Mark Constantine (Lush): From being homeless to giving it all back

Mark Constantine made his first fortune as a supplier to The Body Shop after a difficult childhood. His father left his family when he was a toddler. After a breakdown in the relationship with his mom and stepdad, Mark became homeless at the age of just 16. He lived in a tent in a woodland area, working hard to afford food and clothes. Luckily, his friend Jeff’s family took him in. Determined to improve his circumstances, he secured an apprenticeship as a hairdresser, earning £3 per week.

As a hairdresser, he concocted some ideas for shampoos and hair treatments, which he sent to The Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, and soon he became one of her biggest suppliers. After a while Anita bought Mark’s company. The resulting time and money, Mark invested in a new company: Cosmetics To Go. When it went bankrupt, he and Cosmetics To Go’s co-founders, founded Lush, which became an immense success.

This success is partly due to his “entrepreneur's wound”, Mark said in an interview: his eager to show his worth to the parents who left him.

One might expect that a formerly homeless person would herd as much money as possible after turning successful. But not Mark Constantine. Instead, it led him to give back to the world that gave him the opportunity to thrive. “Why shouldn’t I try to make bath bombs and save the planet at the same time?” Mark said.

Lush is now known for their plastic-free bars. They thought spending more money on packaging than on the contents of their products was outrageous, and so they began stripping their products of packaging. When you now walk into any Lush shop, you see it’s an (almost) plastic-free haven. But how do you sell shampoo without packaging? Well, Lush pioneered the solid shampoo and conditioner bars.

Lush tested a few completely ‘naked’ shops, where everything sold was packaging-free. That wasn’t - and isn’t - popular yet. But Mark is hopeful for the future. “When customers are ready, we are ready”, he said.

Whenever plastic packaging is still needed, Lush uses recycled PET, as they have been doing for a long time. Lush also uses Prevented Ocean Plastics: plastics that are found within 50 kilometres of the ocean in Bali. Plastic that could’ve ended up in the ocean. Indonesia is struggling with waste management. By having people collect plastic bottles and paying them a good price for it, this plastic is prevented from ending up in the ocean, while realising socio-economic benefits in the region and decreasing the necessity for virgin plastic production.

And finally, Lush launched their Bring it Back scheme in 2017. Customers can return their packaging to any UK store, after which these are turned back into cosmetic pots. The black ones you see in their shops. They’re 100% recycled. Downside: these black pots aren’t suitable for recycling in most places.

While Lush is doing their part, Mark also teaches us that nothing in sustainability and philanthropy is ever finished. He told The Guardian that a conservationist killed himself after peregrine falcons stopped breeding in Poole harbour years ago, the area where Lush is headquartered. But “don’t think that because the last peregrine in Dorset has died, they won’t return”, he said. With the help of Mark’s charity Birds of Poole Harbour, he – a bird lover himself – saw the birds come back in ever-increasing numbers.

The same goes for animal testing. “Don’t think that because we have a period of time without animal testing that it’s done. There is something naïve in that thinking.” To prevent animal testing from returning to the scene, Lush has been awarding the yearly Lush Prize to those who advance non-animal testing for over a decade.

Mark said in an interview in 2024 that there’s no other future than a sustainable future. It’s the only way forward. And that’s what motivates him. What makes him feel less positive is the large number of people with eco-anxiety, when in fact what we need is bravery. We agree with this! That’s why we wrote an article on how to fight your own eco-anxiety by getting active. With active hope.

Have we tried Lush’s naked products ourselves? Of course we did. Our opinion: first of all, buying Lush products is a treat for yourself. Their stores smell incredibly nice, and the products are a pleasure for the eye. Shortly: being there feels good. Buying naked products feels even better, as you know you’re not harming the planet more than necessary. It just adds to the warm feeling you get when buying a Lush product. Doing good feels good.

We bought a solid body lotion bar, a shampoo bar, a facial cream bar and a conditioner bar. We bought two reusable Lush tins to transport our product home (otherwise, it would’ve been wrapped in a very thin piece of tissue paper). We now use this tin to keep our Lush products fresh.

We love how the products feel on our skin and in our hair. Using them takes a little bit more time than fluid versions. The body lotion and cream need to warm up a bit on your skin to become spreadable and also the hair products need a bit of rubbing before some product comes off. But we’re not complaining, who doesn’t want to spend a little bit more time on self-care?  

We also love how handy these products are for travelling. We just cut off a small piece of shampoo and body lotion that would last the time of our trip, reducing the luggage weight we’d have to carry around.

A small downside of the naked bar concept for hair products in our view is that – when stored wet – the tin can become a sticky mess. Leaving the bar to dry in the air before storing away prevents this.  

That being said, the combination of Mark’s remarkable (pun intended) story, Lush’s efforts to help the world and the peregrine falcon, and the quality and looks of the products make us big fans.

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