Eleanor Noyce
Published November 27, 2025 4:21pm
Updated November 27, 2025 4:24pm
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Lush’s Snow Fairy is turning 20 this year – but how did it become so big? (Picture: Metro/Lush)
When Claire Constantine was 11 years old, her parents brought home a pink shower gel, and asked what she thought.
As the child of Lush founders, Mark and Mo, she was often a guinea pig for new products, and says her house was always full of ‘weird and wonderful inventions’. This new one was intended to be a Christmas product, aimed at kids.
And on this occasion, the schoolgirl had some feedback that would prove pivotal in the Lush story: Claire loved the colour, but it needed a scent.
Taking their daughter’s recommendations on board, the shower gel was finished with a candy floss fragrance, and Snow Fairy was born, officially hitting the shelves in 2005.
Two decades on and Snow Fairy’s recipe has never changed, aside from it no longer containing palm oil. It’s one of the brand’s most famous products, with Lush selling one bottle of the shower gel and one body spray every minute, as well as more than 3,000 bath bombs per day.
Sold only during the festive period, last year, a staggering 6.1 million Snow Fairy items were sold worldwide.
The Snow Fairy franchise has long been growing (Picture: Lush)
Claire is now 35 and the business’s global retail director. She’s actually credited as a co-creator of Snow Fairy thanks to her valuable feedback, despite being just a tween at the time.
She’s thrilled to see that this pink, sparkling creation, has taken on a life of its own — and a dedicated fan base.
There are now 35 products across the range, including bath palms, shampoos and lip balms, each more glittering than the last.
‘One of my favourite stories is when we had a Father Christmas greeting customers in our Glasgow shop,’ she tells Metro. ‘One young shopper saw Santa, and was overheard by the shop manager saying: “Oh…I thought Snow Fairy was coming.”
‘For me, the smell of Snow Fairy still marks the start of the festive period. Scent has such strong links to memory, and there’s something so magical about that.’
The cult of Snow Fairy
I’ve no shame in admitting that I’m almost 28, and Snow Fairy is always on my Christmas list.
I grew up in the early era of the vlog, when YouTubers like Zoella would show off their Snow Fairy hauls.
‘It’s my fave. It’s a lot of people’s fave,’ the now multi-millionaire influencer declared back in 2016. ‘I actually do have some of this in my guest shower.’
There’s even a dedicated Snow Fairy candle now (Picture: Lush)
As a young, impressionable teen, if Zoella told me to buy something, I was buying it. It was pink, it was glittery, and just the thing I wanted in my shopping basket — guest shower or not.
However, not everyone is a Snow Fairy obsessive, and I’ve had numerous complaints from both my housemate and my boyfriend, who both complain that the ‘disgusting’ smell lingers too heavily in the bathroom.
@angelmollyxosnow fairy girlies unite 🧚♀️❄️💖 #fashion #snowfairy #snowfairylush #lush #pink #trending
♬ i prolly shouldnt be around u – brando
In the words of my best friend and housemate: ‘You shouldn’t want to smell like a dessert.’
‘It’s like pumpkin-spiced latte scents around Halloween. I love the thought of receiving lovely-smelling bath salts for Christmas, but I’d never put Snow Fairy on my list,’ she laughs.
‘I also wouldn’t want bumblegum scent up in my bits and pieces — it feels unhinged. I hate it when it gets used in our household because the smell stinks afterwards, and the glitter usually stays in the bath.
‘The clean-up is just extra admin you don’t need.’
‘One year someone spent £400 on Snow Fairy’
One Lush employee, who has worked at the same branch in Scotland for the last 15 years, says she’s watched as Snow Fairy continues to fly.
When the body spray first arrived in their store, she says they struggled to keep up with the demand, and has heard of customers putting the launch date in their phones so they don’t miss out.
‘We have people who buy about four litres of the shower gel to get them through the year, and the same with the body spray, which they often use as a room and fabric spray,’ she shares.
@hellokittysskeletonA girl can never have too much snow fairy ❄️🧚♀️💖💞💓 #lush #lushhaul #boxingday #boxingdaysales #snowfairy #lushcosmetics #lushuk
♬ sugardoe – 𝓜𝓲𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓮
One Boxing Day, she had a customer request that the shop order bottles in from a store 50 miles away, as they’d already run out.
‘Snow Fairy has really grown with the devotees. The launch of hair care was incredible, and the Hair Primer is super popular. This year, it’s the product being hoarded as it’s so good at detangling small humans’ hair without the screaming,’ she adds.
‘Not only does the Snow Fairy product family expand, but the fans introduce their children to it as well.’
Meanwhile, fellow worker, Aamna, who is affectionately known as Mama Lush, was part of the team at Lush’s Brent Cross store for 12 years. She says each and every Christmas, even the staff would be excited for the launch.
Aamna dressed up in pink one Christmas Eve, referencing Snow Fairy (Picture: Supplied)
She might’ve left the store last year, but the fairy dust remains her all-time favourite.
‘I used to wear the spray every shift throughout the year, and I even put it on my hair to give the shimmer, which was great for parties,’ Aamna tells Metro.
‘We had young girls come in asking about the range, and they would love the fairy dust.
‘Every year on Boxing Day, there was always at least one person who would buy the whole range as it’s half price after Christmas.
‘One year, someone spent £400, and another lady bought five of the large gift sets. We had customers come in all year round asking for Snow Fairy.’
‘For those of us who refuse to grow up’
The Snow Fairy brand is alive and thriving (Picture: Lush)
So, just why is Snow Fairy still so popular?
Claire reckons that it’s because it has an essence of nostalgia that only comes with a product that was ‘made by an 11-year-old for 11-year-olds, and those of us who refuse to grow up.’
‘Pink, sparkly, and smelling of sweeties, what’s not to love?,’ she reflects.
Dr Diogo Koch Alves is an expert in consumer marketing and consumption behaviour at Bayes Business School. He says the product has become so popular as it’s so distinct.
He tells Metro: ‘In categories like bath and body care, products with a strong, consistent, and sensory identity tend to build attachment quickly because consumers know exactly how they will feel when they use them.
‘Snow Fairy delivers that kind of dependable emotional payoff. It’s scent profile is playful, sweet and indulgent, giving consumers an uplifting moment of self-care.’
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And Dr Diogo says it’s stood the test of time due to how Lush has positioned the product as limited edition.
‘They’ve turned it into an annual ritual,’ he adds. ‘Consumers anticipate its return, intentionally seek it out and integrate it into their personal holiday routines.
;That combination of limited availability and ritualised consumption significantly increases desire and loyalty compared to year-round products.
‘Over time, this pattern has created a cultural association.’
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