Comments on Chris J.'s review of Lush
Lush
Description: Handmade natural cosmetics and bath products that are not tested on animals.
More good than bad
NOTE: Original review was in January, revised in April.
I found out about Lush late last year, and I've been trying to decide what I think about them as a company.
I live close to an actual Lush store (Boulder, CO), although all of their products are also available online. Here's what their website says about their ingredients -- "LUSH's handmade cosmetics are made with fresh, organic fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils, and safe synthetics."
First, let's talk about organic. Lush doesn't splatter the "organic" buzzword around as much as I would expect. They promote their products based for other reasons besides the fact that they use organic ingredients, which I appreciate.
Next, finest essential oils. That sounds good, but don't be misled as I was into thinking that the fragrances in their products are based on essential oils. Most are synthetic.
Last, safe synthetics. That's a tougher one. It turns out many of their ingredients are synthetic, such as parabens. I asked one of the local salespeople about parabens, and he gave a detailed response about his perspective on the history and concerns about parabens. Lush only uses parabens in their cosmetic products (i.e. not soaps and other solids) so that they can have an 18 month shelf life, and they only use as little as possible. They haven't found any alternatives that work as well. His opinion was that the current research doesn't prove that they are a health risk. I felt good about his response, although their use of parabens doesn't fit the "precautionary principle" for chemicals/synthethics. Lush also uses other synthetic ingredients (see fragrances above).
Also, Lush is strongly opposed to testing on animals, as their website attests.
One of the most appealing things to me is how little packaging they use for most of their products. The less plastic packaging, the better! In summary, while Lush may not be using only natural ingredients, they are doing several things right.
Chris J.'s keywords: handmade, cosmetics, soap, hair care, skin care, bath, bath bombs
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