Violet Cream

When the cold winter days start to seem endless, the elegant violet emerges from the ground with a sweet fragrance full of hope.

Violets grow all over the world, but only the Viola odorata, or sweet violet, gives off an unforgettable sweet, powdery scent. The fragrant flowers appear in February and finish blooming in April. Interestingly, the plant blooms again in autumn but usually produces uninteresting flowers, as the primary goal of this revival is to produce self-generated seeds. Look who doesn’t need pollinators to thrive!

When not sold as ornamental plants, violets are cultivated for culinary purposes (the plant is entirely edible) or for their leaves from which a fragrant absolute can be extracted.

From the very first lines of William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, Orsino evokes the transient nature of the violet scent:  "Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more: 'Tis not so sweet now as it was before." Indeed, if the flower has had a rather joyful and innocent reputation over the centuries, it also carries a mysterious and somewhat melancholic aura. This is certainly due to the fact that its scent vanishes after a few minutes of enjoyment. The reason? Ionone, the main scented component of the flower, inhibits our olfactory systems after a few sniffs. The flower continues to smell, but we no longer feel anything (well, temporarily).

It is precisely ionone that was synthesised in 1983 into a perfume material called alpha-isomethyl ionone. With a very beautiful violet scent (that doesn't fade!) accompanied by woody and powdery orris notes, the compound enjoyed immediate success and took a prominent place in perfumery. It has wholly eclipsed the natural extracts of the flower, obtained after very expensive processes with uneven results which require a considerable amount of flowers.

At Lush, we use an absolute extracted from the leaves of Viola odorata to perfume our products with a fresh herbaceous scent, believed to calm the mind. The absolute also has excellent properties for the skin and scalp, being very soothing, antibacterial and antifungal. Fresh or dried leaves can also be infused for a while in boiled water to obtain mucilage, an anti-inflammatory and formula-thickening substance.

Lush purchases this absolute from an Egyptian supplier. Violet leaf absolute has been produced in northern Egypt for over 100 years. The little flowering plants live for about three years and their leaves can be harvested four times a year. They go through a complex solvent extraction process to obtain the absolute; a method that gets the most from delicate plants.

Get irresistibly perfumed hair with the sweet violet candy scent of our iconic shampoo Daddy-O, and its best partner in crime, Violet Cream conditioner.

The romantic scent of the rose is said to help restore inner balance and is considered by some to be an aphrodisiac. 

Rose petals are the source of rose oil, which some say was the first floral essential oil to be distilled. Rose oil has been an important part of fragrances and flavours for thousands of years. It is perhaps the most beloved floral scent in the world. The many versions of rose materials that we include as key ingredients in our products have an array of different qualities that will serve your senses, your skin and your mind!

Depending on the concentration, roses products may:

Soothe

Balance

Subtly tighten the pores

Restore radiance

Improve elasticity

Reduce the appearance of broken capillaries

Rose flowers are used in our products in several forms (essential oils, infusion, petals, dried buds…) and each of them can be purchased in different places around the world. 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!

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)!

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.

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.