Sea Spray

When it comes to treating your hair and skin, salt is great in a pinch!

Salt is a natural mineral that forms crystals of different sizes and colours depending on how it’s processed and where it comes from. It is much present in the sea (or saltwater lakes) and can be obtained by evaporating the water. It can also be found as a rock in the ground and mined.

As an exfoliator, salt crystals scrub away dead skin cells and leave the skin refreshed and bright.

It cleanses the skin, not only with exfoliation but its antimicrobial properties, too.

Its astringent effect helps to mattify the skin and slightly tighten pores.

It gives volume to the hair- a bit like when you have a swim in the sea or even just a walk along the beach!

It can serve as a natural preservative and help keep our product blends fresher for longer when used in appropriate quantities.

Sea salt is less processed than conventional table salt and therefore remains full of moisture and the many different minerals and elements from the area where it is harvested. For this reason, it must be tested regularly to ensure that it hasn't been contaminated with pollutants.  

The moisture content of sea salt can be a blessing in a cosmetic product, but also a curse. For instance, it is far too wet for dry, solid products. That's why the types of salt we purchase can vary, as each will have its own specificity and benefits for the formula.

Finally, salt marshes, whether near the coast or on the side of a lake, are generally used by birds as a resting and even nesting place on their migration path. Most of the sea salt suppliers that Lush purchases from have conservation and biodiversity programs in place and are doing a lot to protect their environment.

We have as many suppliers for different types of salt.  Fine, coarse, extra-large, hand-harvested, pearl-like, coloured… We love to put a bit of salt here, there and everywhere. To find out more about each of 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!

Under the sea, forests of slimy algae grow, and they’re full of benefits for the skin and hair.

Soothing

Mineral-rich

Radiance boosting

Softening

Texturising

On this last point, it should be noted that certain seaweeds have gelling properties, especially agar-agar and Irish moss (from which a powder called carrageenan is extracted). When combined with the right ingredients, they can help create a wide range of textures and shapes for our products such as our shower jellies.

Lush was founded in Poole, a coastal town in southern England where it is still strongly rooted in today. Outside the headquarters, massive seagulls soar and cry, and salty waves crash onto the quay. No wonder the seaside has been such an inspiration for our products! It's also why we're not afraid to use strong-scented seaweed absolute in some of our fragrances.

Saying that we source them from the sea would probably sound a bit vague! At Lush, we purchase a lot of different algae from around the world - fresh, dried, powdered, and even distilled. To learn more about each of these, you can go through your product’s ingredient list and click on the one you’re interested in. You can also click on this list of curious names below for a sneak peek:

Toothed wrack

Bladderwrack

Sugar kelp

Wakame

Kombu

Delicately floral and somewhat citrusy, the scent of neroli is distinctively cheering.

Neroli oil comes from the bitter orange tree (Citrus aurantium amara), which is an evergreen member of the Rutaceae plant family. Many parts of the tree are used for perfuming and culinary purposes. The fruits flavour food and drinks, and the flowers are distilled to produce neroli oil and orange flower absolute. Petitgrain oil is also obtained from the leaves and twigs of this same tree.

Neroli is naturally uplifting and widely used in aromatherapy for its stress-relieving effects. This oil is a true luxury, as the distillation process requires a lot of flowers to produce just a little. 

Marie-Anne de La Trémoille (1642 - 1722) named the bitter orange flower oil ‘neroli’ after the city Nerola in Italy of which she was the princess. She loved to wear the oil as a perfume and created a trend in European royal courts - she would probably be called an influencer nowadays.

Lush sources a few different neroli oils from several different suppliers. To find out more, 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!

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.

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.