Ingredient

Organic Cashew Butter

Anacardium occidentale

Cashew butter is moisturising to the skin.

The tropical evergreen cashew tree is native to the West Indies and Brazil. It is a medium-sized tree, growing up to forty feet tall. The nut is actually the seed of the fleshy cashew apple, which is pear-shaped and reddish or yellow. Unusually, instead of being on the inside, the nut hangs like an appendage from the base. The flesh is reported to be even tastier than the cashew, but spoils within 24 hours of harvest, meaning that it is rarely exported.

Between the layers of the nut’s two shells, there is an oil that can blister human skin, much like its relative, the poison ivy. The fruits are picked by hand and the nuts detached to be processed. They are roasted at 350 degrees, cooled, and then the hardened shells are removed by hand, now that the caustic oil has been burnt off. Turning the nuts into butter is a relatively simple process that involves lightly roasting the nuts and milling them to the correct consistency.

Lush purchase organic cashew nuts from a fair trade cooperative project in India. They are then shipped to Cornwall and the nuts are turned into cashew nut butter.