Cup O' Coffee

Spill the beans, or should we say seeds

Did you know that coffee beans aren’t beans at all? They’re actually the seeds of small spherical fruits grown on the Coffea plant, which ripen to a bright red or pink colour. Ex-seed-ingly interesting! 

The coffee tree is an evergreen member of the Rubiaceae plant family. The tree’s cycle of producing coffee beans starts with little fragrant, star-shaped white flowers, which turn into round berries. Nestled within each fruit are two seeds, which are harvested and then roasted, resulting in the punchy coffee beans most cafe frequenters know and love. The taste and caffeine content of coffee beans change dramatically after roasting and can also vary between different types of coffee plants. Lush uses coffee from the two most popular varieties of coffee plant - Coffea arabica and Coffea robusta. 

Coffea arabica is the most widely produced type of coffee, often favoured by coffee shops. The main reason for this is that the oval-shaped beans generally possess a more aromatic, sweet and almost fruity flavour. They have a lower caffeine content than Coffea robusta, and are usually oilier too.  

Coffea robusta (also known as Coffea canephora) has smaller, more rounded coffee beans. When consumed, the flavour profile tends to be earthier and much stronger, with a more bitter taste. They have a higher caffeine content and are easier to grow in different environments thanks to their hardy nature.

Revives the skin.

May stimulate blood circulation. 

May promote healthy hair growth.

Softly exfoliates when rubbed on the skin.

Helps achieve chocolate undertones in natural hair colouring.

Lush* sources coffee from a few suppliers. One supplier in the Netherlands uses coffee waste to produce sustainably upcycled coffee byproducts. We also purchase coffee beans from a producer in Brazil, who grow coffee using an agroforestry system. We then work with a local roastery based close to our manufacturing sites in Poole, Dorset who roast and grind these Brazillian Coffee beans for us. Find more information in the description of the main coffee ingredients we use:

Coffee Oil
Ground Coffee
Caffeine Powder

*With several manufacturing sites across the globe, sourcing information may vary depending on where your Lush products were made.

The compound coffee is most famous for! In recent years, caffeine has made a bit of a buzz (pun intended) in the cosmetics world. But what are the advantages of caffeine for the skin? Topical application may be beneficial, as it is believed that caffeine can be absorbed through the skin. Caffeine may have some positive short-term effects on encouraging hair growth and minimising hair loss, though further research is needed in this area. It is also thought to be useful in temporarily tightening, smoothing, and firming the skin. Caffeine also has antioxidant properties. Antioxidants protect our cells from oxidative stress caused by pollution and UV rays, which can lead to signs of premature ageing.  

How much caffeine is actually in coffee? Coffee is renowned for its naturally high caffeine content; however, the exact amount of caffeine can vary depending on the type of coffee plant and how it is processed. 

The popularity of coffee dates back centuries. Some of the earliest records suggest that it originated in Ethiopia and spread throughout the Middle East first via Somali merchants and then, later, under the influence of the Ottomans, who continued to trade coffee westwards into Europe. It was favoured across cultures for its rich flavour and the stimulating effects it was thought to have on the mind, nervous system and digestive system. 

Vanilla is the unmistakable, uplifting and sweet scent we all know and love.

Vanilla beans (pods) are the fruits of the orchid Vanilla planifolia. Centuries ago, one could only purchase vanilla from Mexico, as the flowers required a local bee to pollinate and grow the precious pod. Thanks to the discovery of a hand pollination technique in 1841, orchids can now be cultivated in most tropical areas close to the equator. This step requires specialised know-how and must be carried out a few hours after the flower opens; otherwise, it will wilt.

Each blossom produces a single bean, which is normally harvested after eight or nine months. The beans then pass through a complex curing process before becoming the black-brown fragrant spice we all know. This process usually involves four steps: soaking in hot water, sweating in a warm environment, drying for a few weeks, and conditioning (packing in boxes) to develop flavours.

It has a sweet fragrance with uplifting, de-stressing and aphrodisiac qualities.

The sugars in vanilla act as humectants, which minimise moisture loss.

The spice is soothing, softening and antibacterial for the skin.

Its main aromatic compound, vanillin, is an antioxidant that helps the skin to stay firm and radiant.

Since Madagascar, the world's first vanilla producer, stopped regulating vanilla prices in the 1990s, its trade has seen ups and downs. The latest struggles began in 2012 when very low harvests caused demand for the spice to exceed supply. Since vanilla is a rather rare natural delicacy that cannot be rushed, the situation quickly snowballed into huge price increases (over 100%), poor quality and crime.

In 2016, the situation in Uganda (where we buy our pods) became critical and was reported to us in an article by Lulu, owner of the Ndali farm. Resellers and agents working on commission began buying vanilla that was not even cured properly yet. Vanilla pods must reach maturity and undergo the full curing process to develop all the notes of their wonderful taste and aroma, and to prevent mould. During price crises, crops are sold far too early, and pods can even be stolen from the fields before they're ripe. Farmers try to expand their crops to meet demand, and governments implement drastic measures. Eventually, when things finally calm down, farmers find themselves with too much production and prices drop tragically, as has been the case since 2019.

We love natural vanilla so much that we couldn't stop using it. Thanks to our dedicated team of creative buyers, year after year and month after month, we have found solutions to the market’s turmoil. Find more information on each source in the description of the main vanilla ingredients we use:

Vanilla Extract, combines several ingredients whose comforting scent enhances our perfumes and skin-soothing cosmetics.

Vanilla Pod Powder, which adds vanilla’s signature tiny black dots to our products.

Want to dive straight into our range of vanilla-scented products? They're ready for you.

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!

There are many different syrups: ones you drink, ones you glaze on your pancakes, ones you pour in your batter. At Lush, we love them all.

What is common to every kind of syrup? A very high sugar content. Dates, maple, agave, sugarcane, corn… all these plants contain natural sugars. Their fruits, sap, kernels, or fibres are processed, generally by simple boiling and filtering, in order to concentrate these sugars until a dense and velvety liquid is obtained. Another way to make syrup is to mix pure sugar with water and infuse the sweet liquid with fragrant flowers, leaves or bark. However, most of the time, it’s done with artificial flavours and colourants.

Their high sugar content gives syrups humectant properties, meaning that they attract moisture from their surroundings and bring it to the skin and hair.

They contribute to the sweet, tantalising and gourmand aura of some of our products, sometimes even adding to their scent and texture.

They can give a delicious taste to oral and mouth care products.

We purchase a lot of different syrups, in small or large quantities, so the country of origin will depend on the product, stocks, and the Lush manufacturing site where your product was made. For more information on each syrup, search for them in our ingredient hub or have a look at this selection:

Organic Date Syrup

Organic Agave Syrup

Maple Syrup

Rice Syrup

You’ll find date syrup as the sweet base of all our gourmand Sticky Dates products and much more in our skincare and haircare ranges.

It pays to recycle with us! Return the packaging for this product to any a Lush shop and receive money towards your next purchase. Alternatively, return 5 qualifying items packaging for a free fresh face mask.

Your order will be expertly protected against impact during transit by biodegradable Eco-Pops, compostable packaging nuggets made from potato starch! They're easily dissolvable in water or soil.

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.