Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds

The scent of patchouli is grounding and bewitching, and will transport you to dense Indonesian forests.

Patchouli is a fragrant bushy herb that belongs to the same family as mint. It can grow as high as three feet tall, with purple and white flowers growing from its long stems.

It has an earthy, warm aroma that takes you on a meditative journey. 

It is antibacterial and soothing to the skin and armpits. 

Its aroma is said to balance and ground the mind, and harmonise emotions.

On Saturday, 4th July 1846, the London Daily News advertised: “Viner’s patchouli is confidently recommended as the only remedy known to prevent moth. In foreign countries, the peculiar properties of this Indian perfume are highly appreciated.” This perfectly illustrates how patchouli arrived in England during the Victorian era: the plant's aromatic leaves were slipped into the folds of Indian textiles to avoid the ravages of insects during their journey to other lands. Impregnated with an unmistakable aroma, Indian shawls were sent to Great Britain, where they were all the rage. The ubiquitous scent soon became symbolic of luxury and the mark that distinguished a material of Indian origin.

The scent of patchouli made a comeback in the 1960s, also imported from Asia - but this time in backpacks! The Hippie Trail was a promising mystique adventure and, if lucky, a spiritual enlightenment. An overland round trip of roughly 12,000 miles, this trail took hippies through Istanbul to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and India. Herbal handbook writer Stephen Orr writes that patchouli’s association with the era is “due to the Asian travels of backpacking hippies, who brought home the scented oil and incense as a reminder of their spiritual awakenings.”

The story also goes that patchouli oil was used to mask the scent of marijuana. In terms of pure usage, it’s plausible: cannabis was a booming business in the American counterculture of the 1960s. It was also suggested that marijuana and patchouli don’t smell all that different and hippies simply wanted their bodies to smell like their bedrooms. An argument can also be made that patchouli smells of fresh soil and roots, an ‘authentic’ scent that recalls hippies’ aspirations to connect with the natural world.

Patchouli is used in our products in several forms (essential oils, root…), and each of them can be purchased in different places worldwide. For example, our dark Sumatran patchouli oil comes from a remarkable producer, the Gayo Lues Permaculture Center in Indonesia. Their practices are designed to support the health of Sumatra and Borneo islands’ ecosystems, protecting the primary rainforest and its inhabitants, like the noble orangutans. 

To learn more about our other sources, browse your Lush product’s list of ingredients and click on the ones you are interested in. This should take you to a page full of details!

Two of Lush’s most iconic fragrances contain patchouli. If you’re a fan of the earthy oil, have a look (and smell!) at our best-selling Karma and Lord of Misrule ranges.

We're more accustomed to seeing frankincense fill the air with wisps of fragrant, meditative smoke, but connoisseurs know it is also fantastic in cosmetics and perfumery.

First of all - frankincense can also be called olibanum, and this is something you can undoubtedly learn at Lush as we tend to use both! They’re equally beautiful and accurate names, and it’s been hard to make a choice.

Now, what is it exactly? Frankincense/olibanum is a tree resin harvested across Africa and the Middle East. Small notches are made on the trunk of Boswellia trees, causing a milky sap to flow. Cutting the same spot several times allows this sap to become more fragrant each time. Harvested once the resin has begun to harden, the finished product looks like small rocks. These chunks can be burned to diffuse a fragrant smoke but can also be distilled, diluted or crushed to obtain other consistencies.

Its complex and evocative scent makes a beautiful base note for perfumes. It is often described as earthy, piney and spicy with fresh citrus notes.

The scent of incense is said to anchor and calm the mind, help slow breathing, and improve overall well-being.

As a fixative, it carries and enhances other fragrancing ingredients and helps perfumes last longer.

Thanks to its antimicrobial qualities, it can serve as a natural preservative.

It is often found in skincare products for its astringent, antibacterial, soothing and smoothing effects.

Frankincense was already burned during religious ceremonies by ancient civilisations and was one of the first materials used as a perfume. In the age of the Pharaohs, its preservative properties led to its use in embalming and mummification. It was also widely popularised by the Bible, which mentions frankincense as one of the rare and expensive gifts given to baby Jesus by the three kings. Even today, it can still be found smoking on altars and is particularly appreciated to purify the air or encourage meditation.

Boswellia is a genus of trees with several species producing a fragrant resin. The oil and resinoid we purchase is made from the Boswellia sacra (syn. Boswellia carterii) tree. It's been considered a Near Threatened species since 1998 and that's why the Lush buying team strives to find the best possible suppliers who respect the trees, the land and the people. Click on the links below to know more about each of our suppliers:

Olibanum oil

Olibanum resinoid

You’ll find the scent of frankincense enliven many of our products, especially our bath bombs and perfumes.

Fresh cosmetic ingredients are more effective on skin, hair, and mind than heavily preserved beauty products. 65% of our raw material spend is on natural ingredients.

All of our products are made by hand, fresh, every day, across 6 manufacturing sites all over the world. We believe in happy people making happy soap, putting our faces on our products and making our mums proud.

Use all in one go for a dramatic bubble bath, or snap a piece off and crumble for 2-3 uses.

It's better naked. 66% of products sold each year are packaging-free.