Sweetie Pie

Blackcurrant shrubs, also called cassis, give a lot. From their juicy fruits to their fragrant flower buds and leaves, it’s more generous than you’d think!

Grapes? Who said grapes? Currants can be a type of grape, that’s true, but blackcurrants aren’t. They’re delicious berries that look like glossy black pearls filled with tasty dark red juice. They grow on a shrub called Ribes nigrum, native to the Northern Hemisphere and from which syrups, liqueurs, leaf infusions, aromatic extracts, and all sorts of tasty goods are produced.

Although we sometimes use a vitamin-rich blackcurrant juice or a pigment-full blackcurrant powder, it is the absolute that we seek most. Interestingly, this fragrancing ingredient is extracted from the plant's buds and not the fruits.

Blackcurrant absolute has always been at the heart of our iconic fragrance, The Comforter. Alina Gliwinska, one of Lush's perfumers, love this extract: “It has a powerful, deep, fruity, black currant aroma, but it also can be slightly sulphurous and animalic. That is why just a very small amount is needed to bring a natural fruity feel to all fragrances with berries notes.”

We purchase this rare perfume ingredient from a distiller in France.

Get a grasp of the sweet, fruity side of blackcurrants with The Comforter fragrance. Dive in a bubbly bath, hop in a shower and get compliments on your fabulous scent.

Bergamot is a citrus fruit grown in Southern Italy and is known for perfuming Earl Grey tea. It yields a delightful essential oil that smells like ‘sunshine in a bottle’.

The bergamot tree doesn't like extremes. On the contrary, it enjoys a well-balanced environment and is consequently known as the most delicate citrus tree. The soil must be just right (not too dry, moist or chalky), and the weather must be temperate (not too hot, cold, or windy). If those conditions are met, the tree grows yellow-green fruits whose appearance and taste are a bit like an orange and a lime combined.

Bergamot oil soothes the skin and scalp and contributes to balance sebum production while keeping bacteria at bay.

It makes the hair shine!

Its unique scent profile makes it very versatile. It can complement and enhance sweet, floral, fruity, fresh, herbal, or warm perfume just as well.

When inhaled, its elevating fragrance clears the mind and encourages a sense of well-being.

Since 2005, Lush has sourced bergamot oil from a family business in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy. This dedicated page explains more about our supplier and the scent profile of bergamot oil.

Bergamot is featured in many Lush products with various scents! It would take too long to give you a complete list, but here is a selection of products if you are into citruses and a collection of scents that lift the mood (in our opinion)!

The best thing you could bring to a desert island? A coconut tree. It is remarkably helpful and generous.

The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is thought to be native to the warm climates of Polynesia, Malaysia and southern Asia. The trees bloom and bear fruit throughout the year, growing a new flower spike nearly every month. This then becomes a cluster of six to twelve fruits. Coconuts are the seeds of these fruits, the largest seed known to the world! 

'Kalpavriksha', the Sanskrit name for the coconut, means 'tree which gives all that is necessary for living' and, indeed, the possibilities seem endless. In Lush products alone, you can find the water, the flesh and the shell of its seed, as well as the nectar of its flower. We can even use the fibres of its fruits to make some of the wrapping papers!

Coconut oil is soothing, moisturising and emollient to the skin. It also conditions and protects the hair.

Coconut yoghurt, milk and cream are full of fats and have effects similar to those of the oil, with the added bonus of a lovely tropical scent!

Coconut wax coats and protects the skin and gives our products a nice, firm texture.

Desiccated coconut makes a gentle exfoliator that releases soft, moisturising milk when mixed with water. 

Ground coconut shells make a strong natural scrub.

Each coconut-derived ingredient we use has its specific benefits and suppliers. Here’s a selection of pages to browse, but feel free to click on any of the ingredients that make our products. That should take you to a page full of details!

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Coconut Flour

Coconut Milk Powder

You say, “Give me that coco!!!” We say, “Here’s something for your hair, your skin, your hands, and your massages, and you bet we’ve got loads more.”

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.