Fragrance is one of the trickiest and sneakiest ingredients out there.
It’s listed on the label as a single ingredient. It’s actually a cocktail of about two dozen highly volatile esters and other synthetic, petroleum-based ingredients.
Because the scent of a product is considered “proprietary information” and protected as a trade secret, companies are NOT required to tell you ANY of the ingredients are in their scent blends.
What’s even WORSE is that they can PARTIALLY disclose. Meaning that they can tell you SOME, but not ALL the ingredients that they use. So, they can tell, you some. Or none. Or all, or anywhere in between, and use the trade secret law for the rest.
➡️ The International Fragrance Association (IFRA) lists 3,059 different compounds and materials are being used in fragrance blends worldwide, many of which are linked to health effects including cancer, reproductive toxicity, allergies, and sensitivities.
➡️ Fragrance is called “the new secondhand smoke” by researchers at The University of Maryland and the U.S EPA
➡️ NASA says that indoor air is likely 30x more polluted than outdoor air, largely in part to the synthetic fragrances in our home and cleaning supplies.
➡️ The US National Academy of Sciences has grouped fragrance in the same class of materials as toxic insecticides.
➡️ Studies show that over one third of Americans suffer adverse health effects, such as respiratory difficulties and migraine headaches, from exposure to fragranced products.
➡️ Despite being listed as a single ingredient on the label, it’s actually a blend of about two dozen highly volatile esters and other synthetic, petroleum-based ingredients.
In a world that is so fixed on everything smelling like “spring air” and “mountain Breeze”, I have come to love and respect the real smell of these things which, to be perfectly honest, smell mostly like nothing at all.
If you’re like me and curious about distancing yourself from these toxins I genuinely believe the journey will change your life. I personally started breathing easier, coughing less and my mind is more clear. The air feels lighter.
Light, crisp, fresh, air is something we take advantage of.
Now, when I walk down the cleaning and hair care aisles in the stores, I have to hold my breathe. I literally get nauseous.
Fragrance was on of the hardest ingredients to remove from my life.
It. Is. In. EVRYTHINGGGGGG.
It took me years to find replacements for everything I need and use. I did it realllllly slowly, over a handful of years.
I knew its where I was headed but some of the products I was experimenting with were real duds and it took me a lot of unlearned along the way.
I know that if it is something that you are passionate about, you can make this transition too!
If you’re the kind of woman who wants to cut to the chase and have less to focus and figure out, going fragrance free cuts out about 98% of the market, most of which is crap anyway.
Going fragrance free allows you to have less options and find the best of what’s available, quickly.
(but don’t trust when other people say “fragrance free” because a lot of the times that means they use fragrance to make it smell like nothing…like mascara…. that’s a story for another day.)
Here are some terms to look for that protect ingredients as a trade secret:
- Fragrance
- Perfume
- Parfum
- Essential oil blend
- Aroma
* * Every single product listed in the Product Finder on our website (except Malibu C detox treatments) is fragrance free.
– PLUS – we are detoxing our hair from fragrance, and over 1,500 other disgusting toxins together in the Trust Your Innersense Challenge starting this Saturday.
You can learn more about that challenge using this link: https://consciouslycurly.com/trust-your-innersense/
How many of you are already fragrance free, or on your way? I’d love to chat about your journey to clean living in the comments!
Xoxo – Lo
Volatile Organic Compounds’ Impact on Indoor Air Quality. (2021, February 10). US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/volatile-organic-compounds-impact-indoor-air-quality
McConnell, J. (2019, April 1). Fragrance: The New Second Hand Smoke. Women’s Voices for the Earth. https://www.womensvoices.org/2017/09/08/fragrance-new-second-hand-smoke/
De Vader, C. L., & Barker, P. (2009). FRAGRANCE IN THE WORKPLACE IS THE NEW SECOND-HAND SMOKE. American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences, 16(1).
Steinemann, A. (2016, October 20). Fragranced consumer products: exposures and effects from emissions. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5093181/
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