Lush opens Naked shop in Hong Kong

With awareness of plastic pollution at an all-time global high, Lush opens its newest Naked shop in Hong Kong, the first in Asia, following the success of its previous openings in Milan, Berlin, and Manchester.

Hosting an abundance of innovative and plastic packaging-free alternatives to cosmetics – from the classics, such as solid shampoo bars and soaps, to new and exclusive naked skincare innovations – the shop aims to offer an alternative to buying the packaged items in the first place, so helping tackle the plastic waste problem in Hong Kong.

Having once been able to export its recyclable materials to mainland China, recent legislation has meant that it must now process its own waste.

With the three huge outdoor landfill sites quickly filling up and the lack of well developed waste management or recycling plants, other options need to be explored.

“Wastage is a monumental problem where inaction is not an option and recycling should be the last option. This is why I was so passionate to launch our first Asian naked shop in Hong Kong. We do not have space in Hong Kong to deal with our wastage, we have to reduce it and that is where Lush comes in. The Naked concept store will provide new, innovative and effective products in one of the most convenient and prominent locations in Hong Kong,” said Annabelle Baker, Director of Lush Asia Limited.

“At a time when most people in Hong Kong have so much on their minds, we are delighted to invest in the city in an effort to relieve them of a little part of the worry caused by ocean plastics,” said Mark Constantine OBE, Lush Co-founder & Managing Director.

With the opening of the Hong Kong Naked shop, the latest version of the Lush Labs app will launch in English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese on iOS and Android.

Lush Lens is a feature which enables Lush to reduce their impact on the environment by using the phone’s camera and Machine Learning to recognise products through the user’s smart phone camera, and give the customer detailed ingredient information and ‘how to use’ demonstrations via the app.

Lush has been doing this for a while ‘Naked’ is not new in Lush – the shampoo bar was invented over 20 years ago, and the bath bomb is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year.

Globally in 2018, Lush customers saved 6.6 million bottles of plastic bath products by choosing naked bath bombs, bubble bars, or bath melts instead and had around 372 million plastic free hair washes using naked shampoo bars.

Exclusive to the Hong Kong Naked shop, guests are able to try the new self-preserving and vegan products – Dove Orchid facial soap and a collection of five facial moisturisers which are a brand new concept and patent pending.

This shop aims to push the boundaries and is an exploration into what further things Lush can do, a discussion between the brand and the customers and a celebration of the fact that Lush offers a brand new shopping experience, using technology to enhance the journey.

Source: retailinasia.com