Talc is a white, silky, super soft powder. It is a naturally occurring mineral extracted from the ground, milled and purified. 

What are the benefits of talc for the skin?

• Absorbs moisture
• Softens the skin

What are the benefits of talc in Lush products?

The powder helps create various textures, such as our Fun’s malleable paste. It is also used as a shade-adjusting component in a few of our colourants. In face masks, it encourages smooth application in combination with other powders such as kaolin. Talc also has moisture-absorbing qualities in powders. 

Is talc safe?

We only use talc of the highest purity, suitable for pharmaceutical and cosmetic-grade applications, which has undergone rigorous laboratory testing, both by our suppliers and independent third-party laboratories, and has shown no contamination with asbestos.

What are Lush's methods for testing talc for asbestos fibres?

The external labs we commission use: 

• Method ASTM D 5756-02, Standard Test Method for Microvacuum Sampling and Indirect Analysis of Dust by Transmission Electron Microscopy for Asbestos Mass Surface Loading, Modified for Raw Material (Modified EPA 600/R-93/116).
• Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), in combination with an energy-dispersive detector system, EDX, a qualitative method. Those two techniques cover all the necessary aspects to detect asbestos: it identifies the element distribution alongside giving structure, morphological information.

How frequently do we test for asbestos fibres?

Both the company that mines the talc and our suppliers (where we work with a supplier) test the talc to confirm no asbestos is present. In addition, we commission our own tests on each batch received to verify that no asbestos is present.