LUSH @ Macy's

I love LUSH sooo much and was so excited when the Macy's location opened a while back.

I get all my LUSH needs there but am very put off with the amount of up-selling they do. I JUST WANT A MASSAGE BAR! Nothing else, not this time. They seriously won't let you purchase your stuff until you buy at least one other thing that you don't really want at that time.

I love the products but wish they'd give the hard sell a rest.

You'd think a hippie like me would love LUSH. I used to. Then I found out the ingredients in some products weren't as great as they should have been (sulfates and parabens were still included), so I stayed away and found other brands or made my own things at home.

Recently, I've been struggling a little bit more with sweaty armpits. TMI, I know... but it's really important for this review. For some reason, I sweat a little bit more than other people. Most anitperspirants/deoderants do not seem to work. I finally found a brand that worked for about a year... then it was failing on me. With warmer weather arriving, it was imperitive that I take care of this problem as soon as possible. I researched homemade deoderants and decided that was my next experiment.

Before that happened, a friend brought me a little, powdered sample of the LUSH T'eo deoderant (a solid bar). Given my knowledge about the company, I was a bit skeptical but tried it anyway. Um... this stuff was amazing. It WORKED. And I didn't have to worry about the stares from friends and strangers when I lifted up my arms. I looked it up on the LUSH website, didn't find any harmful ingredients in T'eo, and decided it was the one for me.

To my surprise, this LUSH is located in the Macy's cosmetics departments. Interesting.

But, OH, the smell as you approach this corner of the store? Divine! All the bars and balls and bottles are a rainbow delight to my eyes!

And then... the workers bombard with you a dozen "Can I help you find anything?"s.

SO MANY EMPLOYEES. For such a tiny space. It's overwhelming.

Even if you know exactly what you want, they take it off the shelf for you, put it in a little paper bag, bring it to the counter, and then ask you if you want anything else... only giving up after the fourth "no." I learned quickly to be stern and act like I'm in a hurry. I'm the kind of lady that knows exactly what she's looking for and how little money I have to spend. Hard sell? Doesn't work on me. Still annoying, though.

T'eo, on the other hand? AMAZING.

I want to give Lush 5 stars. And for the actual products, 5 stars would be unquestioned. They're vegan, natural, delicious smelling, and WORK - the rub rub rub salt scrub and sandstone soap work wonders on my roughest, driest skin. The bath bombs are gorgeous, and their gift packages are perfect for your I-don't-know-what-the-hell-to-give-you Christmas list of people. My husband even loves their soap and shampoo. Their massage bars are heavenly. Awesome, awesome, amazing products.

So why the 3 stars? The staff.

I feel awful, because I think it must be company policy to act this way, because I've experienced it at the Chicago Lush stores as well, but good lord, are these women pushy. And I don't mean just asking if you want help six hundred times (which they do). I mean like desperately, cloyingly chatty. I mean zero regard for social cues. I mean once my husband had to beg them to remove their hands from him as they tried to lead him to a demo sink. I mean it in the way that I dread going there and actually stock up when I do go so I don't have to come back soon.

Tonight alone, I had to firmly, desperately tell three separate women I did not need help. I did not want a sample. No I did not want my hands washed. Yes, I know how that smells. At one point, after four separate pushy attempts by one of them, I actually said "no, no, no, please, I'm fine." When we were checking out, I actually declined a free freaking sample, because I didn't want to stand there and talk about it and beg for freedom. It's crazy that someone thinks this is a brilliant marketing tactic, and even more crazy that these ladies will perform it.

I once watched how other shoppers reacted to this just to make sure I wasn't crazy, an sure enough, we were ALL acting like weird, cold-shouldered, no-eye-contact-making biatches just to avoid the wrath of their hard sell. It's so bizarre that they keep it up.

Lush and I go way back (to mail-order-from-Canada days), so it's so much easier now to just take a run to Oak Brook and get what I need and get it immediately, plus having all the fresh products available as well.

The company is very good about coming up with new products regularly, and variations on old favorites (so if they discontinue something you liked, it may reappear in another form).

The vanilla, citrus, mint and blackcurrant products tend to be my favorites. I am still not big on the flowery scented stuff, and I also have to frown at the amount of products that have GLITTER in them! There are some items I would try if not for the glitter! And for a company that purports to keep things natural, the amount of glitter in their products (and all over the floor) just seems wrong.

I'm a little torn about the staff. Sometimes they're friendly and will answer questions when you ask but otherwise leave you be to browse, but sometimes they will pounce on you as if you were a mark and try to convince you to buy, well, everything in the store. I don't have that kind of budget, sorry! I'm good at saying no (or the politer, "I'll think about it for next time"), but I usually do get informed about some useful product that I wasn't aware of. The Herbalism face wash (which is really helping me) and the Mask of Magnaminty that I really like (particularly on my back!) were sprung upon me this way; while I like the products, the hard sell can be a bit much.

That said, the staff is very knowledgeable about what goes into the products and the varying properties of these ingredients, and what's good for what skin type.

So I usually leave with more than I went in to buy, but since I only go a few times a year I guess it could be worse. We'll see if I can convert my boyfriend to the LUSH life; I gave him an Avobath ballistic and a mango bath melt as part of a present this week!

I would not come to this Lush again. BUT, I don't have to. They are getting their own store in October, which couldn't come sooner!

In my opinion, the place is way too packed and they were out of many products (where would they keep them?). Since it's in the Macy's, you currently have to deal with that crowd. No thanks.

The people working there were great. We enjoyed our brief chats with them. I'd love to come back and give them my business... in October. I've got my eye on the Fair Trade Honey shampoo and the Happy Happy Joy Joy conditioner. My friend purchased some soaps and we scurried out of there as quickly as we could.

It's been too long since I have declared my love for Lush.
As I lay in my bathtub filled with purple water and smelling like a blackberry, La Vie en Rose (Hebrew version) suddenly plays in my head.

I really have to say, I love the associates here.

I stopped in today on my way out of Macy's. Figured I'd just have a quick peek. Someone asked me if I had been in before so I told them my first experience there. She was like, well let's have some fun then want to wash your hands?

Ok...that sounds a little weird, but really she gave me this awesome scrub to wash my hands with and a lotion to put on after that. I kept browsing around and another associate started talking to me about their hair care. She offered to sample a shampoo and conditioner for me, so I took her up on the offer.

While she made me my sample I kept perusing around, got to the lip balms and smelled them. My first associate that had me try to hand scrub was over there again and offered me to sample the lip scrub when I looked at that, as well as a balm over it when I was done.

I ended up buying a lip scrub and taking my hair care samples. I want to go back merely because of the service, although I don't know how much I will realistically buy/use I WANT TO GO SPEND MY MONEY HERE.

the first time I visited lush I hated everything.
I am now a bit of a fan. I still hate some things lol.
The people working at LUSH rock. They are very nice and more than willing to help you out. If you aren't sure about something ask for a sample.
The store itself is TINY it's crammed in the corner of Macy's (a store that i hate anyway) This is the one and only reason i'd really enter a Macy's.

Everything smells wonderful. My only truly fave product is Tea Tree Water toner. Stuff is pretty much organic (check labels I don't think EVERYTHING is vegan) even though their face wash bars contain SLS's which sucks and the toners do contain parabens. I wish it was more natural but for the most part everything is more natural than other brands/stores.
I do really dig the bio masks which only last about 3 weeks. So make sure you check the date on the container that they give you to make sure it's not an older one so you have enough time to use it all. Make sure to use it GENEROUSLY or you will have a hard time finishing it in time. You can only get the masks in store and not online so having a LUSH near is awesome if you like the masks. I have to say i LOVE the cupcake mask smells like chocolate and mint.

Everything is very fragrant if you are not a fan of such things this is so not the place for you. You can smell lush all thru the first floor of macy's

I absolutely love LUSH. Their products are absolutely phenomenal. They don't use skin-irritating chemicals in their products, so LUSH products have worked magic for me.

This location is very small. However, the size of the place is not relevant to the excellent customer service LUSH's workers give. Every time I go in, someone will always answer my questions and give me beauty advice. For example, a girl I was speaking with told me I should wash my hair only once every other day to combat oiliness in the roots and dryness in the ends (previously I had been washing it twice every other day, which really evens out to washing my hair every day). This small bit of advice has been so helpful for me in the maintenance of my hair. The workers will also give nice tips on how to pamper myself after a long week (who knew the simplicity of a hot, damp towel was so comforting?)

Employees are always willing to literally show you how a product is used. They will use whole bath bombs just to show the bubbles and the scent of the product. They also will massage your hands with lotion to show you the benefits of that particular lotion. The kiosk is equipped with a plethora of towels, so you can feel free to use whatever you'd like. The sinks are clean, but may seem to have a residue of soap film over them, but only because they show people how to use their products.

The prices of LUSH products vary. Some are on the high end of reasonable ($6.95 for a face mask; $9.95 for a small shampoo), while others are just pricey ($9.95 for a tiny jar of their lip scrub; $7.25 for lip balm). However, LUSH employees are always willing to offer free samples of products, so you can always try them before you buy them.

The nice thing about LUSH products is that they last a very long time because you need only a small amount of product to get the benefits. I've had a hair product called R&B for about a year and it's still working great, it hasn't aged, it still smells the same. Their shampoo works nicely when only using a small amount as well.

Overall, LUSH is a wonderful company. It's nice to see how excellent customer service can make people feel so welcome in a store.

As smooth as a baby's butt.
That how my face feels right now. I am very interested to keep only the good, healthy, man made products on my skin so it made sense to let the ladies at Lush get in my face.
Dani was a rock star again, and she took very good care of my face and listened to my needs. I am in the beauty industry but it's always good to listen to others to absorb all we can for everyone's benefit.
My skin smells as good as it did when I left, and my oily skin is still as calm and balanced as it was hours ago. I think I'm going to invest in some Lush stock.
Obsessed.