The Comforter

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)!

We're not talking about the fluffy sweet here, sorry, but rather the plant called marshmallow and its powerful skin-soothing properties. The two are historically linked, though!

The marshmallow plant, or marsh mallow, has heart-shaped, velvety leaves and pinkish flowers. It is native to Europe and North Africa, where it grows naturally in salt marshes, by the sea and along riverbanks. The whole plant contains a lubricating mucilage - a thick, gluey substance which is particularly concentrated in the root. This mucilage is very soothing and has been a classic folk medicine remedy for treating all kinds of sores, internal or external. In fact, marshmallow’s botanical name, Althaea, comes from the ancient Greek ‘althainein’, which means ‘to heal’.

The ancient Egyptians used the root in a honey-sweetened confection that was supposed to soothe sore throats. The French developed a later version of the recipe called ‘pâte de guimauve’, ‘marshmallow paste’ in English. This sweet medicine included an egg white meringue and was often flavoured with rose water. As you’ve probably guessed, la pâte de guimauve is the ancestor of the fluffy and squishy marshmallow confectionary we all know today. Ironically, it no longer contains marshmallow mucilage.

Soothing

Softening

Protecting

Are you thirsty for knowledge? Do you want to know everything about our ingredients? Head to our ingredient hub!

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.