Name: Father Christmas
Brand: Lush
SKU: 755-UK

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Vegetarian Society

Make some sweet ‘me’ time this Christmas with a calming sheet mask! The antioxidant and nutrient-rich Brazilian honey used in this mask is sourced from the Barro Vermelho community in North East Brazil. The bees here are free to follow their natural instinct, as humans and nature work together to regenerate the land, economy and bee population.

How to use: Cleanse your face, removing any dirt or make up. While your face is still damp, pop on this mask for up to 10 minutes. Want to go again? We’ve got you covered! Once opened, this mask can be reused for up to 7 days. Just wrap it back up and pop in the fridge in between uses.

How to store: Once opened, this mask can be reused for up to 7 days. Just wrap it back up and pop in the fridge in between uses.

Your order will be expertly protected against impact during transit by biodegradable Eco Pops, compostable packaging nuggets made from potato starch! They're easily dissolvable in water or soil.  

Handled with care

Fresh cosmetic ingredients are more effective on skin, hair, and mind than heavily preserved beauty products. 65% of our raw material spend is on natural ingredients.

Fresh is best

Soothing

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Natural

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Milky, soft, soothing… Even when they’re exfoliating the skin, oats are incredibly gentle.

Oats are among the many members of the grass family, which together provide a staple diet for most of the world’s population. Wild oat seeds dating back to 2000BC have been found in Egypt. The oat grain in its natural state takes a long time to cook, so they are usually rolled and flattened into flakes, as this makes them easier to prepare.

A moisturising and replenishing oil can be extracted from oat kernels. It contains ceramide, a lipid that can be naturally found in the epidermis, creating a barrier on the skin alongside sebum to protect it and maintain moisture. Applying an oil with ceramide, like oat oil, helps restore and strengthen the skin's natural defence.

At Lush we purchase different types of oat and oat-derived products depending on the effects we want to obtain. To find out more about each of them and their suppliers, browse your Lush product’s list of ingredients and click on the ones you are interested in. This should take you to a page full of details!

Ingredient

Moisturising

Fragrancing

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A staple in cosmetics, the tear-shaped almond is beloved for its soothing properties and comforting scent.

Almond crops thrive in sunny regions such as the Mediterranean, California, the Middle East and North Africa. The almond tree is part of the plum family (Prunus), and its fruits are very similar to its relatives, such as apricot or peach. Hiding deep in the soft flesh is a very hard pit, which reveals a tender almond when broken.

There are two types of almonds: sweet and bitter. Sweet almonds (Prunus dulcis) can be ground, pressed into oil, or mixed with water to make milk. Almond essential oil is distilled from the kernels of bitter almonds (Prunus amygdalus amara) to make a perfume material.

What are the benefits of almonds in cosmetics?

In general, almonds and almond-derived products are soothing and conditioning to the skin and hair, as well as being emollient and packed with vitamin E (an antioxidant). But the benefits also depend on the type of ingredient, of course. For example:

As we’ve said above, almonds are used in our products in several forms. Each of them will have its own source. To find out more, browse your Lush product’s list of ingredients and click on the ones you are interested in. This should take you to a page full of details!

Almond

Comforting

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Vanilla is the unmistakable, uplifting and sweet scent we all know and love.

Vanilla beans (pods) are the fruits of the orchid Vanilla planifolia. Centuries ago, one could only purchase vanilla from Mexico, as the flowers required a local bee to pollinate and grow the precious pod. Thanks to the discovery of a hand pollination technique in 1841, orchids can now be cultivated in most tropical areas close to the equator. This step requires crucial know-how and must be carried out a few hours after the flower opens; otherwise, it wilts.

Each blossom produces a single bean that is normally harvested after eight or nine months and then passes through a complex curing process before resembling the black-brown fragrant spice we all know. This process usually involves four steps: soaking in hot water, sweating in a warm environment, drying for a few weeks, and conditioning (packing in boxes) to develop flavours.

Since Madagascar, the world's first vanilla producer, stopped regulating vanilla prices in the 1990s, its trade has seen ups and downs. The latest struggles began in 2012 when very low harvests made demand higher than supply. Since vanilla is a rather rare natural delicacy that cannot be rushed, the situation quickly snowballed into crazy price increases (over 100%), poor quality and crime.

In 2016, the situation in Uganda (where we buy our pods) became critical and <a href="https://www.lush.com/uk/en/a/not-such-sweet-deal">was reported to us in an article</a>&nbsp;by Lulu, owner of the Ndali farm. Resellers and agents working on commission began buying vanilla that was not even cured properly yet. Vanilla pods must reach maturity and undergo the full curing process to obtain all the notes of their wonderful taste and smell and to avoid mould. During price crises, crops are sold far too early and pods can even be stolen from the fields before they're ripe. Farmers try to expand their crops to meet demand, and governments implement drastic measures. Eventually, when things finally calm down, farmers find themselves with too much production and prices drop tragically, as has been the case since 2019.

We love natural vanilla so much that we couldn't stop using it despite the market’s turmoil. Thanks to our dedicated team of creative buyers, we found solutions year after year and month after month. Find more information on each source in the description of the main vanilla ingredients we use:

<a href="https://www.lush.com/uk/en/i/vanilla-absolute">Vanilla Absolute</a>, a powerful extract found in perfumery and skin-soothing cosmetics.

<a href="https://www.lush.com/uk/en/i/vanilla-pod-infusion">Vanilla Pod Infusion</a>, made in-house from beans soaked in hot water.

<a href="https://www.lush.com/uk/en/i/vanilla-pod-extract">Vanilla Pod Extract</a>, for which humectant propylene glycol serves as a carrier.

Want to dive straight into our range of vanilla-scented products? <a href="https://www.lush.com/uk/en/c/vanilla-scented">They're ready for you</a>.

Vanilla

Uplifting

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Orange flower has an intensely floral aroma with fresh green notes and is one of the most popular essential oils used in perfumery.

Lush uses a few different types of orange flower (or orange blossom) in products, with varied purposes and perks to them. They’re all derived from the bitter orange tree (Citrus aurantium amara), which is an evergreen member of the Rutaceae plant family. The fruits flavour food and drinks, the flowers provide neroli oil and orange flower absolute, and even the leaves and twigs can be distilled to obtain petitgrain oil.

Orange blossom honey can also be found in Lush products. This is produced when bees collect nectar from the flowers of the bitter orange tree. The honey retains some of the beautiful floral-citrus flavour and fragrance. It is considered luxurious and exotic.

Where does Lush source orange flower from?

Lush purchases orange flower absolute from a producer based in the north of Tunisia. The business is run by three siblings, whose father started many years ago. They have been supplying Lush since 2005. To find out more about the other orange flower-derived ingredients and the suppliers, browse your Lush product’s list of ingredients and click on the ones you are interested in. This should take you to a page full of details!



Orange Flower

Make some sweet ‘me’ time this Christmas with a calming antioxidant and nutrient-rich sheet mask!