When The Super Mario Bros Movie arrived in 2023, it brought with it an unexpected companion: a range of skincare and bathing products from cosmetics chain Lush. For a brand known for natural ingredients and support for social justice causes, the partnership did not seem like the most obvious match for a major video game franchise.
That initial collaboration was enough to prompt a review, and the result apparently led to more. The collection proved successful, Lush later released a Minecraft range, and now the company has followed both with a new Super Mario Galaxy line tied to the latest movie.
The continuing stream of themed soaps, bath products and other toiletries has left the reviewer in a familiar position: once again assigned to test out Lush’s video game-branded wares. What began as a one-off beauty-journalism experiment has turned into something more enduring, with the Guardian’s Lush correspondent finding themselves caught in a recurring cycle of sweet-smelling tie-ins.
A franchise partnership that keeps going
The latest collection is built around the world of Super Mario Galaxy, extending a collaboration that began with the earlier Super Mario Bros Movie release. The article’s framing makes clear that this is no isolated promotional stunt. Instead, it is part of a pattern in which Lush has continued to return to gaming for product inspiration after seeing how well the first partnership performed.
While the source piece does not list every item in the range, it highlights the novelty and the absurdity of the concept itself: a cosmetics company with a strong identity around ethical branding and natural products repeatedly turning to the bright, fantastical imagery of Nintendo characters and worlds.
From Peach to Yoshi
The new range is described as including everything from a subtle Princess Peach lip jelly to a Yoshi egg that has already been “traumatising children.” That juxtaposition captures the tone of the review: part curiosity, part bemusement, and part resignation that this unusual pairing between gaming and grooming products is now firmly established.
There are, as the reviewer notes, worse things to be tasked with than assessing colourful toiletries inspired by one of gaming’s biggest franchises. So instead of resisting the assignment, they lean into it, accepting that the job has become something of a strange but tolerable routine.
In the end, the piece suggests that Lush’s Nintendo collaborations are no longer a one-time novelty. The success of the original range, the follow-up Minecraft collection, and now the Super Mario Galaxy line all point to a partnership that has found its audience. Whether that audience is there for the branding, the products themselves, or the sheer oddity of the concept, the sweet-smelling cycle continues.
