How Green are Lush products?

fernliebee

I use Lush products, as I love the smell (my DH says it makes him feel sick ) and at first I was a bit worried about the 'safe synthetics' bit, but as have some others I talked to my friends who work there and they told me that it is very tiny, 0.1%, of the ingredients (it's last on list so obv not much) and also it is mainly methylparaben and propylparaben which are preservatives and are the 'safest' parabens. The SLES (sodium laureth sulphate) is only in a few of their products and I avoid these. The soaps and solid shampoos etc are usually fine. At least they have their ingredients printed clearly on website etc, as with some products online it is hard to find the ingredients list. Plus as a close friend works there I usually get 50% off! Very MSE

As a whole lush are far far better than any other high street stores. As others have mentioned their policies on packaging, animal cruelty, ethical trading, etc make them stand out from others.

Online you can get more natural products without parabens which I do for DD https://www.handmadenaturals.co.uk.

Personally I try to use as little product as possible to minimise the impact on the environment (and my pocket!)

1jim

I do wish that lush would make that last jump and stop using these chemicals in all products.....if other companies can do.......

Dobiesmon

Hi
Having brought a lot of lush mainly bath bombs ,
How can you make them

pink_numbers

I've made loads of them using this recipe... They are really easy to make, as long as you're careful when adding the water.
http://www.soapbasics.co.uk/en-gb/dept_86.html

Gigervamp

1jim wrote: »

I do wish that lush would make that last jump and stop using these chemicals in all products.....if other companies can do.......

It would be nice to be able to avoid synthetic preservatives and foaming agents, but although you can get foaming agents that are made from natural ingredients, they've still gone through a refining process so are no longer "natural".

Also, there isn't an effective "natural" preservative yet. Some companies claim that they use GSE (grapefruit seed extract) but it was discovered that the GSE was itself preserved using synthetic preservatives.

The amount of synthetic preservative used in products however, really is a tiny amount as another posted metioned.

I'd much rather use a safely preserved product than one that isn't preserved.

1jim

other companies seem to manage it though- Burts Bees for example, I know what you mean about natural products being refined so they are "no longer natural" but rather this than totally manmade chemicals. If Lush cant so this perhaps they could label their products to show what % of ingredients are natural

MoradoJess

1jim wrote: »

other companies seem to manage it though- Burts Bees for example, I know what you mean about natural products being refined so they are "no longer natural" but rather this than totally manmade chemicals. If Lush cant so this perhaps they could label their products to show what % of ingredients are natural

Manmade chemicals are often safer than altered "natural" ones

yummymummy888888

1jim wrote: »

other companies seem to manage it though- Burts Bees for example, I know what you mean about natural products being refined so they are "no longer natural" but rather this than totally manmade chemicals. If Lush cant so this perhaps they could label their products to show what % of ingredients are natural

They have a booklet listing all ingrediants. One colour for natural, one for manmade. It is small A5 size

MoradoJess

A question like this was recently posted on Lush forum, here is some information taken from there.


I'm glad you've found Lush and have enjoyed using (at least some!) of our products. We also rate Weleda highly; their stuff is very nice. First of all, let me try to reassure you a little: everything is made of chemicals (essential oils, water, the chair you sit on). Try not to pay attention to sources that talk about chemical-free cosmetics - that's an impossibility. Most of the warnings about synthetic materials are created by companies who then go on to recommend their products that contain alternatives (and the alternatives are often either less effective for the intended job or less known, which means not enough is known about their safety).

Secondly, there have been many of us working very hard on making a huge amount of detailed information available about 1) what our ingredients are, 2) where they come from, 3) why we've used them. All of that information is collectively referred to as Lushopedia and you can access articles about individual materials by clicking on the links from the product pages on our website. There are comprehensive entries on all synthetic materials for you to look at.

We only use synthetics that have been found to be the safest possible with a long history of use (the longer a material is in use the more data is available about its possible effects, which means it becomes easier to choose materials that are least likely to be in any way problematic).

Here are direct links to some of the materials you might be interested in learning more about:

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate Lushopedia entry and full fact sheet

Sodium Laureth Sulfate Lushopedia entry

Paraben fact sheet


- Not everything that is natural is good for us (many deadly poisons occur in nature; several of them from plant sources)

- Not everything that is synthetic is bad for us (many synthetic substances are less volatile, more easily controlled and safer for us to use)

- The dose makes the poison (anything could potentially become irritating, toxic or even carcinogenic if used in a high enough dose. For example, salt. If you ate a large quantity of salt in one sitting, it could be fatal. Or if you continuously exposed a patch of skin to undiluted essential oil for X amount of months, you could develop a bad rash at best and skin cancer at worst).

- Some functional properties that we like in a product, such as effective removal of oil particles (which don't blend with water and so have to be trapped somehow and carried away) would not occur without the use of substances that are able to do this. Surfactants do this very well. They are molecules with a hydrophobic (water-hating) tail and hydrophilic (water-loving) head. The hydrophobic tail embeds itself into a fat or oil particle and thee hydrophilic heads point outwards, thereby forming a neat little sphere that carries oil and dirt trapped in it away from our scalp, skin and hair follicles (or dishes for that matter; dish washing liquids contain surfactants).

- As I attempted to illustrate before, most of the companies who claim that their products are "all natural" are lying. Some companies are able to claim this truthfully - for example if their ranges are limited to natural oil blends and various balms. I would be happy if you'd like to post the ingredients lists of some of the products you use so I could take a look. Furthermore, many of the companies marketing themselves as "all natural" are acting irresponsibly because they perpetuate bad science and bad public understanding of the above issues.


There is no contradiction - 71% of our products have been formulated not to require traditional preservatives and there simply isn't another range out there that produces supernatural products such as our fresh face masks. I sometimes get the feeling that if the inventors and founders had their way, they'd make everything solid, butter/oil-based, or refrigerated, but it's nice (and desired by many of our customers) to have things like shower gels and liquid shampoos in our range. And for those types of products, I am yet to see any from any range that would be as natural as ours and contain as much of the stated active natural ingredients that we put in. The synthetics are there because the formula requires them. I'd love to analyse the ingredients lists of the products you are referring to if you'd like to post them.


The certifications don't mean = all natural. They mean the ingredients have been grown or manufactured under certain certificate-specific guidelines. There are several (dozen? More?) of certificating bodies around the world; some of which are made up and don't mean anything, some of which are more respected. This year has seen the initiation of a much discussed so-called European harmonised standard, but they were meant to launch it in the summer and in-fighting between the various certificating bodies has delayed it indefinitely. So all of the various certificating bodies can't even agree what's allowed and what isn't in the products.

Veronika 256 wrote:Weleda´s Citrus Creamy Body Wash: Ingredients: INCI: Water (Aqua), Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Coco-Glucoside, Alcohol, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Glycerin, Chondrus Crispus (Carrageenan), Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Xanthan Gum, Lactic Acid, Fragrance (parfum)*, Limonene*, Linalool*, Citral*. It is BDIH certificated.

Have any objections?

Coco-Glucoside = synthetic surfactant

Alcohol = well, nothing wrong with it per se; it is likely to be present in this product in fairly high quantity to preserve the formula. I find alcohol fairly drying and irritating on my skin, but that doesn't mean others couldn't be fine with it.

Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate = synthetic surfactant

Xanthan Gum = Debatable whether this would be classed as synthetic, but it is not a substance that occurs naturally; it goes through a chemical process. It is probably used as a thickener in this formula.

Glycerin = It forms a part of fats and oils and is separated when the chemical reaction of soap making occurs. Again, it is debatable whether this would be considered synthetic, but it doesn't occur in this form in some kind of glycerin fruit.

Not sure whether the alcohol alone would preserve the formula, so some of the ingredients they use may be pre-preserved with parabens.

Anyway, looks like a perfectly nice body wash; I'd try that at least

versus

Lush´s Yummy Yummy Yummy
Fresh Strawberries Infusion (Fragaria vesca), Sodium Alkyl Sulfate, Honey Water (Aqua), Almond Oil (Prunus dulcis), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Perfume, Glyceryl Sterate, Cocamide MEA, Propylene Glycol, Glycol Cetearate, Fine Sea Salt, Lauryl Betaine, Olibanum Oil (Boswellia carterii), Bergamot Oil (Citrus Aurantium bergamia), Geranium Oil (Pelargonium graveolens), Passionflower Seed Oil (Passiflora edulis), Water (Aqua), Balsamic Vinegar, *Limonene, *Linalool, Benzyl Alcohol, Colour 14700, Methylparaben, Propylparaben
* Occurs naturally in Essential Oils

Sodium alkyl sulfate = synthetic surfactant

Sodium laureth sulfate = synthetic surfactant

Glyceryl Sterate = esterification product of glycerin and stearic acid (stearic acid is a wax). Glyceryl Stearate is a white or cream-colored wax-like solid. It is used as an emulsifier (helps oil and water to mix; when you make salad dressing and put egg in it, the lecithin in egg acts as a natural emulsifier and makes the ingredients blend into a creamy dressing rather than having the oil sit on top as a separate layer).

Cocamide MEA = a waxy, white substance derived from coconut oil. It is used here as a foam stabiliser.

Propylene glycol = an odourless and tasteless clear, colourless, syrupy liquid. It is a synthetic material that absorbs moisture and it is completely soluble in water. It is used here as a humectant (it helps to absorb moisture).

Glycol cetearate = a water-soluble, odourless, clear viscous liquid, often used with, or in place of glycerine in cosmetics and toiletries. It is an emollient (softening and conditioning) ingredient used to stabilise emulsions.

Lauryl betaine = a synthetic, vegetable-derived, clear or pale yellow liquid, first discovered as an extract of a compound found in sugar beets. Lauryl betaine is a used to improve the quality and stability of foam, making it last longer in the presence of oil and dirt. It also supports the action of the primary surfactant, which helps the removal of oil based dirt and debris.

Benzyl alcohol = a colourless, liquid organic compound with a mild and sweet odour. It is a natural constituent of some essential oils including jasmine, styrax and Ylang Ylang. This ingredient has been valuable in perfumery for a long time. Benzyl alcohol is also on the Soil Association’s list of preservatives approved for use in organic cosmetics.

Methylparaben, Propylparaben = (as before)

Plus, look for a moment what we lead with and what the other product leads with. That's one of the biggest reasons for the supernatural claims we make - the ingredient lists are quantitative, which means what there is the most of is at the top and what there is the least of is at the bottom. Our first ingredient is fresh strawberries infusion and theirs is water. We call ours a strawberry shower gel; I think that's reasonable. They call theirs a citrus body wash, but the "citrus" is somewhere in there at the bottom of the list after water, alcohol and two synthetic surfactants.


We use the word perfume basically to keep some of our ingredients secret from other companies that might be looking to steal or copy some of our amazing products. It is not a nasty synthetic perfume, it is a blend of safe synthetic or perfectly natural essential oils that just adds an extra touch of magic and uniqueness to the product. We're considering becoming a 100% transparent company and listing every single ingredient, however I'm not sure when/if that will happen. We do not put anything in the 'perfume' as far as I am aware that could be a harmful irritant or cause skin upset.


That may come across as disjointed but the thread ran to 9 pages, some good info in there though
HTH

Gigervamp

They've said pretty much what I would have said. It's good to hear something sensible rather than the usual scaremongering when *natural* cosmetics are discussed.