‘I seem more human to people now’: Lush founder Mark Constantine on how finding his long-lost father changed his life

Mark Constantine never expected his father to smell the perfume he created for him. The warm citrus splash, the strong coffee and tobacco notes reminiscent of burying your nose into a man’s well-worn jacket – it was the way Constantine imagined his father would have smelled, even though he had no way of knowing.  The Lush cosmetics co-founder was two years old when, in 1954, his father John left the family home in ­Weymouth, leaving a hole in his life that he would struggle to fill in the years after. In 2011 Constantine launched the perfume Dear John, born out of conflicting feelings of love and abandonment. Feelings that he believes helped propelled him towards success, and gave him the drive… To continue reading this article Start your free trial of Premium Access all Premium articles  Subscriber-only events  Cancel any time Free for 30 days then only £2 per week Try Premium Access one Premium article per week Register for free Register for free to continue reading this article Register Or unlock all Premium articles, free for 30 days Start trial Already have an account? Login Want to learn more? View all subscriptions