Lush

Last Updated: January 14, 2022

How Ethical Is Lush?

Make a positive impact by supporting companies with the same values and ethics as what matters most to you. To navigate and find ethical brands, here's a summary of Lush's ethics and initiatives.

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Ethical Analysis

Is Lush cruelty-free, vegan, or sustainable? We’ve got the answers here! Read below for more details on Lush’s policies.
Lush is cruelty-free. None of Lush’s ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals, anywhere in the world.
Not all of Lush’s products are vegan but they have some vegan options.
Lush is committed to constantly evaluating how their products and business practices impact those around them. Some of Lush’s sustainability initiatives and goals are:
  • Transition away from fossil fuels to lower-carbon sources and invest in new renewable energy projects
  • Improve energy efficiency of their processes, equipment, manufacturing, and retail shops
  • Use cleaner transport in the movement of their goods
  • Plant forests to restore the health of planet and offset the greenhouse gas emissions they produce
  • Optimizing water consumption in their direct operations and their suppliers
  • Avoiding single-use materials, using regenerative materials when new materials are needed, and buying quality materials that last
  • Avoiding landfill, incineration, and recycling exports, and recovering legacy materials from the environment
  • Lush uses synthetic mica that’s made in a lab and therefore no child labor is involved.
    Lush’s long-term commitment is to become fully circular. Currently, they offer a collection of package-free products and if packaging is unavoidable, they use recycled or recyclable packaging.

    Their black pots can be returned back to the company to be recycled and reused as art material.

    About Lush

    The inventors of the bath bomb and home of bath art, Lush Cosmetics offers vegetarian and cruelty-free cosmetics, handmade by real people fresh from our kitchens straight to your bathroom.
    COMPANY BASED IN: UK
    PRODUCTS MADE IN: UK, Europe, Japan, North America, Australia
    PRODUCTS: Bath & Body Care, Skincare, Hair Care, Makeup, Oral Care, Fragrances
    CERTIFICATIONS: Choose Cruelty Free, PETA-Certified

    Lush

    This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.

    Lush is Cruelty-Free

    Lush has confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf. Their suppliers also do not test on animals, nor do they allow their products to be tested on animals when required by law. And finally, their products are not sold in stores in mainland China or any other country that may require animal testing.

    By our standards, we would consider Lush to be Cruelty-Free.

    What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?

    As of May 1, 2021, some imported ordinary cosmetics can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, for the most part, animal testing is still legally required for most imported cosmetics in 2022.

    But Lush has confirmed they do not sell their products in retail stores in mainland China; therefore, they are not required to test on animals.

    “We do not sell in mainland China. As you may know, their government requires all cosmetics to be tested on animals, which contradicts our cruelty-free commitments. We know this is disappointing to our many fans in China, but we’d never put profits over animal welfare, ever! We hope they use their love of Lush and cruelty-free beauty products as impetus to spark change.”

    Cruelty-Free Policies

    Note that there is no legal definition for the label ‘Cruelty-Free.’ It can mean different things to different people. But Cruelty-Free is generally used to imply no animal testing. More specifically, the ingredients, formulation, or finished product are not tested on animals at any stage of product development.

    At ethical elephant, we always assess a company’s cruelty-free policy using our Cruelty-Free Checklist. This ensures no animal testing was performed by the brand itself, its suppliers, and by any third parties.

    Also, note that Cruelty-Free and Vegan don’t always mean the same thing.

    Lush is Not 100% Vegan

    ‘Vegan’ in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand that is 100% Vegan or a specific product is vegan.

    In the case of Lush, not all of their products are vegan. But they have some products that are suitable for vegans.

    “All our products are 100 percent vegetarian and 95 percent of them are completely vegan.

    We do use ingredients like honey and lanolin in a few of our products, which is why our product range is only 95 percent vegan. However, when we do source these non-vegan ingredients, we work tirelessly to ensure they come only from suppliers as staunch about their own cruelty-free practices as we are—and we’re always actively researching new ingredients and new formulas that allow us to create vegan alternatives for some of our most beloved products.”

    How to know which of Lush products are vegan?

    All of Lush’s vegan products are clearly marked on their website.

    Vegan Policies

    Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But it usually means no animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products.

    Some common animal products used in cosmetics include carmine, lanolin, snail mucus, beeswax, honey, pearl or silk-derived ingredients, animal-based glycerin, keratin, and squalene.

    There are plant-based and synthetic alternatives to animal-derived ingredients. But it’s sometimes difficult to know with certainty whether a product is vegan just by reading the ingredient list.

    So it’s best to ask the company and manufacturers to ensure the ingredients they’ve chosen to use were from non-animal sources.

    Where are Lush’s products made?

    “All of our UK products are made at our factory in Poole. We also have factory’s in Europe, Japan, North America and Australia which supply those markets.”

    Ethical Mica Mining Policy

    Mica is a mineral that’s used in cosmetics to add a shimmery effect. But the mining of natural mica has been linked to child labor and human rights violations.

    Unless the company discloses its mica mining policy, we have no way of knowing whether its mica is ethically sourced without child or forced labor.

    Thankfully, on Lush’s website it states:

    “Due to the human rights issues, namely child labor, associated with the mining of natural mica, Lush has made a commitment to remove natural mica from its production as of January 1st, 2018.”

    Lush uses synthetic mica that’s made in a lab, therefore no child labor is involved.


    I hope this article helped you to understand Company’s cruelty-free and vegan status and by choosing cruelty-free together, we can help end animal testing for cosmetics once and for all!

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    What do you think

    1 thought on “Lush”

    1. Hello,

      It would be so wonderful if you would suggest to women that the best beauty products are Cruelty-Free and……….VEGAN.
      You said you love Lush products. They are not all vegan. They have animal derivatives in them, and that has caused pain to whatever was taken out of something to be put into a cosmetic.
      It just makes sense to educate women all the way. Not just Cruelty-free but Vegan.

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