The Good and Bad of Lush ♥

If you have known me for a while you would know that I absolutely adore Lush Cosmetics. Ive been using their products for a year, and have been completely happy with their products. However this week one of my friends enlightened me on why Lush might actually be bad.

 The Good 

They are against animal testing, so obviously all of their products are not tested on animals. They are actually SO against animal testing that they had a whole campaign against it which you can see here. Just a warning though, it is VERY graphic and i personally did not enjoy this protest.

Another good thing is that they recycle of their packaging. 44% of their products are unpackaged and if youve seen their black pots you could read that 100% are not virgin and were made out of recycled plastics. They even have this policy if you return 5 of their black pots you receive a free facial mask! This encourages people to recycle by giving their pots back rather than to throw them out!

They're natural AND handmade. How can it not get better than that? I put something healthy on my face and with it being handmade it helps create more jobs! So instead of it being mass produced and warehouses having excess stock they make sure that the products that reach the stores are as FRESH as possible!

 The Bad 

How natural are they actually? 31% of their products still have preservatives in them, and they use parabens. Personally i dont mind if the products that i use have preservatives in them, but for a company to plaster the word NATURAL all over and then use preservatives is kinda weird. Parabens have been linked to breast cancer, so how can a company that promotes organic cosmetics use an ingredient that is so toxic? As you can see they really like to show of how natural they are in their description box, they say it as much as they say handmade.

This isnt a huge issue for me, as i don't mind the preservatives. They say that they use only a small amount of it, and that use the mildest kinds. I understand the need for it though, as if they didnt have preservatives they shelf life would decrease dramatically and the products wouldnt be so fresh anymore when they reach the stores.

The other weird thing is that Lush Cosmetics donates a percentage of their profit to a organization. That's supposed to be good right? WRONG. They support the One World Campaign. This organization portrays Israel like it is an illegal occupier committing crimes against Palestine. Dont believe me? Its even on their website. A company should NOT have a say in deciding who's side is right in a war. Instead of supporting an organization that commits itself to peace and love they support an organization that has a side. They claim that they support Palestine because Israel is the bigger more dominant side in the war, but the thing is is that it isn't true. Israel isn't doing any better than Palestine and they are both in a slump here.
Read more about it here, here & here.
I strongly encourage you to read more.

In the end it is your decision whether you buy from them or not. I thought i was buying from them for all the good reasons but now that i know all the bad things they do i will definitely cut back my spending in their stores. I honestly think that their bad side should be exposed more as people have the right to know where their money is going and what they are paying for.