‘I visited British bomb manufacturing unit – the ballistics line is not what you’d count on’
EXCLUSIVE: Our Layla Nicholson paid a visit to one of Britain’s biggest bomb factories to get a rare behind-the-scenes look. She found there’s more to the ballistics department than meets the eye
It’s difficult to know what to expect from a bomb factory – but seeing staff ploughing through products to the soundtrack of the Pussycat Dolls would be impossible to predict even with the brightest of guess work.
Neither did I expect to be greeted with a waiting room decorated with potted foliage and a jovial sign “Welcome to ballistics” ushering you into the department where 11.5million bombs are churned out by hand a year.
However, this British bomb factory by the sea doesn’t dabble in deadly projectiles used in the most grizzly of war zones around the globe. Instead, it’s home to Lush – the proudly ‘fresh’, ‘vegan’ and ‘hand made’ smelly shop that has been turning noses on the high street for the last 30 years.
So come with me to take a rare peek behind the (environmentally friendly) glitter of Lush HQ in Poole, Dorset, to mark the anniversary since six founders Mo Constantine, Mark Constantine, Rowena Bird, Helen Ambrosen, Liz Bennett and Paul Greeves conjured cosmetic magic.
Bombs away
Bath bombs seem like they’ve been around for yonks, though life pre-pink bath water wasn’t that long ago. It was only in 1989 that one of the founders, Mo Constantine, had the ‘eureka’ moment to make the world’s tubs fizz with colour.
Lush co-founder and Manufacturing Director Mo was in her garden shed when she had the rather bright idea. But, hardly inspiring, right?
Well, amongst the hoes and the mower, one of the brains behind the operation plopped dissolvable hangover saviour Alka-Seltzer aspirin in water.
Inspired, Mo and husband Mark experimented until they created the base of the bubbling bombs we know and love today, naming their first product ‘Aqua Sizzler’ in a nod to the pill that started the brain wave.
Some six years later this helped “spark” the start of the business that reported a £816.8m turnover in 2023.
Sounds like it was worth the headache. Talking of aching heads, you might just get one if you’re working a shift in the bath bomb factory if your taste in music predates the 90s.
The Smiths once argued that there’s nothing ‘Louder Than Bombs’. However, they failed to predict that Britney Spears, The Pussycat Dolls and dance music of the 00s would most certainly drown out the ballistics.
That’s the case of the Lush bath bomb factory, with speakers blaring to transform the work space into some sort of rave.
Lush pride themselves on being ‘hand made’ and they should rightfully boast about it too.
The bath bombs aren’t moulded together by some robot that hopes to become sentient and take over the world. The product is really made by actual humans.
At the factory peak there could be 400 pairs of hands constructing the bath bombs per shift and they make it look easy.
And after watching a few members of staff expertly build the powder into the plastic mould, that is later recycled and reused, it’s my turn to give it a shot.
I’m well-versed in chucking the bombs into the bath, but constructing them – and with speed – is a whole other matter.
With a tutorial from one of the team, I’m shown how to make the ‘Lush Atom Heart Mother Bath Bomb’.
But before that, the ‘mixture’ for the fresh product needs to be blended.
Humans load up a blender that is responsible for mixing the main base of bicarbonate of soda along with natural dye and blend of essential oils for fragrance.
This is where it starts feeling like Willy Wonka is behind Lush.
Compounders can add anything from popping candy, plastic-free glitter and even fresh berries to the mix – which is blended together fresh every single day.
Now back to the pressing table where the sky blue blend is hand mixed with citric acid that acts as a thickener.
It’s the same pressing table where my ego took a monumental battering. Spoiler alert, assembling the bath bomb is actually much harder than it looks.
But, with staff hitting quotas around 450 a day – each – the scooping and twisting the mould together is quite the skill.
Now, I can see why the motivational thump of dance tracks is needed to quell the monotony of scooping and twisting powder.
Though once in the rhythm, it could actually be quite therapeutic. And what screams therapeutic more than a bath, a Lush loaded bath.
So of course it makes sense for the factory to have a tub amongst a wall of bath bomb varieties.
Staff don’t get to kick back and bathe on shift, but senior compounders do get to randomly test a pretty product from each batch to make sure the “bath art” is up to standard.
You think that being in a Lush shop is soothing for the senses enough, but the factory would be like crack for those who religiously abide by all things self-care.
Man behind the magic (or on the sticker)
Walking out of ballistics smelling like a bath bomb myself, and with the remnants of my bodged job on my jumper, it’s off to a site close by where the ‘Fresh’ department lives.
When brands shout about being ‘ethical’, ‘fresh’ and ‘vegan’, it can be hard to imagine the reality behind the scenes.
So I was pleasantly surprised when one of the staff on the tour opened up a pantry stocked with the likes of coconuts, avocados and exotic foods galore.
That’s about as fresh as you can get. Big white pots huddle in corners with bags of essential oils and the likes of lavender brewing in what is essentially a mega tea bag.
Herbs and spices line towering shelves in the middle of the department where products such as face masks are fruitfully made and packaged by hand.
And you might just recognise who one of those pair of hands belong to. Ever wondered if the people on the Lush stickers are real?
Well, meet Michael – one of the men behind making face masks galore. But you most likely have met him many times before as his face has probably stared at you when you slather on the likes of ‘Rosy Cheeks.’
Somewhat star struck from meeting the actual ‘sticker’ man in the flesh, Michael walked me through how to make the above face mask at the ‘juice bar.’
Ex-baker Michael started as a Christmas temp eight years ago before he worked his way up and around departments. He likened making face masks to baking cakes – and he’s not wrong there.
I was presented with five bowls, each containing special ingredients primed for me to stir together with a spatula. Those days of making crispy cakes have paid off, though licking the spoon is not advisable.
One after the other, and with Lush sticker celebrity guiding me along the way, the contents of the bowl – including vegan glycerine – transform into something that looks good enough to put on your face and gob, unfortunately the latter is not advised.
Expertly transferred from bowl to tub and a sticker of Michael stuck on the bottom as a sign of completion I had mastered, I say that lightly, the face mask.
Blast from the past and to the future
Mo Constantine might have been the brains behind the bomb, but there’s more people behind Lush and its slow ride to huge success from a Poole garden shed to the conquering the world.
Her husband and co-founder Mark plays a huge part in the company and has weaved his philanthropy through it from the start.
Before Lush came previous beauty business ventures Constantine & Weir and later Cosmetics To Go. It took these to flop before friends involved in the above businesses agreed to give their soapy dreams another sniff – then Lush was born.
The brand now operates in 52 countries, manufacturing in six, and boasting 886 stores worldwide. Globally Lush hand made 31.5 million bath bombs last year, with 11.5million here in Poole – and that’s without the face masks, soaps and other smellies freshly delivered to customers daily.
Fossilised in the ‘archives’ are Lush products from smelly shop past – from the recent Barbie collection to the beginnings of Avobath, a bomb that has stood the test of time that is still popular today.
It makes a fitting backdrop to have a chat with co-founder and former beauty therapist Rowena Bird, who tells me what she hopes for Lush in the next 30 years.
In jest, Rowena told me: “Well it would be nice to think I’m here in the next 30 years for a start. But for Lush, I hope it continues and that it is still here.
She continued: “It’s risk when one company goes from one generation to the next so hopefully it will continue with the generation coming up next. They’ve been working for us for an awfully long time, some of them are actually family to founders.
“It will be nice to think when founders aren’t here, as we’re all getting to the age where we might do something else (I don’t think Mark will), that the next lot coming up still believe in the ethics of Lush and keep it going with the heart of it.
“When we make a product we have an EC(essential component) and I’m hoping as the essential component at the core of Lush as a brand remains in the company.”
What started with aspiration, an aspirin and an original desire to make kids’ bath time more engaging, the bath bomb and Lush have become a staple on the British high-street – and in many bathrooms around the globe.
The fresh and hand made cosmetic retailer birthed the bath bomb that has transformed tub time into a colourful affair to prove that fun bathing isn’t just for the kiddos.
Lush has shown that it’s not a children’s gimmick, it’s for everyone – even the thugs of last summer’s riots couldn’t help themselves to a bath bomb (though illegally)…
At the core of Lush are its founders and their passion for making smellies – and as ethically as possible.
Their love for the brand has trickled down all the way from ballistics to sticker-man Michael and high street stores where staff always seem to be too happy at work. Maybe that’s what the music is for.
But, will Lush still be celebrating anniversaries in years to come?
Well, it’s been 30 years and the novelty has yet to wear off – it’s easy to see why.
