Ingredient

Fresh Shiitake Mushroom

Lentinus edodes

Shiitake mushrooms are rarely described as just food—the word ‘medicinal’ is never far behind.

Where do we get these fresh mushrooms?

Lush UK purchases shiitake mushrooms from a supplier based in Devon, England. They’ve been 100% organic from the beginning. No artificial chemicals are used, and even their growing materials – straw, sawdust and rye blocks – are certified organic. 

They have multiple climate-controlled growing rooms (or ‘Shroom Rooms’, as they call them!), each designed to create the ideal natural conditions for a particular gourmet mushroom variety to flourish. Temperature, light, humidity, CO2 – everything is just right to make each variety grow as happily, healthily, and full of flavour as possible. Different varieties like to grow in different materials; shiitake thrives in organic oak sawdust.

With seven manufacturing sites across the globe, this information may vary depending on where your Lush products were made.

What are the benefits of shiitake mushrooms?

• Antibacterial, they help cleanse the skin.
• Soothing, they calm itches and redness.
• They contain antioxidants, which are thought to help keep the skin firm and radiant.

Some also believe that shiitake mushrooms have adaptogenic qualities, as perhaps all mushrooms do. Adaptogens are thought to help our system deal better with stress. This is more likely to happen when they are ingested, but some think they could also help our skin be more resistant and resilient when applied topically, although more research is needed.

Superfood mushroom

‘A mushroom that grows on Japanese chinquapin trees’ is what shiitake means in Japanese. The brown little button mushroom grows on rotting wooden logs, originally in East Asia but now worldwide. It is one of the most consumed mushrooms in the world, a success due to its rich flavour, meaty texture and proven health benefits.