# Has anyone figured out any famous LUSH recipes?



## danjpiscina (Jan 25, 2011)

I love lush, but it's expensive. I wanted to know if anyone had any of their recipes.

I know the ingredients can be found on their website, but that's not a recipe! It would be nice to know the proportions of EOs and Oils. [and an important aspect of the ingredient list on their site; "perfume" doesn't really say much!].

Anything would help. Soap/Bath Bombs/Bubble Bars/etc.

It would be great to know this stuff. That way we could play around with them and customize.

Thanks!


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## tisci (Jan 26, 2011)

I believe almost all, if not all, of their soaps are made w/a melt & pour base so you can start there. I don't believe any of them are CP. I personally have never been in a LUSH store because walking by them gives me a migraine, but I did have someone buy a few bars for me & they were alright. I'm new at soapmaking, only 6 batches so far & I can tell you that LUSH isn't all it's cracked up to be compared to nice homemade soaps.


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## Jezzy (Jan 26, 2011)

I use to think LUSH was really good too until...... I started making my own soap. 

There is an outlet not to far away from here where I use to go once in a while and BLOW my money. After I started making my own soaps I went there for inspiration... I got none. I get my inspiration here now...

You can buy LUSH dupes all over the net. Even here in Germany where there are only a couple of online stores for soap supplies.


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## Bubbles Galore (Jan 26, 2011)

You can buy LUSH dupes of fragrances. I tried the honey one and I didn't like it.


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## KathyB (Mar 25, 2011)

*Lush Sugar  Babe Dupe*

I played around with a recipe to duplicate (sorta) the Lush Sugar Babe sugar scrub.  I bought one about 6 months ago and really liked it.  I thought it might be a different type of item to sell.  Anyway, I made a "for real" batch yesterday and am waiting for them to dry (it takes a few days until they are hard enough to handle).  I don't recommend these for facial use or for very sensitive skin as they are pretty scrubby.

8 oz. fair trade organic sugar
4 oz. baking soda
2 oz. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. sodium lauryl sulfoacetate
1 oz. coconut oil
3 ml fragrance oil (I used coconut vanilla)

Mix dry ingredients.  Melt the coconut oil and add the fo.  Add to dry mix and knead with gloved hands until fully incorporated.  Pack into molds.  Let sit for several hours or overnight and very gently umold them - I used 2.5" plastic ornament molds from Hobby Lobby.  I did not create balls since they cannot be crumbled, so these are half balls (if that's a term!) and this recipe created four half balls plus a little extra.  I did not add dye since I wanted these to be off white.  If you want these to be colored, add powdered dye to the dry mix - the color will deepen when you add the oil and fo.  If someone has a better way to color these, let me know.  This is not an exact dupe because Sugar Babe has some colored oil in the middle, but it's pretty close.  I plan on wrapping these in colorful cello bags with a big label tied to the twist tie.


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## krissy (Mar 25, 2011)

Thanks Kathy! for sharing! i am going to try making these next week.


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## KathyB (Mar 25, 2011)

*Lush Sugar Babe Dupe*

You're welcome!  Let me know how they come out for you!


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## nattynoo (Mar 25, 2011)

I'm a Lush fan.... I love the stuff. I love my stuff too... hell I just love getting clean!! I could sleep in their shop if was allowed. Soapers love to knock Lush I don't understand why. It smells devine, looks visually AMAZING, and feels fine to me. Is it over priced? probably, but hey it helps to lift the price of CP soap if you ask me. So thats a good thing.

As PP said there are many products that have been duped. Their solid bubble bath has been brain stormed to death and recipes available on various forums. Solid shampoo is another. Watch their youtube lushvids. They actually show how they make some of their products. Its an interesting watch.
Keep in mind always that alot of their recipes/formulas are patented. I don't think it hurts to make a few things for yourself but to outright use their formula & sell is asking for trouble. I don't agree with them being able to patent such formulas, in fact its a crime in itself, but hey, money talks right.


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## busymakinsoap! (Mar 25, 2011)

Just an observation - I have been buying soap from Lush for years.  Honey i washed the kids was a regular item in my shower.  There soaps used to be AWESOME!, however a while back I brought another bar (which is sooooo expensive) and seriously, it lasted about 5 days.  Somewhere along the line they have changed their recipes, might be to do with the Palm oil thing? not sure.  Or they might have originally started out making CP and moved on to MP.
Either way, they were what inspired me to start soaping.  I love the smells, the presentation and the concept of the stores


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## judymoody (Mar 25, 2011)

Day Star has dupes of most of their fragrances.

If you want to make solid shampoo or conditioner bars that knock LUSH out of the water, a good place to start is swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com   Or buy her e-books, the proceeds of which support youth groups in Canada.  She also has recipes for lotion bars, scrubs, lotions, you name it.  A wealth of information.


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## Bubbles Galore (Mar 25, 2011)

If you've ever place an order with Lush online, this is just to advise you that their website has been hacked and customer details may have been compromised. See the link for more info.


http://www.lush.com.au/

There have been some disturbing things happening with hackers lately. 

I know what I'd like to do to hackers and it's not pretty.  :evil:


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## krissy (Mar 27, 2011)

*Re: Lush Sugar  Babe Dupe*



			
				KathyB said:
			
		

> I played around with a recipe to duplicate (sorta) the Lush Sugar Babe sugar scrub.  I bought one about 6 months ago and really liked it.  I thought it might be a different type of item to sell.  Anyway, I made a "for real" batch yesterday and am waiting for them to dry (it takes a few days until they are hard enough to handle).  I don't recommend these for facial use or for very sensitive skin as they are pretty scrubby.
> 
> 8 oz. fair trade organic sugar
> 4 oz. baking soda
> ...




i just did a batch of this but i subbed cornstarch for the cream of tartar. i used the last little bit of an FO that smells exactly like cotton candy and washed my hands with the left overs. they feel so soft and the scent is one that "sticks" really well on your skin. I wish i could get more but it was from Mr. Missy and the last time i checked the website was down. .
i cant wait till these dry enough to try in the shower!


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## Northland Naturals (Mar 28, 2011)

kathy, what area of cypress are you in?  i grew up in lakewood forest and went to cypress creek HS!


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## KathyB (Apr 1, 2011)

I live near Huffmeister and Spring Cypress in small older neighborhood.  Love it out here!


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## KathyB (Apr 1, 2011)

*Re: Lush Sugar  Babe Dupe*



> KathyB said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I think the cream of tartar interacts with the baking soda to create a foam that helps wash the skin and make the bar less oily.  I did  notice that the batch I created was too hard - had to press really hard to crumble up.  Next time I will try .75 ounce of coconut oil and see how that turns out.


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## kelleyaynn (Apr 1, 2011)

I never had the opportunity to enter a LUSH store until today.  I have to say I was extremely underwhelmed.  I know they are going for the real handcrafted, rustic look, but I thought their products were decidedly unattractive, and nothing special about the scents.  I'm not getting why they are so popular.  Even before I made my own soap I wouldn't have been impressed.


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## maryannm (Apr 1, 2011)

I'm with you - it's all just marketing.  It's good marketing, though!  I can't comment on the products as I am way to frugal to buy them.


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## Hazel (Apr 1, 2011)

danjpiscina - 

Have you searched for "Lush" on the forum? There's been several discussions about making Lush products.

I know awhile back Healinya posted a thread. 

http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5920


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## Bubbles Galore (Apr 1, 2011)

kelleyaynn said:
			
		

> I never had the opportunity to enter a LUSH store until today.  I have to say I was extremely underwhelmed.  I know they are going for the real handcrafted, rustic look, but I thought their products were decidedly unattractive, and nothing special about the scents.  I'm not getting why they are so popular.  Even before I made my own soap I wouldn't have been impressed.



Yep, I thought the same. Messy looking soaps, cupcakes. Overwhelming scents. You guys make much nicer soaps.  :wink:


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## nattynoo (Apr 1, 2011)

Agree... our soaps are much nicer.
Have to disagree with the style/look etc.....It totally apppeals to me. The smell... faint!! I love it. I love how my bathroom smells when there is Lush at hand.


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## Relle (Apr 1, 2011)

Called into Lush this morning ,hadn't even been in there for 1 second when someone asked could they help (hard sell).I just wanted to check their prices - Karma was $99 a kilo and another was $79 a kilo  :shock: 

Who can afford those prices. They didn't even look pretty to me.

Relle.


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## dagmar88 (Apr 2, 2011)

kelleyaynn said:
			
		

> I never had the opportunity to enter a LUSH store until today.  I have to say I was extremely underwhelmed.  I know they are going for the real handcrafted, rustic look, but I thought their products were decidedly unattractive, and nothing special about the scents.  I'm not getting why they are so popular.  Even before I made my own soap I wouldn't have been impressed.



 I'm at a lush forum, just to keep track of any complaints and their customer services...

M&P soaps that aren't packaged properly and get all mushy (during shipping?), what they ship is often not as pretty as what's on the website,  lotions that change in texture and scent in under half a year t(and that's supposed to be normal, no refunds), unpreserved aquaous products, stuff that grows mold...
Not impressed, but a great lesson how to do things better myself.

I'm especially grossed out by the stores; migraine inducing and people touch everything.

That sad, they do a great job on their marketing and a lot of people love their products.


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## realyred1 (Feb 11, 2014)

tisci said:


> I believe almost all, if not all, of their soaps are made w/a melt & pour base so you can start there. I don't believe any of them are CP. I personally have never been in a LUSH store because walking by them gives me a migraine, but I did have someone buy a few bars for me & they were alright. I'm new at soapmaking, only 6 batches so far & I can tell you that LUSH isn't all it's cracked up to be compared to nice homemade soaps.



A lot of their soaps are cp soaps,  actually most of them are,  they use lye and there is no lye I m&p


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## realyred1 (Feb 11, 2014)

nattynoo said:


> I'm a Lush fan.... I love the stuff. I love my stuff too... hell I just love getting clean!! I could sleep in their shop if was allowed. Soapers love to knock Lush I don't understand why. It smells devine, looks visually AMAZING, and feels fine to me. Is it over priced? probably, but hey it helps to lift the price of CP soap if you ask me. So thats a good thing.
> 
> As PP said there are many products that have been duped. Their solid bubble bath has been brain stormed to death and recipes available on various forums. Solid shampoo is another. Watch their youtube lushvids. They actually show how they make some of their products. Its an interesting watch.
> Keep in mind always that alot of their recipes/formulas are patented. I don't think it hurts to make a few things for yourself but to outright use their formula & sell is asking for trouble. I don't agree with them being able to patent such formulas, in fact its a crime in itself, but hey, money talks right.



You could always start with their ingredients,but make sure you tweek it to make it your own then I think you would be ok, and don't use the same name,is: don't call your bubble bars "Bubble Bars" that's a big no no !


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## realyred1 (Feb 11, 2014)

So has anyone come up with anymore recipes close to Thiers??


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## new12soap (Feb 11, 2014)

realyred1 said:


> A lot of their soaps are cp soaps, actually most of them are, they use lye and there is no lye I m&p


 
???

I haven't studied all the Lush products, but everything I have seen looks a lot like an ingredient list for MP to me, and MP absolutely does use lye. It's just done in the manufacturing and not by the end user that just melts it (and pours it, hence the name). The only exception is a purely detergent/surfactant bar that is not soap.


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## Saponista (Feb 11, 2014)

Loads of their soap has SLS in it which my skin is really sensitive to so I avoid them like the plague.


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## coffeetime (Feb 11, 2014)

I think I remember reading that Lush makes their own MP base.


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## lsg (Feb 11, 2014)

Lush lists the ingredients of all of their products. They also have descriptions of most of the ingredients. You may not hit their recipe exactly, but with a little experimentation, you should be able to come close to most of their products. You can also google "Lush Dups."

If you look at the ingredients listed in the link below, you will see most of them are pretty basic. You can click on any of the ingredients in the list and you will be taken to a description of that ingredient. As Susan in the Swiftcraftymonkey blog says, knowing what each ingredient brings to a recipe is half the battle in making a product.

http://www.lushusa.com/Sugar-Scrub/02897,en_US,pd.html#start=4


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 12, 2014)

realyred1 said:


> A lot of their soaps are cp soaps, actually most of them are, they use lye and there is no lye I m&p


 
I'm with New12Soap on the "???" here. but throwing in some !!!! and :eh::eh: - M&P soap bases are made from oils and lye.  If Lush use M&P soap, they might well be listing the full ingredients - if you were allergic to CO, for example, but there was only CO in the M&P base with no more added in their proces, then you'd be annoyed if it wasn't listed!


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## realyred1 (Feb 12, 2014)

realyred1 said:


> A lot of their soaps are cp soaps,  actually most of them are,  they use lye and there is no lye I m&p



Yes its true, it may be glycerine soaps, but the make thier own, its not like they buy a m&p base and just melt it, they just make thier own glycerine, thats how they started, making all natural items from scratch, they were supose to be all natural, etc, i think in the years with more demand, i think they have gotten money hungry, and changes some of thier formulas, but i did hear they dont add any chemical prexervatives, thats probably why you read about products going bad, and growing mold,, but its good for us because we can inprove on thier misshaps  







coffeetime said:


> I think I remember reading that Lush makes their own MP base.


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## seven (Feb 12, 2014)

glycerin soaps have chemical in it (no matter if the chemicals used are plant derived, etc). to call it natural, even if you make your own base, is way off me thinks..


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## new12soap (Feb 12, 2014)

My point was that whether they buy a manufactured MP base or make it themselves, MP is made with lye. There is no such thing as soap without lye. As I said earlier, there are syndet bars (synthetic detergents) but not soap. This seems to be a common misconception about MP soap, that there is no lye, and that is simply not true. I can make MP base myself, too, but not without lye.

Yes, I have heard stories about the lack of preservatives and mold etc, I would not buy anything that was not properly preserved.


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## realyred1 (Feb 12, 2014)

Bubbles Galore said:


> You can buy LUSH dupes of fragrances. I tried the honey one and I didn't like it.



I have tried, 3 dupes, yummy yummy (supoe to be honey I washed the kids) its ok, but I have karma, not bad but my favorite is the sex bomb copy, and the rock star, they actually smell better than the original  lol


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## realyred1 (Feb 12, 2014)

judymoody said:


> Day Star has dupes of most of their fragrances.
> 
> If you want to make solid shampoo or conditioner bars that knock LUSH out of the water, a good place to start is swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com   Or buy her e-books, the proceeds of which support youth groups in Canada.  She also has recipes for lotion bars, scrubs, lotions, you name it.  A wealth of information.



She's from Canada? Really, so she would have links to Canadian places that sell Lush dupes? Do you know?


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## jules92207 (Feb 12, 2014)

realyred1 said:


> I have tried, 3 dupes, yummy yummy (supoe to be honey I washed the kids) its ok, but I have karma, not bad but my favorite is the sex bomb copy, and the rock star, they actually smell better than the original  lol



Were these the dupes at Daystar? WSP also has a karma dupe and I've been debating whether to get both for comparison but was hoping for a good review before spending the $$$. I love the Lush honey, karma and rockstar scents and would love to make something similar for myself.

While I do love their product I do agree it goes too fast and way expensive so I would prefer to make my own.


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## clhigh29 (Feb 12, 2014)

Yep, Lushi is the reason I started making my own.  Handing over $15 for a modest bar of Lemon Peel did it.  I'm not sure I really want to duplicate them because I also found many of them to not be very sudsy or have enough fragrance for me.  I think I only liked them because they were better than what I was using, so it seemed so lux.


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## realyred1 (Feb 12, 2014)

jules92207 said:


> Were these the dupes at Daystar? WSP also has a karma dupe and I've been debating whether to get both for comparison but was hoping for a good review before spending the $$$. I love the Lush honey, karma and rockstar scents and would love to make something similar for myself.
> 
> While I do love their product I do agree it goes too fast and way expensive so I would prefer to make my own.



I got karma from wsp ,and I have to look and see where I got the others from,


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## realyred1 (Feb 12, 2014)

The rock star I got was called rocking the stars, I got yummy yummy, and in the mood, I have to look where I got them, but I know it wasn't Daystar, I can't tell which ones are dupes on there...


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## fuzz-juzz (Feb 12, 2014)

I had a chance to actually use one of the Lush soaps yesterday. It is a small sample of Miranda soap and indeed is MP. And it has lye listed as an ingredient. To be honest I did think it is CP soap with MP embeds but the whole thing is MP. I left it unwrapped and it sweated like mad after only a day in our muggy summer weather.
I also couldn't afford their products and started making my soaps. And I'm sure I'm not missing on much. This soap was pretty average. I didn't even like the fragrance and the feel. It doesn't bubble up much and it has pieces of fruit which are a bit scratchy. I bought their henna and soapc came as a sample.


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