I have always had a major Lush obsession. With their eco-friendly stance and an absolutely gorgeous range of hand-made organic beauty products that you can sniff down a mile away, this British beauty giant continues to rule the roost with their quirky, innovative new additions for every season.

Great news Dubai! Lush Cosmetics has just opened a brand new store in City Walk 1. Covering an impressively large 119 square meters of retail space, the City Walk store is now the largest Lush Cosmetics outlet in the entire Middle East.

Garry Wells, MENA Property Manager comments, “as we continue to expand in the UAE, we aim to build, captivating sustainable shops with green fit-outs, continuing our work to keeping environmental impact to an absolute minimum’.

Taking cues from the flagship store on Oxford Street London, the interiors are a sensory treat! The characteristically fresh, fruity notes of a typical Lush store whiff in the backdrop of a quirky, colourful ambiance. The staff, all dressed up in festive Halloween ghetto, are super friendly and make you feel like you’ve stepped into a party zone.

 

What’s New at Lush Costmetics CityWalk Dubai?

‘Innovation & Hair Lab’

With dedicated in-house Lush kitchen fresh counters, beauty master classes, skincare and new on site Hair Labs you are in for a treat. Seek the advice of specially trained staff and sample the various skin and hair care masks, creams, and balms for flawless skin and shiny hair.

There was quite a queue for this section when I was at the opening, but you can always call up the store and make an appointment. I did end up buying a bottle of Daddy-O shampoo, recommended to me by the Lush ladies for my peroxide blonde tresses. Review coming up soon!

 

‘Gorilla Gallery’

Or hangout in the Gorilla perfumery to try a wide selection of euphoric Lush perfumes, founded by Lush’s master perfumer Simon Constantine. Experience the full spectrum of the world’s finest essential oils, smell the scents and identify the ingredients used in them. Experiment with exotic fragrances such as warm sandalwood, earthy patchouli, Ugandan fair-trade vanilla, all taking inspiration from various origins and stories, designed to evoke a mixture of feelings and emotions.

 

I have been wearing Gorilla Perfumes by Lush Cosmetics for years, and was happy to spot quite a few of my favorites here:

 

With a psychedelically printed head-scarf and a very warm, soothing voice, the consultant at the Gorilla Gallery can easily be mistaken to be a medium with psychic abilities. She sat me down for a chat, and evaluated my personality. She deciphered I am a boho at heart, unconventional and out of the box. My love for spicy food is somehow linked to me favoring more smoky, spiced scents.

My current favorites from the Lush Gorilla Perfumes range are Sikkim Girls and All Good Things.

However, the consultant wanted to introduce me to something new. Given my personality analysis, this is what she picked out for me:

She picked out Kerbside Violet for my unconventional streak. A violet too, is not your ordinary bloom. It grows in the cracks and crevices, the unexpected kerbsides, and astonishes with its beauty and uplifting scent.

She picked the Sun for me as she felt I had a warm, comforting persona.

And then there was Karma, a nod to my bohemian side, the non-conformer, the wild child.

I sniffed all three, and it was a tough call narrowing it down to one. I loved the mix of smokey and floral in Kerbside Violet. The Sun as the name suggests, had an endearingly warm summer feel to it and gave me visions of sitting by a cozy, staring out at a brightly lit up summer garden. I finally settled for Karma; intoxicatingly boho with its smokey base of patchouli and a contrasting freshness of orange and fresh pine.

 

Anita Baker – Director of Lush Middle East comments, “We are thrilled to give our customers and long time fans of the brand a whole new experience with our branch in City Walk. We will be offering live hair demonstrations at the Hair Lab and a deeper understanding of our fragrances and sensory experience at the Gorilla Perfume Lounge. The store also brings to light a designated party room area for private parties ranging from Beauty School for the beauty connoisseur and Fun & Games for the child in you.”

 

Lush Halloween Treats 2016

Being Lush Cosmetics, ofcourse they have something new for the festive season! Here are some very interesting goodies I spotted for Halloween:

 

 

Lush @City Walk

The brand new Lush Cosmetics store is located on City Walk 1, Dubai. The store is open from 10 am to 10 pm, Sunday to Thursday. Be sure to check out the Innovation Hair Lab and Gorilla Gallery – the very first of their kind in the Middle East!