Lush opens largest store yet in Oxford

OXFORD, England — Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics has opened its largest store in the world — a 9,500-sq.-ft. flagship on London’s busy Oxford Street. The three-story flagship is a veritable beauty wonderland, complete with an in-store spa. It’s also a delight for the senses, calling out at every step for customers to touch, feel and smell the products.

Featuring rustic beams, chalk signs, pendant lights and concrete flooring, the flagship retains the brand’s signature rustic feel, but with industrial accents. Lush’s colorful products — all handmade from natural and fresh ingredients — are displayed, grocery-style in many instances, in wooden crates and barrels. Signage is in keeping with the brand’s playful spirit. One large graphic invites customers to “Relax … Take a Bath.”

Reflecting the company’s environmental commitment, the new store uses only wood that has been reclaimed or certified by the U.K.’s Forest Stewardship Council. The LED lighting is energy efficient.

Lush, which manufacturers all its own products, developed more than 200 new items for the flagship, including shampoos, styling creams, face masks, makeup, gourmet soaps, shower gels and tooth powders, and many are spotlighted on the ground floor.

Customers can try out products in the on-site Hair Lab, and also pose for a picture in the #selfie mirror.

A sign on the ground floor invites customers to “Calm Down” the steps toward the basement level, home to the Lush Spa and an interactive perfume gallery. A music station features a selection of artists signed to Lush’s two music labels. The country cottage-styled spa is debuting a new Lush treatment, “The Planets,” a three-hour indulgence that even includes a palm reading.

The top floor houses perhaps the brand’s best-known product line — bath products — which includes the signature Lush bath bombs. Industrial-sized sinks are featured to try out products. There’s also an events space, the Soapbox.