Lush has made a pretty solid name for itself as one of the more notable cruelty-free beauty brands out there. Its products are effective, contain natural ingredients, and are moderately priced. It's acquired a loyal fan base over the years (our beauty team included in the bunch). But it looks like this love for Lush is turning some customers red in the face — quite literally.
The frenzy started last Sunday, when U.K. customer Abi Shenton tweeted a selfie in which she resembles a stick of bubblegum come to life. "Hi! @lushcosmetics just a quick question, are your products supposed to stain the human skin fluorescent pink?” read the tweet. As it turns out, Shenton simply didn't use the product correctly and mistook the Razzle Dazzle Bath Oil she had purchased for a soap.
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"The correct procedure is that you are supposed to dilute it into water, but I thought it was a soap and rubbed it all over my body and face (explains why my hair is dry)," Shenton told Pretty52. "Three days and several baths later, I am no longer pink... A very helpful friend of mine works at Lush and helped me remove all the pink stain with lemon juice, olive oil, and a gritty face wash!"
It looks like Shenton's color-changing isn't an isolated incident. Other customers have been posting about their own fails. There's this girl who turned a trippy purple-pink hue.
@lushcosmetics is this right lol? pic.twitter.com/owGDgCIkzz
— be¢z (@bbsmithwick) January 21, 2016
Another girl came out a similar shade after using a bath bomb.
A lush bath bomb stained my skin pink and purple... pic.twitter.com/TntxugXweS
— L. grant (@lauren_ann_g) December 22, 2015
This person has to suffer through newly dyed-yellow skin, along with bigger fears.
I do not understand the big deal about Lush's bath bombs. It dyed my skin yellow and now I'm worrying about a UTI. pic.twitter.com/vZd9GqxXuC
— gender co-pilot™ (@PoisonOke) December 30, 2015
And then, there's this unsuspecting customer whose bath bomb stained parts of her bleached hair pink.
TO ANYONE WITH BLEACHED HAIR.
Do NOT use the 'Experimenter' bath bomb from Lush. It's stain parts of my hair bloody PINK.
— SassyLittleKitten (@izzycatic) January 21, 2016
Lush spoke to Metro regarding these incidents. "Our products are trying to achieve a lovely colour in the bathwater without colouring the person soaking in that bathwater," a representative told Metro. "It is a calculation that has to take into account different hair and skin types, different types of bath equipment, and the different ways that people might choose to use any product."
The brand went on to add, in a quippy manner, that this absolutely isn't the intended result of the products. "We are as red in the face as Abi at the idea that one of our bath melts has been mistaken for a soap. We love having colourful products, colourful staff, and colourful baths — but we do try to draw the line at colourful customers."
We've reached out to Lush for comment and will update this post when we hear back. In the meantime, let this be a lesson to always carefully read the instructions on any beauty product before using it. And let us all pray for the safe return of these customers' proper skin color.