Infra Wig

Sweet and zesty grapefruit takes you and your skin to paradise!

Grapefruit (Citrus x paradisi) is a hybrid between an orange and a pomelo that is native to the Caribbean island of Barbados. There are many varieties with different skin and pulp colours, the best known to consumers being pink and red grapefruits as they have the sweetest taste.

At Lush, we use fresh pink and white grapefruit depending on our product inventors’ wishes but also availability on the food market. The essential oil is made from white grapefruit only; a variety with a yellow pulp that is a favourite in the juice and perfume industries.

They are bursting with salicylic acid, a natural fruit acid that exfoliates and clears the skin and scalp.

The sweet and zesty aroma of their fresh juice lifts the spirits! It is said to remind us of the sun’s energy and can help perk up a dull morning.

Their high vitamin C content helps to firm, smooth and brighten the skin.

The oil has a sparkly, joyful scent.

It gives shine to the hair.

It has antiseptic, astringent and mattifying properties on the skin and scalp.

Grapefruit’s sweet and citrusy aroma is about 90% limonene, an aromatic antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties. This is why the oil is thought to have skin-firming properties. It really is a terrific fruit!

Finding a good, direct source for grapefruit oil has been a challenge over the years as the white grapefruit variety is often overshadowed by food industry trends, which can influence the quality and availability of the oil. Fortunately, after some research, Lush buyers found an essential oil processing company in the USA that can meet our production needs.

The fresh grapefruits are purchased from specialist distributors. Depending on the time of year, they source products from different countries to try and achieve availability all year round. They work hard to supply as much organic product as possible and provide the highest quality available the rest of the time.

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 juicy lemon will always brighten your day - and your skin! 

Oh, we all know what lemon is, surely!? Okay, for those of you who don’t, it’s a fruit that grows on a small, slightly thorny, evergreen tree that belongs to the Rutaceae family. The lemon tree typically grows in Italy, Asia and East India, and produces highly fragrant blossoms and shiny leaves as well as this bright yellow, oval-shaped citrus treat. 

Lemon oil and juice are known for their deeply cleansing and brightening effects on the skin.

A lemon’s natural fruit acids encourage the cuticle of the hair to lie flat, reflecting more light and in turn enhancing shine in the hair.

Lemon oil is often used as a top note in perfumery, adding a refreshing quality to fragrances to directly delight your synapses.

The juice is full of vitamin C which makes your skin glow and helps the complexion.

Since 2005, Lush has sourced bergamot, lemon and mandarin essential oils directly from a family business that have been producing citrus oils for three generations. While the lemons and mandarins thrive under the sun of Sicily, the bergamot fruits are grown in Reggio Calabria, Southern Italy. Grown without pesticides, the lemons are collected by hand and pressed entirely with their peel. The resulting liquid then goes through a centrifugal process that separates the oil from the juice. 

When it comes to fresh lemons and their zest, peel or juice, browse your Lush product’s list of ingredients to find out more. Click on the ingredient you are interested in and it should take you to a page full of details!

An ancient remedy for dry skin and hair, olives contain a rich, moisturising oil bursting with antioxidants.

The European olive tree (Olea europaea) has thrived for millennia under the hot sun of the Mediterranean basin. It grows the famous small, green fruit known as olive, prized for its taste and richness in oil. Olive trees are slow-growing and can have a very long lifespan. Indeed, the oldest known in the world are in Lebanon and are believed to be 6,000 years old. SIX. THOUSAND. (gobsmacked emoji)

Readily absorbed, it offers lightweight moisture.

It protects and conditions the skin and hair, improving their strength.

It gives the skin a healthy glow.

It makes the hair shine.

The oil’s lightweight feel is due to its squalene content, a compound that can also be found in human sebum. ‘Accepted’ well by the skin, it allows the oil to help restore a healthy level of moisture.

Olive oil contains some of the most potent antioxidants in the world, namely vitamin E, hydroxytyrosol (a plant polyphenol) and oleic acid. These compounds are thought to help the skin cells fight against the oxidising action of free radicals. This means that they could help the skin stay firm and healthy for longer. Besides, olives, olive leaves, and olive oil have shown very promising anti-tumour action and protection against cancer when used at a certain level and in specific conditions.

Sources: Boss, A., Bishop, K. S.,  Marlow, G., Barnett, M. P. G., Ferguson, L. R., (2016)  Evidence to Support the Anti-Cancer Effect of Olive Leaf Extract and Future Directions, Nutrients 8(8):513

Melguizo-Rodríguez, L., González-Acedo, A., Illescas-Montes, R., García-Recio, J. Ramos-Torrecillas, E., Costela-Ruiz, V. J., García-Martínez, O. (2022) Biological effects of the olive tree and its derivatives on the skin,  Food Funct., 13, 11410-11424

At Lush, we use a lot of moisturising olive oil, but we also purchase the lesser-known olive leaf absolute to complement some of our perfumes. Extracted by solvent from the green-grey leaves of the tree, it has a refreshing herbal scent with a hint of fruity aroma and bitterness.

Lush purchases olive leaf absolute from Egypt, where the leaves are trimmed off the trees after the fruit’s harvest. All the other olive-derived ingredients that you can find in our products have different stories and origins. To find out more, browse your product’s list of ingredients and click on the ones you are interested in. This should take you to a page full of details!

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.