10 Things You Might Not Know About... HONEY!
Honey is one of nature’s purest ingredients--the gooey result of dedicated honeybees. Apart from the scent, flavor and golden-hued goodness we associate with honey, it creates a buzz for all kinds of different reasons:
1. Spanish poet Antonio Machado once wrote, "I dreamt - marvelous error! - that I had a beehive here insife my heart. And the golden bees were making white combs and sweet honey from my old failures."
2. Honey changes appearance and texture over time, and is sensitive to its environment, but some batches appear to be thousands of years old and not rancid. Honey was one of the gifts entombed inside Egyptian crypts. When explorers found ancient burial sites, the honey they found in some cases was quite well-preserved.
3. Honey has noted antiseptic powers, and aids in creating a protective barrier on wounds. It lends a hand in the skin’s natural processes of healin...
Non-profit HoneyLove is Buzzing as LUSH’s Charity Pot Partner
Today we're excited to share HoneyLove, one of our Charity Pot partners with you. We knew there was no better way to get you buzzing than to have Chelsea and Rob write about the amazing work that they do, and all the ways that you can help!
In the Spring of 2011, HoneyLove co-founders Chelsea and Rob McFarland would have never guessed that a swarm of honey bees showing up in their backyard would provide the inspiration for what has quickly become their life's passion—a non-profit organization committed to conserving honey bees. Fast-forward to 2013 and HoneyLove has created an impressive local organization with a global footprint.
Bees pollinate 80% of the world’s plants including 90 different food crops, which means that 1 out of every 3 bites of food is thanks to a bee. However, since 2006, more than one third of honeybee colonies collapsed nationwide, a global phenomenon now called Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD. And while there is no one smoking gun causing CCD, scientists now widely agree that it is a result of a combination of factors, made manifest by industrial beekeeping and the use of agricultural pesticides such as neonicotinoids.
While the situation is dire, honey bees...
That's How We Roll
The LUSH kitchens contain giant fridges stocked with the flowers, herbs, and fresh materials required for our cleansing rolls. Fresh ingredients in our products ensure the most healthy, active buzz on the skin.
What makes them so “cleansing” after all?
For starters, there is NO soap. Cleansing rolls are made with absorbent powders and clays, which carry residues from the skin. They are effective mixed into skin care routines every few days, and also gentle enough for daily use. Clays unclog pores and help eliminate toxins and promote clear skin; they are sometimes called “Nature’s Detoxifiers” for this reason. Porous material like charcoal, clean as well as exfoliate. Other natural skin blasters in our rolls are ground almonds, sugar, rice bran and lavender flowers. These are gentle natural exfoliators, offering a holistic approach to cleaning your skin. We also use conditioning ingredients and powerful herbal blends to promote harmony in the skin and radiance throughout.
How do they work?
Using them is believing:
1. Pinch off a bit of product.
2. Mix the product with water to create a paste that spreads easily onto your skin. People find the consistency that works best for them easily after the first couple uses.
New Ways to Re-use Your Black Pots
We've said it once, (actually a few more times than that), and we'll say it again: we like it Naked at LUSH.
In fact, we'd do everything Naked if we could. But then again, there are ingredients that are so beneficial, and so beautiful but come in a liquid form that some of our products do require packaging.
When we do use packaging, we aim to use the least amount possible and have not only significantly cut down on the amount of cardboard and paper products that we use, but our black pots and bottles are made from 100% post-consumer plastic - no virgins allowed! We also encourage you to return your black pots and bottles at your local LUSH shop. Bring back 5 and we'll exchange them for a free Fresh Face Mask. You get clean, radiant skin and we'll make sure that your containers get recycled and up-cycled for you. Win-win for everyone and the environment.However, you can also reuse your black pots and containers at home or at the office too.
Here are some of our favorites:
Storing office supplies
With, or without the labels you can use our pots to store paperclips, thumbtacks, erasers, staples, love notes, or whatever supplies you like to keep at hand, but in an easy, stackable way to help you keep your desktop tidy. You could also glue magnets to the bottom and affix them to a magnetic board for even more organizational fun!
Get your garden started
Depending on what climate you live in, some herbs, veggies, and plants could use a helping hand to get started before the growing season...
We're eager to protect beavers!
On a cool March morning, myself and two LUSH colleagues met Adrian Nelson of the Fur Bearer Defenders at their modest office in Vancouver.
Fur Bearer Defenders has been a LUSH Charity Pot Partner for several years, fighting against the commercial fur trade and creating opportunities to coexist with urban wildlife. We've also built a personal relationship with the organization; hosting information sessions in local shops and volunteering our time to work on projects. The three of us had volunteered our day to help a family of beavers in Mission, a community about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of our head office in Vancouver.
Why beavers? The beaver is considered a keystone species in North America, increasing the number of plant species by 1/3rd in dammed areas. They've proven to be beneficial to water quality and their ponds provide habitats for fish, waterfowl and other aquatic animals.
Our drive out to the Fraser Valley provided some time for us to get to know Adrian and his role with Fur Bearer Defenders. Adrian is their Director of Communications, and has taken a personal interest in the humane management of urban beaver populations. He travels across North America to conferences about non-lethal management of urban wildlife to build on his knowledge and provides training and assistance to communities and municipalities on alternatives to lethal trapping procedures.
