How Green are Lush products?

ecofabulous

Weleda do some really good products at very reasonable prices - they're all vegetarian, cruelty-free and use organic ingredients. I've just started using their "skin food" and it's brilliant! DH uses the shave cream and really likes it. You can buy direct from Weleda (http://www.weleda.co.uk) or quite a few other online stores.

Urtekram is a Danish brand (you can buy it in the UK) who do great value ethical hair and body care products - usually £3.50-£4.50 a bottle. I think Badger Balms are a fantastic company too and they're lip balms are only £3.99 and last for ages. They do have beeswax in them, but no petroleum or preservatives.

If you're looking for beauty products with fair trade ingredients or that are UK made or eco-friendly like morg_monster mentioned, I found a brilliant site http://howonearth.co.uk that categorises all their products so you can choose whatever ethical/green aspect is most important to you. All their products are cruelty-free and don't contain any parabens etc. Some of the brands are quite expensive, but there are some great value ones too.

I don't think there's a perfect cheap, green & ethical beauty product out there yet, but hopefully someone will come up with it soon!

competitionscafe

ecofabulous wrote: »

I think Badger Balms are a fantastic company too and they're lip balms are only £3.99 and last for ages. They do have beeswax in them, but no petroleum or preservatives.

Yes, badger balms are great. Make nice little stocking fillers too. They are on offer here at £2 with free delivery: http://www.beautynaturals.com/brand.asp?id=ba-lb

ScoobieGirl

morg_monster wrote: »

For me, it is packaging. It bugs me that I can't buy shower gel - "natural" or not - that isn't in a smallish (250ml-500ml) plastic bottle. I use enough of it, it doesn't go off

I thought they did go off unless they have some of the undesirable chemicals in them - hence the natural ones would go off quicker, so they are sold in smaller bottles.

Regarding LUSH products - they don't seem that green to me the first one I checked had Sodium Laureth Sulphate which is one of the big no-nos.

LittleMissAspie

Lush only use methyl and propyl parabens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylparaben
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylparaben
https://www.lush.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&id=17221&catid=&view=article

Some of these natural brands don't necessarily contain nothing but lovely gentle natural ingredients. I can find in their ingredients:
Faith in Nature - sodium hydroxide (http://www.setonresourcecenter.com/msds/docs/wcd00046/wcd046de.htm)
Summer Naturals - cocodiethanolamide (http://www.msdshazcom.com/WEB_DOCS/Ashland/wcd00002/wcd00231.htm)
Naturally Thinking - phenoxyethanol (http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/PH/2-phenoxyethanol.html)
A'kin and Lavera - sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (http://www.fortune3.com/chemstore/sodium_lauryl_sulfoacetate.pdf)

Your best bet is to get an ingredients list for what you want to buy and investigate each one for yourself.

1jim wrote: »

how hard can it be for Mr Lush to launch a product range of fairtrade/organic/chemical free hygine products..all supplied in very little or no packaging and made in the uk

Fairtrade - See second post from Hilary here: http://forum.lush.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11992&p=183705
Organic - "We try to use organic all the time - but sometimes it is not available." http://forum.lush.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19899
Chemical-free - "71% of Lush products do not contain preservatives" from link above but I don't there there is any such thing as a chemical-free range. Some products lend themselves well to purely natural ingredients but cleansing products always contain something, no matter how mild. Ammonium laureth sulphate is used by a lot of natural companies but it is basically a milder member of the SLS family.
Little or no packaging - "Currently, over half of Lush's product range is sold to the customer totally naked - no plastic bottles, no cardboard boxes, no plastic wrapping." https://www.lush.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&id=16989&catid=&view=article
Made in the UK - all Lush products sold here are made in Poole, Dorset.

Gigervamp

Everything is a chemical!

Now regarding the use of preservatives, they're used at a tiny amount, usually less than 1%. It's much better to have a tiny amount of preservative than to risk the pathogens that WILL occur in products with water and other bug food.

It's easy enough to make basic bath and body products and there are lots of sites with instructions, but please remember that if you make anything with water in it, it will need to be kept refridgerated and used within a week.

Regarding Aubrey, they've had numerous fines from the FDA for not disclosing all their ingredients, so caveat emptor.

Green_is_the_colour

I use a lot of REN products but have been disappointed to see that the scalp cleanser I used to have is no more!

It made my hair baby soft and eased my irritable scalp but they've changed their range, has anyone tried their new shampoo?

Fire_Fox

I have very sensitive skin, randomly seem to become allergic to brands after months or years of use. This can even happen with prescription brands which I know cannot have changed formulation. :mad:

So I haven't made that much effort to go greener with toiletries, other than making a conscious effort to use up my massive collection instead of adding to it! But I do use - and adore - Ecover shower gel which i get in a five litre container as it's much cheaper. I can even use it as a face wash, which is a godsend. Just wish Ecover made a shampoo.

I also use leave-on conditioners, as there is no wasted product and showers are shorter! The worst thing I do is permanently colour my hair every six to eight weeks; I am sure the chemicals are really bad for the environment. But I have never seen a colour bright enough for my needs in the natural ranges.

Gigervamp

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I have very sensitive skin, randomly seem to become allergic to brands after months or years of use. This can even happen with prescription brands which I know cannot have changed formulation. :mad:

It's called sensitising. You can become allergic to a specific ingredient after years of use.

If you have really sensitive skin, I would suggest that you bin all your shampoos, conditioners, liquid soaps etc and buy a handmade soap bar (not a glycerine bar, but one that's made from scratch, and with the ingredients list).

You can use the soap for your skin and hair, but if using it on your hair, you might need to use an acid rinse (lemon juice or vinigar) instead of conditioner.

stompin-sarah

cant help on lush products alls i know is there shop near me bloody stinks lol

MoradoJess

ScoobieGirl wrote: »

I thought they did go off unless they have some of the undesirable chemicals in them - hence the natural ones would go off quicker, so they are sold in smaller bottles.

Regarding LUSH products - they don't seem that green to me the first one I checked had Sodium Laureth Sulphate which is one of the big no-nos.

Lush shower gels last an average of 1 year.
I love lush! I suggest you talk to one of their SAs or ask on the forum, we're really friendly:rotfl: :money: