I was lucky enough to be invited to have a play in the lush labs

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by Mark Constantine, who is a thoroughly lovely chap. we went down to Poole, and met up with Hilary at the factory for a quick tour. everything really is very very handmade. not many processes are autmomated at all. it's a bit like a giant kitchen. then we went to the lab, and I met up with Mark for my day in the lab. I decided I'd like to be a perfumer for the day, so we brainstormed ideas, rummaged through the computer for music that went with the ideas we had, then went from there. there are two great cabinets, one with natural oils, and another with synthetic fragrances (this only gets opened when something that can't be found in the first cabinet is needed. like Lily or Honeysuckle, which have no essential oils, or Musk, where the natural alternative is cruelly produced. there are sensitive scales, and oils are weighed out into this, then the measurements recorded in the notebooks, after every addition, until the smell is right, then bottled and labeled. it's a great process. a sort of mix of science and magic. and playing. like alchemy, really. and lots of chocolate eating and music changing is involved. he's a really inspiring bloke to work with, and it made me feel even more honoured to work for Lush. to have the owner of the company you work for being such a friendly and accessable bloke is great. so there you go. my day in Poole was fantastic.