Lush Cosmetics
Lush is a British cosmetics brand that offers products made with ethically sourced, cruelty-free ingredients and aims to minimise waste with package-free options.
About
Founded in 1995 in the UK, Lush Cosmetics quickly gained a reputation for its fresh, handmade products and strong stand against animal testing. Their product collection includes skincare, bodycare, fragrances and makeup.
“We find out what impact our buying has on the people and environment and make responsible decisions regarding from where, from whom and how we purchase ingredients and packaging for Lush.”
Over the past 25 years, Lush has consistently been re-sourcing and developing relationships with producers that are direct as feasible, in order to trust that their suppliers’ working conditions are dignified and that prices are fair.
Their policy is to purchase our materials directly from producers: the farmers, growers and processors, wherever possible, in order to learn the true story of each ingredient. Much of Lush’s ingredients are obtained through direct trade relationships from developing nations around the world including Tunisia, Ghana, Laos, South Pacific and more.
Their small but rigorous Buying Team travels the world visiting suppliers, to meet the people involved. They see first hand how the ingredient is grown, harvested, mined, processed, etc. This allows their team to get a better understanding of the raw materials, where they come from, how they are produced, what potential labour or environmental issues might arise and what might impact the cost of the materials (seasonality, crops, climate, etc). Their buying team even attend training intended for investigative journalists to ensure they are thorough with their questioning.
Lush is able to pay a fair price because it cuts out the middleman. In Morocco, Lush supplies argan oil from a cooperative known as UCFA or Union of Argan Oil Women Cooperatives in Agadir. Argan oil, used in hair care products, was traditionally produced by rural Moroccan women who would then rely on their husbands to sell it and made inconsistent earnings. Established in 1999, the cooperative enabled women to collectively negotiate prices. However, partnering directly with Lush increased their earnings from €16 ($34NZD) per litre to €21 ($44NZD), eliminating the need for a middleman.
Lush supports Fair Trade and Community Trade initiatives, sourcing Fair Trade Shea Butter from Ghana and Fair Trade Cocoa Butter from Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. This identifies which ingredients have been certified fair trade by an organisation like Fairtrade International, Fair Trade Federation or Fair For Life.
Since different certifying bodies set different thresholds for the percentage of materials in a product, many of their ingredients have been certified fair trade, but many others haven’t. Because of the variety of ingredients in each product, most final products cannot be labelled as fair trade, but Lush’s ingredient lists can show which materials are certified. This can be because they’re grown in a country that isn’t covered by certifying organisations, or because they aren’t produced on a large enough scale to be eligible for certification. Sometimes, certification fees are just too expensive for the supplier.
In some of these cases where the supplier hasn’t been fair trade certified, Lush sets up a direct trade relationship in which suppliers are paid a fair trade rate and premium for their products and require them to abide by the standards around fair working conditions and sustainable practices outlined above.
Lush’s stance on child labour is aligned with the ILO standards. Lush believes the minimum working age should not be lower than the age for completing compulsory education locally and insist that their suppliers do not engage in any employment of child labour. Should suppliers become aware of any child labour taking place, they are expected to go through a training and transition programme to support the child back into education.
The beauty brand is also determined to move beyond sustainability towards a more regenerative supply chain. A prime example of this is their involvement in permaculture, a sustainable farming method aimed at rejuvenating degraded land. Lush partners with the Ghana Permaculture Institute to support sustainable farming methods like permaculture. Since 2013, they've been sourcing Moringa oil from regenerated lands for their products. Lush annually visits the institute to check on progress, assess worker pay, and review financials to ensure sustainable growth.
