Ingredient

Madagascan Vetivert Oil

Vetiveria zizanoides

Inhale, pause, then exhale any tension and feel your worries floating away. With its deep and smoky aroma, vetivert oil encourages a moment of calm and helps to settle the emotions, while on the skin it cleanses, tones and mattifies. 

The Vetiveria zizanoides plant belongs to the Gramineae family, like lemongrass, and is a tall grass with a complex root system. It is these very long and thin roots that are harvested, chopped and dried, before being steam distilled to obtain a fragrant oil. The older the root is, the better the oil will be - but also harder to distil, which makes it difficult to source.

Aromatherapists consider the oil to be aphrodisiac and sedative, it is recommended to balance emotions. In a bath, it is thought to be a warming oil that eases muscular aches. And finally, it is used as a fixative for perfume blends, which means it holds onto other fragrances that it has been blended with and releases them slowly.

As the scent of the oil depends on many factors, such as the area where the plant has grown and the age of the root when harvested, it is a tricky ingredient to source and Lush has to have many different suppliers to avoid shortages or huge olfactory differences between batches. Most of the vetivert oil found in our products is sourced in Java, Indonesia and has a deep, smoky, almost ashy scent, whereas in perfumes we use an essential oil produced in Madagascar which has more notes to it and is described as almost citrusy by some.