Here's how you can give the gift of sustainable beauty this season
I always have the best of gifting intentions when the holidays roll in. I love the idea of picking out unique gifts for family and friends, lovingly wrapping each one, and adding a special decoration to make my gifts stand out from the rest. BUT what really happens every year is that I always run out of time to execute my grand plans, and end up doing last-minute shopping and hasty gift-wrapping!
If you’re like me, Lush has got our backs this year! They’ve always made cute, awesome-smelling holiday items, but this year they’ve really stepped it up by making their collection naked. Say what? Over 80% of their holiday collection comes au naturel, without any packaging. By doing so, the brand decreases their costs dramatically and can sell the products for less. Instead of spending on packaging, they opted to spend on improving the ingredients, product formula, and their own employees! I think that's a noble cause and one that I can definitely get behind so I've been looking at the ready-to-gift sets available.
I got to try the Snowdrop gift box, which contains their signature Dream Cream and a cute cloud-shaped Snow Cloud soap. These are housed in a reusable box, wrapped up with gorgeous paper and gilt ribbon, and even comes complete with a gift tag for you to scribble a note. Perfect for busy and last-minute gifters! It's a gift that pretty much anyone can enjoy too since a relaxing bath is always welcome.
Completely avoiding packaging isn't always possible since some products need to be properly contained so in those instances, Lush makes it a point to use recycled and reusable packaging. They even reward their patrons with a free fresh mask whenever they return five empty Lush pots or tubes! Their holiday collection also includes a bunch of reusable cloth wraps with cute designs.
They’ve also added some cool new products to try, aside from their usual soaps and bath bombs, and I can’t get over how they managed to make them packaging-free! The lip scrubs, body lotions, and shower gels aren't wrapped in anything, and would make great stocking-stuffers for Lush fans looking to try something new.
While we may already love Lush for their cute, great-smelling products, there's a lot more to the brand than eye-candy worthy bath bombs. Because of their advocacies, I learned that:
- Bottled products contain a lot of water, which is cheap to buy. Naked products contain effective ingredients that cost more.
- The lack of water helps make the product self-preserving so there's no need to worry about using preservatives that may take a toll on health.
- Not using expensive packaging allows the company to invest in growing and training their team.
- The reason their products smell so great is because they use high quality fragrances like essential oils, absolutes, and concretes.
- Fair-trade organic ingredients drive up the cost of production but they are better in the long run because it provides better ingredient quality as well as fair wages for workers.
In the Philippines, Lush is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc., with store locations at Alabang Town Center, Bonifacio High Street, Estancia in Capitol Commons, Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3, Robinsons Magnolia, and Shangri-La Plaza, SM Mall of Asia, and TriNoma Mall. Visit their Facebook or follow them on Instagram for more information.
Header image courtesy of Lush Cosmetics
