The Scent Master: Alina Gliwinska of Lush Cosmetics

Even if it has been some time because you stepped foot in a bodily Lush Cosmetics retailer, you’ll be able to possible image the expertise as clear as day. The model was a trademark of malls in all places, again when malls have been the top of buying. You knew a Lush retailer was close to earlier than even setting eyes on it, due to the intoxicating, overwhelming scent that wafted by the air and lured you in. Now, although the heyday of buying facilities has come and gone, Lush has prevailed, and it isn’t laborious to see why. Though perfume manufacturers is usually a dime a dozen now and pure magnificence has develop into a mainstay, Lush was arguably one of the primary of its sort.

The model is famously recognized for its bath bombs, however it carries excess of simply that. Its cabinets are stocked with skincare (together with face masks so recent they have to be saved within the fridge), hair merchandise, physique merchandise, and even advantageous perfumes — all of which have nature and sustainability at their core. Unlike some manufacturers that deal with perfume as an afterthought to formulations, for Lush, it is a guiding power. And we now have perfumers like Alina Gliwinska on the firm to thank.

Gliwinska has been with Lush for years, engaged on each part of the method, from compounder to high quality management officer to key perfumer. As a end result, she’s had a hand in creating some of the model’s most iconic merchandise — plus, she’s gotten to create a namesake fragrance, Alina ($65), which has notes of pink pepper oil, patchouli oil, and vanilla.

With perfume masterminds like Gliwinska working behind the scenes, Lush is ready to create scents which can be each distinctive and nostalgic, enjoyable and out-of-the-box, but comforting and acquainted. Ahead, she pulls the curtain apart on the complete course of, explaining the place she will get her inspiration and the way Lush creates the scents we all know and love.

PS: What acquired you curious about perfume?
Alina Gliwinska: I did not know I’d develop into a perfumer. Life simply occurs. I grew up in Poland; I completed faculty there and got here to England, and my first job there was with Lush. I fell in love with scent as a result of, how are you going to not? When I’d go to the grocery store after work, everybody would say, “Oh, you must work at Lush because you smell so good.” I actually appreciated my work there and right away, I believed, this can be a good match for me. After one yr, I acquired the chance to work for the perfume workforce, and of course I took it as a result of it is the guts of the corporate. I labored there for 3 years as a compounder, so I used to be mixing the components and making the perfumes, after which I moved to the standard management workforce. That’s once I knew I used to be actually considering it. I used to be on that workforce for round seven years and I fell in love with the components: how treasured they’re, how tough they’re to make, the tales behind every of them. Around 4 years again, I really acquired a possibility to create my very own scent for the merchandise, and I used to be actually completely happy to begin engaged on that. Then, round two years in the past, I began engaged on the physique sprays and perfumes.

PS: Where do you get your inspiration for brand new scents?

AG: From life actually, from emotion, from books, from what we’re watching, however we additionally do collaborations. So we take inspiration from films, from corporations, from the colours and themes manufacturers use. But we’re very emotional as perfumers, so no matter we’re doing and studying and feeling, that displays in our creativity and what we do. Especially in perfumery, we’re fairly distinctive; we now have a bit of freedom and we are able to create perfumes with our creativity, and I really like that half.

PS: How does Lush provide you with distinctive scents for its tub and physique merchandise?

AG: With product perfumes, it is a bit completely different as a result of we now have additionally product builders. They usually have already got an thought of the product — the way it’ll look, what the colour might be — so they’re giving us that temporary or temper board. From that, we attempt to create a scent. So take a look at the colour, the feel, what it brings to thoughts, and we attempt to discover components to replicate that.

PS: What is the method of creating a brand new product for Lush?

AG: It all is determined by the product. For instance, with tub bombs or bubble bars, we’re principally trying to mirror the theme of the product by the scent. With skincare and hair merchandise, we’re not solely trying to create a good-smelling product, we’re searching for important oils which have advantages for the pores and skin, scalp, and hair. So then we simply look to spotlight the important oil in these fragrances. For instance, with the Sleepy vary, once we have been searching for calming scents, right away we take into consideration vanilla after which gourmand notes as a result of that is what makes you are feeling snug. So it is determined by what product we’re making, however it’s a special course of for every.

PS: What’s your favourite perfume you’ve got ever made?

AG: My favourite product that I created the perfume for is the Old Songs Are Waking Body Scrub from the Mother’s Day vary — I’ve used in all probability three pots already. I really like that one and it is my scent. But perfume-wise, I really like Tank Battle ($105). I take advantage of it quite a bit. It’s a really particular scent with jasmine notes and rain falling, with that damp, muggy, watery scent. I really like that as a result of it’s totally distinctive.

Jessica Harrington is the senior magnificence editor at PS, the place she writes about hair, make-up, skincare, piercings, tattoos, and extra. As a New York City-based author and editor with a level in journalism and over eight years of trade expertise, she likes to interview trade consultants, sustain with the most recent developments, and check new merchandise.