Sticky Dates

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.

Sticky, warm, and mouth-watering, carob lends a deliciously sweet aroma to our products, making it a gourmand-lover's delight. 

Whether it's used to give our lip scrubs a cake-like flavour or to add a nostalgically comforting aroma to our fragrances, shower gels, and beyond, carob should come with a disclaimer that you will smell so delicious you'll leave everyone craving a freshly-baked treat. 

Sweet, cakey fragrance, with notes of vanilla and dark chocolate

Naturally sweet taste

Antioxidant rich for skin support

A hardy evergreen plant that thrives in harsh, arid conditions, carob trees are native to the Mediterranean, especially Morocco. The trees produce hanging seed pods that turn from bright green to dark brown as they ripen. Pods contain up to 15 seeds and are usually wild-harvested.

Once shelled, the bean-like seeds inside each ripened pod can be ground into a powder and made into a gum also known as locust bean gum - a natural and vegan-friendly thickener and stabiliser. A by-product of carob gum production, empty carob pods have long been considered waste, however the pods have other uses that improve circularity of the ingredient. Roasted and ground into a powder, they can be used as a substitute for cocoa powder, or transformed via solvent extraction into a resinoid. Resinoids are popular perfumery ingredients, thanks to their sweet, spicy fragrance - one of reasons we love using carob in our products! 

Across the ancient Mediterranean, carob seeds were used as a countermeasure when weighing precious stones and gold. In the Bible, it was thought to sustain St John the Baptist during his hermitic time in the desert, giving the tree its pseudonym St John's Bread - a name echoed across several European languages. In Islam, carob juice retains cultural significance as a traditional drink served during Ramadan. A fitting nod to the origins of our bestselling carob queen Sticky Dates, which began as part of our seasonal Eid range. 

Head over to our page on carob resinoid to learn more about where we source this sweet treat.

Jojoba (pronounced ho-ho-ba) is a good friend to your skin and scalp!

Jojoba oil is obtained by pressing the seeds of the jojoba shrub (Simmondsia chinensis). The plant is native to the Sonoran Desert in Northwest Mexico and Southwest USA, and its deep root system and leathery leaves make it well suited to droughts and intense heat. It can also be cultivated in areas suffering from soil erosion to help improve soil quality.

It is an excellent moisturiser and emollient for the skin and scalp.

It conditions the hair by lightly coating it, adding shine and manageability.

It also has an affinity with our own sebum, so it is readily absorbed by the top layer of the skin and helps balance sebum production.

To find out more about our jojoba oil 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!

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.