trying to convince customers that the products are worth it anymore. When I first entered the store, it looked so bare with lots of cardboard boxes full of products and the prices scribbled on them. It felt like a clearance sale. I asked what this was all about and was told that the sale was still ongoing. Jokingly, I was reassured "Don't worry! We're not closing down." Looking back, I wouldn't be surprised to see the same thing within the next few years. Also, this same member of staff "quietly" told me that all of the Valentine's Day products with the prices printed on them (think shower gel and products in a bottle) have increased in price ahead of the launch. Classy.

When I worked for Lush, when I stepped into a Lush store for the first few times so many years ago, the music was thumping, the staff were loudly and proudly showing off products and the stores were always full of customers watching a demonstration of a product. I remember doing several "loud and proud" demonstrations at the front of the Oxford Street store when I got my first ever job. The stores were fucking fun! Today, even with a rare sale on, the store was empty. I've seen most stores quite quiet over the last year with staff outnumbering customers on so many occasions. The activism for ethical causes has all but disappeared in favour of stupid collaborations that I dare say most people, or even just loyal customers, never asked for and don't want. Initially, I thought "The Lush Version" collection of products found in The Body Shop was a cheeky yet fun idea. Now, I see that it was incredibly distasteful. No one even talks about them and The Body Shop has actually survived. Who really cares about the Bath Bot that's taken years to produce and doesn't seem to work particularly well? Making a huge deal of Charity Pot sales passing £100 million just to discontinue it shortly after felt wrong. When the news broke, I thought to myself "I helped! I bought a few pots and remember excitedly dragging customers over to the big wall the product had all to itself in the Oxford Street store so many years ago." A truly ethical business, or people who had a heart, would have celebrated then made an even bigger deal along the lines of "Right! Let's aim for £1 billion! Let's make a difference!"

Of course, Lush is just a soap shop. It's not something everyone needs to stay alive. It's a bit fun. It was a bit of fun. A business that pays little more than the bare minimum wage, has an ever worsening customer care experience (Robbie in the UK, you're brilliant by the way), will arbitrarily forget it's ethics whenever it costs more money than it makes, refuses to do anything about it's abysmal app that everyone complains about and hikes the prices of products to ridiculous levels is a business that has lost it's way. In a world that seems to be getting worse every day; this is where Lush from the past would've shone bright.

This post was meant to be a comment on a post about price increases but I've ended up typing for the last hour. I'm not obsessed with Lush. I simply found joy working for the business a decade ago, in using the products and enjoyed getting to know some of the amazing staff that work their backsides off every day. I still laugh when I walk into more than a few stores in London and get greeted personally by some of the staff. I'm not a celebrity. I just like things that are bubbly and smell good. I still bought the products this evening but these may be the last ones. By the way, with the new prices in effect, I received 50% off the new prices even if the products were made before August last year. I can understand why but I don't think doing this is a good look. Keep this in mind if you've had lots of time to kill and read this far. I thought about what other ethical brands were out there when I was in the bath this afternoon. I'll think again now and may end up several hundred pounds better off this year.

I don't expect anyone to care about these thoughts and this is neither a love letter nor break up message to Lush, my lover. Although, that said, if anyone from Lush's head office does see this post then please consider where you are now. Usually, I never speak for anyone but I think I speak for everyone on this subreddit, for most loyal customers too, when I say "Please come back. It was so good before. Let it be good again."