
11 Jun Dying to smell great?
Fragrance is one of the most commonly found ingredients in skin care products, shampoos, household cleaning products and just about anything else you can think of. After all, we like our homes, offices, pets and ourselves to smell appealing.
That scented ingredient has many names – usually something like parfum, perfume, fragrance, scent or essence of whatever (usually an exotic sounding flower or fruit name chosen by the marketing department to sound impressive), which will actually be a completely synthetic fragrance.
A huge amount of research goes into making sure products have the most appealing smell possible – because smell sells. We have been told that smelling good equates to clean and clean is good. I for one couldn’t agree more – the idea of cleaning my home and not having it smell nice is just not going to cut it. The big question is – are we dying to smell great?
It is estimated that 95% of the chemicals used in most commercial fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum by-products. The complex concoctions that make up a typical fragrance can use anywhere from 10 to 300 (and in some cases more) chemicals. Manufacturers don’t legally have to list the individual ingredients because the “fragrance” is the ingredient.
The toxic repercussions of many of these ingredients make for terrifying reading. They are linked to sperm damage, hormone disruption, reproductive issues, thyroid disease, allergic skin reactions such as contact dermatitis, headaches, asthma, nausea and many are known carcinogens.
You’d have to ask why the heck brands use them. It has everything to do with profit and longevity. They are cheaper than pure essential oils, easier to mass produce and the fragrances last longer. But in this case what is good for the manufacturer’s bottom line is not good for the consumer.
Many brands now bring out a hypo-allergenic or baby range – often exactly the same formulations without the fragrance. Telling isn’t it?
So is it worth it just so your dog can smell of Japanese Cherry Blossom or some other exotic fragrance? We don’t think so!
Especially when there are so many essential oils that not only smell beautiful but they have health benefits as well. At WashBar we only use the best quality pure essential oils to give a healthy scent to back up the healthy product.