Lush’s unexpected success with video game tie-ins continues, with the cosmetics chain launching its latest range inspired by Super Mario Galaxy. The new collection marks another step in a lucrative partnership that began with 2023’s blockbuster The Super Mario Bros Movie and continued with a Minecraft line, defying expectations for a brand renowned for its natural ingredients and social activism.
An Unlikely, Yet Lucrative, Alliance
The collaboration pairs Lush, with its deep-rooted ethics and use of ingredients like organic aloe vera and fruit leftovers from the food industry, with one of the world’s most mainstream entertainment franchises. The strategy appears shrewdly timed; the 2023 film was a colossal box office hit, grossing over $1.36 billion worldwide to become the highest-grossing video game adaptation ever. This taps into the booming market for licensed merchandise, while aligning with UK cosmetics trends showing surging demand for natural products and a rapidly growing male grooming segment.
The Super Mario Galaxy range is a direct follow-up to that first collection, launched to coincide with the new film’s release in April 2026. It follows the successful blueprint of Lush’s 12-product Minecraft range from August 2024, which even included an in-game add-on, highlighting the brand’s increasingly integrated approach to gaming collaborations.
A Sensory Hit of Nostalgia
The new products translate the cosmic adventure of Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, and Rosalina into a series of sweet, fruity bath and body items. For one reviewer, now seemingly established as a specialist in this niche, the experience was unexpectedly loaded with personal nostalgia. The Lumas Shower Jelly, with its suspended character shapes creating a zero-gravity effect, was gloopy to use but had a strong, sweet smell vividly reminiscent of a Woolworths pick ‘n’ mix counter.
Similarly, the Princess Rosalina Body Spray, officially scented with ripe blueberry, immediately evoked memories of Parma Violets and giant fruity bubble gum bars from the 1980s. This intergenerational appeal—connecting with older consumers through scent memory while engaging a younger target market with beloved characters—is a subtle strength of the line.
The textural surprises continued. The Princess Rosalina Lip Scrub, containing edible gold stars and made with caster sugar and oils for a raspberry-sweet “Galaxy fragrance,” was found to have the distinct texture and taste of wet sherbet. The Princess Peach Lip Jelly, formulated with peach kernel oil for a sheer peachy-pink tint, won favour for not being sticky like many balms. The clear family favourite was the Luma Bubble Bath Star, which produced impressive bubbles even in hard water and released tiny stars, though it did dye the water a disconcerting yellow.
Returning favourites include the Mario Shower Gel, a fruity cola fragrance from pomegranate and lime that is a remake of Lush’s Santa’s Christmas scent, and the Luigi Shower Gel, which aims for a crisp apple aroma reminiscent of the brand’s So White line.
Viral Moments and Reviewer’s Fate
Not all product features are purely aromatic. The Yoshi Egg Bath Bomb, which contains a collectible, citrus-scented shower gummy, has unintentionally gone viral. The red variant, once placed in water, can leak a crimson trail that some children have found terrifying—a feature the reviewer suggested Lush might repurpose for a Halloween line or a potential tie-in with a horror franchise like Silent Hill.
For the reviewer, what began as a presumed one-off assignment has become a recurring role, trapped in what they describe as a “sweet-smelling cycle” of video game toiletries. Having worked through the original Mario set, the Minecraft range, and now this galactic follow-up, they await the next collaboration with bated breath, privately hoping for future tie-ins with Sonic the Hedgehog or even the formidable world of Elden Ring.
