WASH YOUR HANDS OFF PALM!

1:54:00 PM

For several years Lush has been looking into the environmental and social concerns surrounding the use of palm oil in cosmetics. In order to know the actual situation, representatives of Lush travelled to Indonesia to meet with groups such as the Sumatran Orangutan Society, Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Greenpeace. They also met with the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to discuss this important issue with other manufacturers and retailers.

From this research it became apparent that immediate and drastic action was required to make any difference to the destruction in Indonesia. Global demand for the oil is causing the clearing of ancient rainforests, forcing indigenous people off their land and pushing orangutans to the brink of extinction to make room for more palm oil plantations.

As a company, Lush feels the best way to preserve these precious rainforests is to no longer use palm oil, which is why they worked with another soap maker to come up with an industry first – a palm-free soap base that can be used to make large quantities of soap. A blend of sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and coconut oil is now the base used in all Lush soaps.

Jungle Soap (Php295)

Jungle Soap is a bright green tree-shaped soap made with our palm-free soap base with a grassy scent. Proceeds from the sales of this product will be donated to the Friends of The

Earth Foundation who work to ensure the long-term protection of rainforests by securing the rights of indigenous communities to land, life and livelihood.

Porridge (Php245 for 100g) … the very best way to start the day: a helping of porridge oats with the delicious scent of molasses. Oats are exceptionally soothing and softening, ideal for sensitive skin. They’re very calming for irritations and can be used medically to help eczema. Porridge also contains a blend of fresh organic orange juice and sweet orange oil, to help rid congested skin of toxins. A great exfoliator that leaves you feeling soft, smooth and smelling scrumptious!

Summer Pudding (Php275 for 100g) ... for the hand and body all year long

Probably our most spectacular soap to date, this fruity, cherry and almond scented wonder is like a typical English summer all squished together. We use whole cherries, scrubby ground almonds, and refreshing lemons to make our version of a summer pudding.

Since establishing 11 years ago, Lush Cosmetics has been driven by innovation and its ethics. Creators of pioneering beauty products such as the fizzing bath ballistic, shower jellies and butter creams and solid shampoo bars, Lush places emphasis on fresh ingredients like organic fruits and vegetables. Lush operates a strict policy against animal testing and supports Fair Trade and Community Trade initiatives. Lush leads the cosmetics industry in combating over-packaging by running public awareness campaigns and developing products that can be sold ‘naked’ to the consumer without any packaging. Lush has been awarded the RSPCA Good Business Award for 2006 and 2007 and the PETA Trailblazer Award for Animal Welfare.

Lush is located at Glorietta 4, Power Plant Mall, Shangri-La Mall, Greenbelt 3, Mall of Asia, and Bonifacio High Street, Trinoma and Alabang Town Center.

Lush is also urging other retailers and manufacturers to cut their palm use by at least half. To do this, the brand is working with environmental organizations and Industry by forming a collaborative working group called Actively Seeking Alternatives to Palm (ASAP).

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

I am curious. I travel. I am soul searching. Curious Tootling Soul, 3 words referring to me. In our everyday lives, we wander, and we ask questions. Yes, and sometimes it is hard to explain to someone who doesn’t quite see the world how you do— the way you do. Life to many can just be sectionalized and put into little boxes. A box for your true self; a box for your sociable self; a box for your fancies: your wants, your desires. Looking at your bucket list—list, highlight, and check. For some though life isn’t quite so simple. Some of us don’t know exactly what we want to do next or where we want to go, we just know there is so much out there we want to experience. We visit and travel new places often without knowing exactly what for, just that we know in our soul we need to. Mundane, humdrum existence and material things don’t impress us. We are in search for answers, for fulfillment and gratification. We need to be surrounded by love and warmth, growth and good. We know there is nothing better than a genuine laugh or a heartfelt hug. We are moved by the storytellers, the dreamers, the drifters, the people whose lives are different than ours, that we can learn from. We are drawn to new surroundings and unique experiences. As we fall in love with so many things around us, sometimes it is hard to keep track. We love and we continuously holding on for that love. We love different. We love doing things that terrify us because we know those are the moments that we grow. We love looking back and seeing that we have accomplished what we never thought we could, things we never thought were even a possibility. Because it is in those moments we know we are becoming the people we were always intended to be. We leap before we look sometimes. It is finding ourselves when we didn’t know we were lost and continuing to find ourselves over and over again. It is kissing a cute stranger under the stars, waving at a baby we pass on the street, helping someone who cannot repay us. It is jotting down a funny memory or a beautiful quote we can’t forget. It is finding out what makes us smile the biggest, what our passions are, what makes our eyes light up just by talking about it. (an excerpt from A. Twigg, 2015) I fall, but I keep on rising. My faith has been tested, but it always remains. I have grandiose plans and an endless list of options; the places that I want to explore and journeys that I want to take. I don’t always know how I will accomplish something, I just know some ways and the courage of somehow—I will. Life for me is a puzzle of creating moments. It is finding my next adventure. It is setting my feet on new sands, diving into new seas. It is laughing with a group of strangers, singing words to songs that I don’t know matters. It is knowing that there is a whole wide world out there just waiting for me to discover it. It is the feeling that there is no better time than right now to do what we have always wanted to do, so why not go? Do it.