A hand and body lotion that’s good for your skin and your community: it’s the famous Lush Cosmetics’ Charity Pot. I’ve stumbled upon the Charity Pot as often happens to me: for a matter of pure curiosity and my constant quest for moisturising body products.

THE PRODUCT: packaging

This is one of Lush Cosmetics’ bath and body products with fair- trade cocoa butter. The Charity Pot is a moisturising, vegan and cruelty-free body and hand lotion…

now with self-preservative formula. Available in three versions – travel size, 45 and 240 grammes – the Charity Pot is contained in Lush’s iconic recycled plastic jars. It’s black but ‘green‘ has never been that convenient! Indeed, by collecting 5 empty black jars and bringing them back (clean, please!) to the shop, you can get a fresh face mask for free.

Lush Cosmetics - Charity Pot, charitable and hydrating body lotion, review

Formula and texture
Natural oils and butter make Charity Pot a pleasure for dehydrated skin: olive, jojoba and moringa oils boosted with fair-trade cocoa and shea butter. With my great surprise, I found how Charity Pot turns into wonder for sensitive skin. That’s also a pure relief for early summer sunburns, thanks to the soothing power of fresh aloe gel. Lush Cosmetics Charity Pot is a yellow cream with a fairly dense consistency – if I compared it to Dream Cream which is oiler; it melts delicately with body heat. It isn’t extremely greasy and it gets absorbed by the skin quite well; you have the time for a massage with this cream! The result is a soft, smooth and very elastic skin that finds a nice healthy glow.

Scent
Charity Pot’s olfactory base is buttery and sweet with cocoa and vanilla, it remained partially unchanged after the reformulation: it lost its intense vanilla pastry or custard cream fragrance which was long-lasting and pleasant, ‘wrapping‘ your skin at the first sniff and application. The new Charity Pot with self-preservative formula has a peculiar scent with mixed flowery notes of geranium and ylang-ylang that drifts into warm and sweet notes of rosewood oil and vanilla. Good but unusual, I dare say ‘old lady‘ scent.

EXTRA
A special detail in every Charity Pot’s packaging is its coloured stickers. In fact, each jar has a label representing one of the organisations supported by Lush Cosmetics with the sale of these body lotions. A Charity Pot represents your personal help to a charity of your choice.

Lush Cosmetics supports a variety of no-profit organisations, selected on a global and local base. These NGOs are active on different fronts by raising awareness on social issues; protecting endangered animal species and the environment; supporting local communities and groups of people with disabilities or in economic distress.

Lush shops host ‘Charity Parties‘, often on weekends, dedicated to raising funds and presenting a charity with Q&A sessions with the volunteers.
Volunteers tell about their ‘mission‘, while Lush staff illustrates the star of the day: the Charity Pot.

During my last Neapolitan stop, I joined a ‘Charity Party’ for Survival International and, despite the little time I had, I was able to meet a sweet volunteer and help this NGO which supports and legally protects indigenous communities around the globe.

If taxes go to the State, what’s left from the sale of your Charity Pots goes as a donation, while we get a nice cream I’m going to sum up for you…

PROS:

it hydrates,
restores skin elasticity and gives glows,
calms irritated skin,
a gentle formula,
not overly greasy,
vegan,
cruelty-free.

CONS:

unusual scent,
unhandy packaging.

Good action, good cream? No doubts, Charity Pot is a very good moisturiser, but the new perfume isn’t as pleasant as the previous one. Charity Pot’s jars aren’t practical while travelling and other differences can be spotted with the older version. For what concerns the application and feel, the new Charity Pot, although soothing, doesn’t release the same freshness everyone is looking for in summer.

Where to buy your Charity Pot?
Charity Pots are available in any Lush Cosmetics shop and online with variable prices depending on your country and product size. It costs $7.95 (45 gr.) and $27.95 (240 gr.) in the US, respectively from £5.00 in the UK.

My final thoughts? Would I recommend Lush Cosmetics’ Charity Pots?
I can just partially recommend Charity Pot because its price is relatively high for a daily hydrating lotion. Even if the results are satisfactory and the charitable goal can justify its economic value, I suggest to try it at the shop and have a personal sniff to get a good idea. Joining in a Charity Party to help a non-profit organisation of your choice.

Sorry, despite I like the after-feel and glow, I think I’m going to try a new body cream once my Charity Pot’s over. I loved the old vanilla scent and I’m sure somebody would have ‘eat me’ in one huge bite!