Initial research - in Nottingham

Nottingham Research Day

Lush

The woman in the Lush shop was able to give us a lot of information about their fragrances which previously I did not even know existed - such as the fact that Lush scents are worked on by the Lush owner and his son. 

The packaging was something I really thought had been well done as it took away the serious side to Lush with the cartoonised boxes for the different perfumes. 

Lush is a much more innovative brand than I initially realised, instead of having a press launch or party they opened a perfume gallery in London in which each room was scented differently to showcase the new range. They also released a bath bomb called 'breath of god' which has inhale and exhale on which both contain different scents to relax the body.

The most popular product for men is a scent called 'dirty' which is a spray (like cleaning product) bottle and so although it is a unisex product, appeals much more to men. A lot of the products collaborate with other products to fill a whole range. An example of this is the dirty range where there is spearmint soap, springwash shower gel, toothpaste and sandalwood shaving cream. The idea is that when layered together the smell is 'dirty'. The range had the slogan 'don't be dirty, be clean'.

This image shows the Gorilla perfume which is different to all of the other perfumes. It is called Gorilla as it is to do with warfare and being against status quo. The perfume has simple, black and plain packaging which is more like the usual Lush products. 

 Zara

In Zara I found the packaging quite cheap looking. It is a cheap product with perfumes ranging around £14.99ish and so you would not expect the same look as a premium product but I don't feel it has been done very well. 

Crabtree and Evelyn

Interesting idea for a continuation of the scent into a range - bringing vintage up to date with a new product. They have re-released shaving soap but in a wooden box so retaining the vintage feel of the product. 

Kiehls

Kiehl's started as a pharmacy in 1851 making naturally derived, fragrance free products. It was the first company in the whole beauty industry to have a full men's range. They have since branched out further with a dog and horse range in America.

All their fragrances are unisex with the fig leaf & sage being most popular with men. Original musk is a scent which is a recreation of a perfume found in the basement of the original store in the 1920s.

L'Occitane

Here we mainly focused on the VM and the way in which the product was presented. We found that glass generally made it look like a cheaper product - with ceramic instantly making it more appealable. 

I liked the way they presented ranges with key words that sum up the product, an example is in the image below. Verdon eau de toilette - exhilarating, modern and fresh. 

Aveda

Products packaging focused on a woody theme with natural looking recycled elements. The men's care range is called 'pure-formance' which hints at a natural range reflecting on a need for good products. 

They clearly care a lot about the ingredients used in their products with a book called the 'buriti book' entirely dedicated about an ingredient in the oils, with the book being the actual size of a 'buriti'.