If you’ve been around long, you know I can talk about fragrance until I’m blue in the face. I mean this is serious friends, if I had an arch enemy it would definitely be SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCE. It’s in everything!!
☝️First off, why is fragrance so bad and why does this girl go to crazy lengths to avoid it?
Have you ever walked into a highly fragrant store and gotten a headache?
I have! The moment I smell a synthetic fragrance I turn around and walk away, more like run!!🏃♀️
❗Over 95% of the toxic ingredients used to make “fragrance” are derived from petrochemicals and when EWG tested them they found that over 75% contained phthalates which have been shown to disrupt hormones, reduce sperm counts, and are linked to ADHD, breast cancer, diabetes and more.
How is this even allowed?🤯
This is allowed because of a loophole that was created a long time ago by perfume companies so that their signature scents couldn’t be copied. They were then classified as “trade secrets.”
All these years later here we are today using FRAGRANCE as an umbrella term for over 3000 toxic ingredients.
😳Yep, those “trade secrets” are full of carcinogenic and hormone disrupting ingredients.
You are sure to find fragrance in just about everything you look at from conventional products to ones you would least expect that are marketed to be safe.
I’ll name just a few👇
❌Perfume
❌Personal care products like shampoo, soap, deodorant, makeup, skincare, scrubs, sunscreen, deodorant and more.
❌Feminine and Sexual Health products like lubes, pads, tampons and condoms.
❌Cleaners
❌Air Fresheners
❌And the list goes on!
🔍Don’t take my word for it, start looking at those labels and see for yourself. Watch out for keywords like: fragrance, perfume, parfum, natural fragrance, fragrance oils and aroma.
☝️Here are some things to think about because it does get a bit tricky and I really do mean tricky!
Note: NATURAL FRAGRANCE and FRAGRANCE OILS are red flags and used as marketing terms to try and trick us! Unless it specifically tells you what ingredients it is scented by and you find those ingredients safe.
☝️On that note, now this is where it gets really confusing. Hang with me here!
EWG recently changed their regulations making it mandatory for them to align with USA labeling laws so they now have to indicate which ingredients are part of the fragrance. So it now says “fragrance/parfum” on some safe products.(Side note: do not solely rely on EWG; they are quite flawed but it is a great starting point.)
Back to my point👇
Think of it like the label of a spice mix.
Example ” (*cumin, *paprika, *salt, *chili powder and *oregano) *spice mix”
👀So, you may see “*fragrance (parfum)” is added after a list of ingredients that comprise that “fragrance.”
Let me give you another example so that you can see what I mean.👇
gamma-decalactone*, ethyl hexanoate*, ethyl 2-methylbutyrate*, hexyl salicylate*, raspberry ketone*, triethyl citrate*, *fragrance(parfum).
👀So you see it is showing you what ingredients are used to make up their naturally derived fragrance (I know those scientific terms sound scary but are not) including those safe scent enhancers instead of vague works like vanilla absolute for instance.
To view particular company I am talking about check out post here.
Be sure to check out this post for more info!
☝️Note: If you want something truly fragrance free don’t just look for the word “unscented.” Unscented products may contain chemicals that neutralize or mask the odors of other ingredients.
📧When in doubt you can always email the company.
I know all the loopholes and trickery can be frustrating! It shouldn’t be so hard to choose safe products for ourselves and our families but, sometimes it is.
☝️Just remember every step we take counts so keep walking your journey to cleaner living my friends and ofcourse I am here to help.
Journey on,
