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Here's How You Can Get A Free Face Mask At Lush

by Kali Borovic

You might not know this, but Lush gives away a free fresh face mask to anyone who recycles their products. Yes, really. The brand's black pot recycling program aims to get customers a little more excited about giving their packaging a new life. Think of it as being rewarded for doing the right thing. Start saving your Lush containers, because this is one deal that you — and the planet — can't afford to miss out on.

Lush is not your average cosmetics brand. The company goes out of their way to be as environmentally conscious as possible with package-free product and ingredients that are good for you and the Earth. They want you to get involved too.

"If Lushies bring back five recycled black pots to their local Lush shop they get a free fresh face mask! The amazing thing about these products is they’re made fresh weekly in our factories in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada,” says digital public relations coordinator Peter Seney.

It's really that simple. After you get the free fresh face mask of your choice, you can keep the package to start off on your next five. The program is available at all Lush stores, and is probably their best kept secret.

Well, it's not exactly a secret. According to Seney, Lush has given more than 140,000 fresh face masks in the last six months. That's a whole lot of recycled black pots, my friends.

According to the website, Lush's black pot packaging used to come from Taiwan. The brand decided that they could reduce its eco-footprint even more by finding a local supplier instead. That's what they've done. Not only are the black pots that they use 100 percent recyclable, they're also made right in the brand's own backyard in Oregon and British Columbia. Oh, and they actually come from recycled plastic themselves.

"Collected from curbside blue bins across Oregon, California, Washington and British Columbia, plastic is collected, sorted, granulated, washed and turned into flakes. Flakes are then sorted into many different kinds of plastics, including polypropylene, which is used to make our black pots and lids," the website reads.

How's that for full circle? After the pots are recycled back to the store, the process continues. Each one is made into a brand new black pot for someone else to use and recycle.

As of right now, face masks are the only items being given away for the recycling program. There's no gimmicks or catches, either. You will receive a full sized mask in any of the options available in-store.

"As often as possible, we try to create products that don’t require any packaging at all – it’s what gives our shops that signature Lush smell – but for many of our lovely liquid products, packaging is a must," the Lush website reads. "In those cases, we use 100% recycled plastic to make the pots, bottles and lids that house them."

It's worth noting that you can bring any size black pots to get credit for your fresh face mask. The clear, screw top bottles are also a part of the promotion. No matter what you buy, you can't go wrong.

Personally, I love this program. Sometimes my friends and I even put our black pots together and split one mask. Lush face masks are very generous, and this way I can make sure it gets all used up before it goes bad. Of course, keeping the entire mask for yourself isn't all that bad of a choice, either.

If this isn't a reason to go on a Lush buying spree, then I don't know what is. Don't think of it as splurging on body care. Instead, think of it as keeping the circle of packaging life going around.