In today's more health conscious and socially aware world, many people have qualms about buying beauty and health products that are tested on animals.
The problem is, it's not an attribute that's often advertised, so unless you've done your homework, searching for ethics in the cosmetics aisle can be a real shot in the dark.
With entirely eco-friendly companies like Aveda widely available, more and more people are ditching the product guessing game and aligning themselves with specific brands they trust to adhere to their values, giving other environmentally conscious cosmetic lines like LUSH the green light.
Last week, Mayfair Mall welcomed Wisconsin's first LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics line to the mall's Macy's store. The British-based bath and body product line has recently teamed up with Macy's to open licensed departments within the stores nationwide.
Since emerging in England in 1995, LUSH has been committed to hand-making scented selections of luxury skin care, hair care and bath and body products that are chock-full of natural ingredients, including fresh organic fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers and essential oils. There's so much fresh produce in these bath bars and body butters that the company behaves more like a food retailer than a traditional cosmetics line, complete with prices by weight, grease-proof wrapping paper and best-by dates.
"The plan was to make cosmetics that were as natural as possible and to avoid using synthetic preservatives," says LUSH managing director Mark Constantine. Inspired by fruit and vegetable displays at grocery stores, Constantine designed LUSH's stores to resemble, "cheese shops and German veggie restaurants -- and any fresh fish counter."
The biggest component of creating natural cosmetics -- one of Constantine's passions -- is producing without animal testing and without animal products. LUSH's lines are 100 percent vegetarian, 74 percent vegan (some are made with honey, lanolin or yogurt, are labeled as such) and 65 percent preservative-free.
But its dream for green doesn't stop at its own factory walls. LUSH does not purchase ingredients from any company carrying out animal testing, ensuring that not one dollar of its money -- or the consumer's -- goes toward animal cruelty.
Now with more than 470 retails shops around the globe, the company has managed to make an impact on the industry. And it certainly doesn't hurt that a few of LUSH's eco-warriors include Halle Berry, Madonna Angelina Jolie and Jude Law and Leonardo DiCaprio.
To cut down on wasteful packaging, LUSH makes many of its products solid or semi-solid -- the company calls them "naked" -- allowing them to be sold wrapped in paper or in small bags. Instead of runny liquid bubble bath, for example, you'll find 6-oz. bath bombs in a variety of scents and clever names, including Champagne Supernova, Sex Bomb and Green Party. Shampoos come chunky -- admittedly resembling cooked oatmeal -- but work natural wonders on your locks.
Another major component of LUSH is its emphasis on freshness. Product labels come with the names and pictures of the individuals who made, wrapped or packaged the item and include the born-on and best-by dates. All bottles and bulk products for Canada and the U.S. are made in Vancouver or Toronto every week and immediately sent to retail shops. This, Constantine says, is all part of a LUSH life.
"We believe in happy people making happy soap, putting our faces on our products and making our mums proud."
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
