Ingredient

Cardamom Oil

Elettaria cardamomum

The scent of cardamom oil is sweet, spicy and almost balsamic. Cardamom is antiseptic and astringent and can therefore have a firming and toning effect on the skin. The strong, intensely warm, fresh aroma is like a breath of fresh air, opening up the eyes and clearing the mind.

Elettaria cardamomum (also known as green or true cardamom) is a perennial plant, part of the ginger family and native to Ceylon and India. Its flowers are pale yellow with mauve tips. The pods of the plant are hand-harvested between September and April and contain up to 20 tiny seeds.

Cardamom essential oil is warming and relaxing on tired joints making it very effective in products designed for massage. Its reviving aroma can also be used to flavour lip balm and is often combined with other spicy and aromatic essential oils, such as ginger.

The oil is distilled in Guatemala from seeds produced by three cooperatives of farmers (over 300 families are involved). The plants are grown in the moist evergreen forest of Alta Verapaz. Lush’s oil producer and supplier work directly with the cooperatives. They commit to purchase 100% of the farmers' production and prefinance the harvest. They also assist the farmers with technical assistance to increase their production yields whilst also ensuring local environmental protection and reforestation.