Butterball

Ylang-ylang’s flowers diffuse a heady, sweet and floral scent that is often recommended to calm the mind. It is featured in a few of our most popular fragrances, such as Sex Bomb, Sleepy and Magik.

The cananga tree, also called ylang-ylang or ilang-ilang, is a tropical plant native to Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It can grow very tall in the wild, averaging 12 meters (40 feet). In British English, ylang-ylang is pronounced ee-lang ee-lang. In Tagalog, an old language of the Philippines, it means ‘flower of the flowers’. 

The tree’s branches are quite flexible and are often positioned vertically and pruned by farmers to ease harvest. Flowers bloom nearly all year round, hanging from stalks. Their drooping, long and narrow petals are thick and wavy - and wonderfully fragrant! They start off green but reach their optimal scent when turning yellow.

The scent of ylang-ylang flowers is known to help you relax, slow down and fall asleep more easily. It is said to reduce anxiety while increasing a sense of well-being.

The sensual flowers’ scent is also considered an aphrodisiac.

The yellow petals can be distilled into an essential oil or extracted into an absolute. These are highly valued in perfumery but also in cosmetics, for their numerous benefits to the skin, scalp and hair.

Not just a scent, it is also a flavour! Ylang-ylang works really well in mouth products.

Learn more about the benefits of ylang-ylang oil on this dedicated page.

Lush uses ylang-ylang essential oil in various products, ranging from perfumes to bath bombs and hair conditioners. The essential oil is steam-distilled from the petals, and the process can last up to 20 hours! We also use a fair amount of ylang-ylang absolute, which is extracted from the petals as well, but using solvents.

We purchase the essential oil and the absolute from the Comoros Islands, but we also produce our own oil in Ghana. Click on the links below to learn more about these different sources:

Ylang Ylang Oil

Ghanaian Ylang Ylang Oil

Ylang Ylang absolute

Are sweet, sensual and tropical scents your thing? Have a go at this collection of floral-scented products.

A key ingredient in chocolate making, cocoa is also a staple on Lush shelves for its amazing effect on the skin, body and mind.

The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) grows in warm, humid forests near the Equator. It yields large dark red or yellow pods containing up to 50 seeds each, coated in soft, edible flesh. The seeds, also called cocoa beans, are covered to ferment and then dried. During this process, they lose their acidic taste and develop their familiar chocolate scent. 

To obtain cocoa butter, the prepared beans are cleaned, dried and roasted and then ground into a thick, oily paste called chocolate liquor. The liquor can be used as such for chocolate-making or subjected to high pressure to separate the cocoa powder from the butter. An additional step can be carried out to deodorise the butter. This often happens for its use in cosmetics as it could interfere with the other scents of a product. The powder, which contains almost all of the scent and flavour of cocoa, can be used pure or put through solvent extraction to obtain a fragrant absolute.

The butter is an excellent emollient that moisturises the skin and hair. It also plays an essential role in product formulation, helping to achieve stable blends with longer shelf life or to create solid products that do not require packaging.

The powder gives products a natural tint and a delicious scent and taste.

The absolute delights the senses and uplifts the mood. Cocoa’s scent is also said to be a great aphrodisiac!

In 2017, a new type of chocolate was patented, called ruby cocoa. It has a dark pinkish colour, due to a special variety of cocoa trees that produce ruby-coloured beans.

The sources will vary depending on the ingredient, but we make sure that they never involve child labour. The Lush buying team always tries to make purchases that contribute to the well-being of people and the planet’s regeneration. To find out more about each of the cocoa suppliers, 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!

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.