New From Lush: Palm Free Soaps and Jungle Soap

I had no idea that Kansas City was cool enough to have a LUSH store (we still don't have one in Virginia Beach - no fair), but I happened upon one while shopping on vacation last week. Talk about happy and surprised all wrapped into one!

They have some changes and new things going on. Did you know that they have stopped using palm oil as a base for their soaps? That's right - none of the LUSH soaps have palm oil as a base any longer.

But what's wrong with palm oil, you say? Well, as part of their campaign to save the Indonesian rain forest, LUSH became aware of the devastation that the harvest and production of palm oil was causing. They then worked for over three years to find an alternative to palm oil as a soap base.

In fact, LUSH is so passionate about the cause that they are calling on other soap manufacturers to stop using palm oil and will share their information and expertise to companies who are interested in reducing or eliminating palm oil from their formulations.

So, to promote this cause, all proceeds from the new Jungle Soap will go towards the Rainforest Foundation which works with tribes to to protect their forest homes from the destructive expansion of palm oil plantations in the region. At the same time, LUSH has announced a new partnership for Charity Pot, their lotion product that has always supported important causes. They will be supporting the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). The WSPA works with Borneo Orangutan Society to protect endangered orangutans threatened by the deforestation practices of the palm oil industry.

With all that goodness going on, how can you resist?