Flame Fighters

Spicy, sweet-scented cloves add warmth to perfumes and stimulate the blood flow. 

Cloves are the dried aromatic flower buds of a tropical evergreen tree of the Myrtle family. When drying, the buds change colour from rose to brown. They can then be sold raw or put through a process of steam distillation to obtain an essential oil with a warm, rich and spicy aroma.

Cloves are known to have antiseptic properties that are beneficial for soothing skin irritations.

They offer a helping hand with boosting circulation and blood flow.

Their unique spicy yet sweet fragrance also has an uplifting and stimulating effect on the mind.

Cloves are used in herbal medicine. They were first mentioned in Chinese medicine in about AD600. Particularly known for their soothing effect on toothaches, it is said that the ancient Chinese also used to hold a clove in the mouth to perfume their breath when speaking to the emperor.

At Lush, we buy an oil distilled from clove buds and one obtained from the plant's leaves. Depending on the part used, the scent will be subtly different. We also use a lot of dried cloves, especially for our exclusive winter festive products. Each of these materials will be purchased from another source. To find out more about them, 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!

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.

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.

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.

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