“If you enjoy fresh food in your belly, why wouldn’t you enjoy fresh ingredients on your skin? We’re in a great position to offer this, because of the nature of the formulas we use and the methods we use to put these together, which enable the richness of the ingredients to be transferred to the product and to the skin.” - Mo Constantine, Product Inventor & Lush Co-Founder
For us, Freshness is not a marketing ploy: it’s a way of life.
Fruits and vegetables receive a vibrant stream of nutrients from their plant. Once harvested, that source of life and energy is depleted and the nutrients inside begin to degrade. We believe that serving those ingredients as fresh as possible delivers maximum nutrition to your skin. That’s why our business infrastructure has been built on the manufacture and sale of fresh cosmetics.
What does Lush mean by ‘Fresh’?
Freshness is our commitment to quality and vitality from source to skin. It’s a passion for harnessing the power of whole ingredients and whole foods, minimally but expertly processed, and served in what we believe to be their most active form. We believe that just as fresh food is a lifestyle choice for the body, fresh, handmade cosmetics are the choice for those who prefer lively, nutrient-rich ingredients over mass-produced, shelf-stabilised alternatives.
With no internationally recognised standard for ‘Fresh Cosmetics’, it is a principle that we have defined through innovation and passion since 1995. This is what you can expect from our fresh cosmetics.
- Products crafted with fewer synthetics, more grown, known and naturally derived ingredients. Freshness means celebrating the potency of nature, and working with crops, clays, fruits, vegetables and essential oils that are known for their active compounds and beneficial properties. Most of our raw materials are classed as minerals, of natural origin, or naturally derived, and we use some thoroughly tested safe synthetics to make our formulas work more effectively when we need to. On average, in the UK, we chop, squeeze, juice and pulp over 20,000kg lemons, over 10,000kg fresh bananas, and over 10,000kg zesty limes every year, giving a whole new meaning to the words ‘feed your face’.
- Products handmade with minimal processing and maximum expertise. Our skilled buyers and compounders handle the delicate and variable natural ingredients we use with care, and know what quality looks, feels and smells like. We embrace minimal intervention and process most of our raw materials by traditional methods such as grinding, distilling, drying or fermenting. This follows in the herbalist tradition, drawing on the wisdom of traditional use and lived experience with ingredients.
- Products that embody quality over quantity, and plant life over shelf life. We’ve been adding use-by dates and quantitative ingredients lists to our products from the start of Lush in 1995 – that’s before regulation was even in place to require them. Our products are made to be used, not stored, which is why they are crafted in small batches by a skilled compounder who will put their name to each one. To respect the delicate ecosystem of the skin, we make products with shorter shelf lives and use few or no preservatives: antimicrobials with the potential to irritate. Our batch stickers tell you just how quickly your product passed from our hands to yours: tangible, credible proof of freshness.
When you shop with us you’ll find products that range from fridge fresh to minimally preserved, empowering you to make lifestyle choices that meet your needs. Our Ultra Fresh range is made for customers who want to shop for their skincare like their food: regularly, mindfully and curiously.
What are the benefits of Lush’s Ultra Fresh range?
- Our delicatessen-style formulas have a freshness window of 14 days to three months, meaning they are ripe with vitality and vibrancy. Some require refrigeration and can even be in your shop the day after they are made – they really are that fresh.
- Field-fresh formulas inspired by the time of the season and the cream of the crop. Feed skin and soul with seasonal stories and timely ingredients.
- These products contain our highest concentrations of fresh fruits and vegetables: ingredients with naturally occurring enzymes, vitamins and live cultures inside.
- Our fridge-fresh formulas utilise cold-therapy benefits to momentarily tighten and brighten for skin that looks plump and sparkling.
- Composed of exclusively self-preserving products with no added synthetic preservatives and few to no additives. Perfect for customers who scrutinise their labels and are rightfully discerning about what goes on their skin.
Key product offerings includes eye pads and eye masks, fresh face masks, fresh facial cleansers and hair treatments, fresh hair and body washes, fresh facial cleanser rolls and enfleurage.
Championing freshness back in 1995 offered an alternative to long shelf-life formulas and overwhelmingly synthetic ingredients lists. We did it because we believed customers deserved better. 30 years later, fresh cosmetics are still revolutionary and customers still deserve better.
Breathe life into your skincare routine: choose fresh.
Written by Milly Ahlquist
Created: April 2026
