Lush could be one of the spa industry’s best-kept secrets. Its name is synonymous with brightly-coloured, scented bath bombs, haircare bars, masks, muds and soaps. Yet the high street retailer has also built up a string of day spas around the world and is teasing an entry into hospitality.
Fresh from interviewing the brand’s spa and make-up lead, Kayley Thomas (see p16), I tried out a treatment in Lush Glasgow. Having opened in March 2024, the Scottish site is one of the newest out of Lush’s 20 spas globally and I’m immediately greeted by a giant sink overflowing with continuously expanding bath foam as store assistants laugh.
The brand’s playfully-named cosmetics are neatly piled high on every surface in all the colours of the rainbow. The music and scents compete for my attention as a smiling team member directs me to the Lush Spa on the second floor. In the yellow colour-drenched spa reception, the sound of the party downstairs is quieter and the chirp of relaxing birdsong takes over. The birds are recorded by Lush co-founder Mark Constantine, along with fellow bird aficionados, and soundscapes for treatments are woven together by musicians at Lush Fresh Handmade Sound.
Experience curation
My spa therapist invites me into the pre-treatment space for a consultation. The full-body treatment I’m having – called Synaesthesia – is based on the perceptual phenomenon known as an overlapping of the senses. This is when people, including Constantine, experience colours or perceive taste when they listen to music or smell certain scents.
I’m asked to look at a board with 11 words, or ‘intentions’, written on it and choose one. From options such as Courage, Empowerment and Belonging, I rebelliously choose Mischief and write it on the chalkboard provided.
Another tray is produced, covered in various vials of different colours with little brown tags and single words on them again. Very Alice in Wonderland. Concerned I haven’t been able to sniff anything yet, I pick a small pink tonic with the word Hug on it.
Down the rabbit hole
The therapist leads me to a serene treatment room. She has a table ready with a jojoba-infused massage bar engraved with the word Mischief next to the chalkboard, a bath bomb and my chosen Hug tonic.
Asked to take my socks and shoes off, she starts the spectacle, pouring a small amount of the tonic into a glass flask, which instantly fizzes with a liquid gas that smells herbal and spicy. The effervescent solution cascades over the brim of the vessel and expands across the floor, tickling my feet. This is not your average aromatherapy.
The Mischief bath bomb is then released into a bowl of water that similarly bubbles over. It creates an even thicker carpet of vapour, reminiscent of morning dew. All part of the show, the therapist puts this bowl under the treatment bed and leaves me to get ready in a space infused with tangy floral scents.
Sensory immersion
On her return, birds begin to tweet. Lush Fresh Handmade Sound collaborated with The Nightjar Orchestra to produce the soundscape for this 80-minute treatment. The birds, the music and the massage work together to create an immersive sensory experience, representing a full 24 hours in the countryside.
The body massage bar is the only skincare required as the treatment begins at my scalp, face and arms before travelling down the front of the legs and feet. Hot stones placed on my stomach and chest provide a comforting cocoon effect and when they are removed, I feel refreshed.
Turning onto my front during the ‘night’ section, where only tawny owls can be heard calling to each other, the therapist works up the back of the body. A rousing folk rendition of the song Scarborough Fair signals the end of the treatment and I’m left feeling fully relaxed. Muscle tension has eased and my breathing feels easier and deeper.
Refreshing retail
In the invitingly warm terracotta-coloured post-treatment space, I’m presented with a tea associated with my treatment and a larger version of the bath bomb used in my session to take home. I’m excited to learn that when I recreate the experience in my own bath, a piece of poetry will remain undissolved in the water. Lush products have featured these curated notes since 2021, all of which are written by The Poetry Pharmacy, a company that dispenses poetry prescriptions.
Another parting memento is a complementary perfume. Created in-house by a team of expert fine perfumers, the one I spritz is a floral but earthy fragrance called Grassroots.
The retail opportunities are endless, with countless products linked to the treatment journey. Refreshingly, there’s no need for a lengthy discussion of ingredients or benefits – the pure drama of the experience is what entices people to spend more. With a cost of £160 (US$218, €185) for 80 minutes, it’s not hard to see how this sensory adventure means Lush Spa can compete with hotel spas in the city.
Treatments that refresh both the body and mind in such a thoughtful way are hard to find and I can safely say I’ve never been to a spa that embraces play so wholeheartedly.
