(This article my look like a shameless plug for a company, but it is
written with the enthusiasim of someone who believes in the organization,
and as such we are happy to publish it! Editor)
by Jessie Laidlaw
Lush are now a well known natural cosmetics company who
make naturally based, quirky, useful products. They are well know for there
fizzy Bath ballistics (and well copied), but they also make many things including
skin care items, hair care, completely natural hair colours, and much more.
One of the novel things about many Lush products is that
they are often in solid form, such as solid bubble bar slices (bubble bath),
solid shampoo and conditioner bars, solid body moisturisers and scrubs and
my favourite, solid massage bars which melt in the hand and then you apply
the oils to the skin. The benefits of having solid products is two fold:
(a) they require far less chemical preservatives (if any) than their liquid
versions and
(b) they require less packaging.
Lush often wrap solid products in grease proof paper rather than plastic bags
when viable.
Their products also have best before dates because they are
far more naturally based then most cosmetics. Their ingredient information
statement describes them well, I think :
“Here at Lush we take the contents of our products seriously. Our products
are made with the freshest organic* fruit and vegetables, the finest essential
oils and safe synthetics, without any animal ingredients. We also do not purchase
ingredients from any organisations which have any involvement in animal testing.
We put in far more detail than most cosmetics companies, with the English
as well as the official Latin names so you know where you are with our products.
An amazing 73% of our current product range (not including the gift range)
is suitable for Vegans. We hope you'll like them!
*We also believe words like "fresh" and "organic" have
honest meaning beyond marketing. ”
What is not so well known about them is that while they are
obviously against animal testing, they also campaign actively against it.
Not only do they test all their products only on humans but they also commissioned
a report into animal testing called “ Safety Without Suffering“.
It outlines alternatives to animals testing and can be found at: www.lush.co.uk/lushlife/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41&Itemid=99999999.
Lush have also recently taken up the campaign to stop animal
testing for cosmetics again. The E.U. is proposing mandatory animal testing
on some of Lush’s raw ingredients. They have created a campaign and
petition against this, which can be signed at: www.lush.co.uk/shop/campaignvote/
or in any Lush store. Lush say that they believe animal testing for cosmetics
is irrelevant to public safety and that they will be sticking by their principles
and appreciate the support of their customers.
Lush has been criticized for not being as natural in their
products as they could be. It is true that they do use more synthetics and
chemicals in their products then other rival natural cosmetic brands. However
I do feel that their products are more affordable for more people than many
of Lush’s rivals, because of this. They are very aware of the need for
more natural products. Their ingredients listings are clear and transparent
in the fact they list natural ingredients in green type face, and black for
the synthetics (they only use the ones that are considered least harmful).
Lush also mark with a large green V all products that are
suitable for Vegans.
One thing I like about them is that will not make things
like hair styling products or sun block until they find a natural, fair, non
animal-testing supplier for the ingredients, despite customer demand for these
products.
Another current promotion they have going is to use your
Lush paper carrier bag four times and get a free soap or Bath Ballistic. While
Lush clearly makes money from this exercise, it really does make reusing your
packaging work. You reuse your recyclable bag for four trips to Lush, they
stamp it each time and then you are rewarded with a free gift after four stamps.
Plus they have amusing little rhymes on the bottom of the bags like “
Make me a happy old bag, use me till my bottom starts to sag!” This
seems to me a good idea to encourage people to reuse and recycle (and I now
see the supermarkets running similar reward schemes for using fewer bags,
which can only be a good thing).
One thing I have found though, when my partner went into
Lush in Sweden to kindly buy me a gift, he could buy a jute totally reusable
cotton bag and also that the Bath Ballistics and Bubble bar slices are wrapped
in brown paper not the little plastic bags we get here in the U.K.. Granted
they are less wasteful then many other cosmetics packaging, but brown paper
is totally biodegradable. I intend to ask the good people of Lush why we don’t
have these options here.
Lush have principles that they stick to, which is refreshing.
They were even voted into the Sunday Times top 100 companies to work for.
Plus I feel (and I am probably biased here due to my years of being a very
satisfied customer) that their products, ethics and shops are unique, fun
and ethically sound. So please support their Still Against Animal Testing
Campaign and sign the petition. Thanks.
Lush have shops all over the U.K. and Worldwide.
You can also mail order from www.lush.com or phone order on: 01202 668 545
To learn more about animal testing go to the About Lush section on there home
page (www.lush.co.uk)
and click on Campaigns.
You can also learn about R.E.A.C.H. there, which is “The Registration,
Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) is the European Union’s
chemical testing strategy. The aim of this legislation – to improve
the protection of human health, wild animals and the environment” which
is the legislation that Lush are currently campaigning against.
Jessie Laidlaw 2006
