While wandering around Niederdorf section of old town, near Grossmünster cathedral, I found a shop called Lush, located at Münstergasse 23, directly across from the famous Cabaret Voltaire (where the Dada movement was born). Lush specializes in bath products, among them handmade soaps, creams, gels, and more.

Started in London in 1994, Lush now has 185 locations around the world - their Zürich location is one of their newest. The front door is shared with a small clothing shop, and they have a cozy spot well worth taking a look inside. Their products are all-natural and made without animal testing, and everything smells marvellously fresh. Lush has a goal to produce the freshest bath products available; it shows not only in the vibrant colors of their product but the very clean, tangy scents in the air. Lush even marks their products "vegan" if a particular item uses no animal products in its manufacture.

Their soaps, soap "jellies," and body creams are produced in large, colorful slabs, and you purchase them by weight; there are usually some pieces pre-cut available, but you can get as large or small of a piece as you'd like. The soap jellies look like Jell-O, and they had some of the body creams produced in cake-shape, looking good enough to eat. One product I particularly liked was a "bath bomb" called the "Black Pearl."

While women will probably find the strongest appeal here, it should be noted that they do also carry a men's line of products, as well as massage bars and natural deodorants.

Products are cleverly named, ranging from "Honey I Washed the Kids" to "Demon in the Dark," from "Gratuitous Violets" to my favorite, "Sonic Death Monkey." Bowls of water and hand towels are placed around the room, inviting you to try out the various products.

Being a bath-product fanatic, I had to curb the impulse to fill up my suitcase with their deliciously scented products! The woman working the counter was able to tell me about their website and help me discover there were also locations in the US.

Open M/Tu/W/F 10am-6:30pm, Th 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-5pm, closed Sunday
Phone: 043 / 268 51 37