As college students we are almost all on some sort of budget which requires us to make sacrifices in the way we spend money, whether it be buying off-brand cereal, walking to class because we have no gas money, or looking for coupons online even though we swore we would never be “that person”. One thing that it seems like 90% of college women (and even some guys) find money for is Lush products. These products are fun and colorful and smell really good, so we let ourselves fall into their trap, and decide that it’s okay because they are natural and handmade, so really we are helping the planet, right? Well, what if these products really weren’t quite as great as they are cracked up to be?
Don’t get me wrong, Lush is not a horrible company. They make cool products that are unique and work really well, but are they really as natural as they want us to think they are? On the company website you can see the ingredient list for all of their products. The ingredients in green are listed as natural ingredients, and the ingredients in black are listed as safe synthetics. These black ingredients are where you actually find a lot of not-so-safe synthetics. Lush will give you info on all the ingredients if you click on them, but beware, because they never say anything negative about any of their ingredients. I decided to take a random shampoo that happens to cost over thirty dollars and google the ingredients to look at other sources. What I found was harsh preservatives, synthetic fragrances which have been known to potentially contain hormone disruptors, and even a chemical similar to anti-freeze. Yikes! A very large amount of Lush products contain parabens and preservatives because they have a lot of water in them and need to be kept from molding.
Some of the products that contained the most harmful ingredients were the toothy tabs, facial moisturizers, bath bombs (sad), bubble bars, and body butters. On the other hand, only one product scored really well and that was the toner tabs. None of this makes Lush any worse than the large majority of cosmetic companies using these same harmful ingredients, but what does make them worse is the astronomical prices they charge for some of their products, as well as the way they try to market themselves as natural.
So what can you do about this? Consider going to your local health food store’s health and beauty section where you can get better products for cheaper prices. I recommend Acure, Mychelle, Alaffia and Mad Hippie, because they have very good ingredients and you get a lot more bang for your buck than at Lush. If you don’t know where to go I recommend Good Earth Natural Foods. They have good prices, and their staff is very knowledgeable, and as passionate as the employees as Lush. I know this because I am one of them.
So next time you feel that urge to run down to City Creek and buy yourself a face mask or bath bomb, consider trying something different and more natural. Your skin will thank you!