Lots of people have a difficult time accepting the fact about fragrance being a problem for skin. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, fragrances are considered the leading cause of allergic reactions on the skin, which leads to over 5.7 million physician visits every year.
What Is A Fragrance?
That little thing that makes you smell oh-so-good. A scent is a mixture of essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents that you wear on your body to make it smell good. Also a product that’s added to a beauty product to neutralize the nasty odors of its ingredients.
How Skin Reacts to Fragrance
You might very well be thinking that because your skin doesn’t show signs of being bothered or aggravated by the fragranced products you’re using, then it must not be a problem that applies to you. We wish that were true but it’s still a serious concern because skin is very good at hiding when it’s being aggravated. You might not see the damage on skin’s surface, but it can be silently occurring every day, causing minor problems for your skin in the short term and worse problems in the long term.
Why Do So Many Products Contain Fragrance?
The answer is really simple: It’s because most people like when their skincare and haircare products smell nice. Cosmetic companies understand the power of a pleasingly fragranced product, and how that impacts a consumer’s buying decisions and their experience of using the product at home.
Another reason fragrances make their way into the products you use is that lots of cosmetic products naturally don’t smell very good without the help of fragrance. A beautiful, wafting scent helps cover up the product’s less-than-pleasing normal smell. But there are ingredients and formulary steps to take that result in a neutral-smelling or non-objectionable fragrance-free product. In other words, adding fragrance products isn’t a necessity. Also added fragrance helps hide the unpleasant aroma of a jar-packaged skincare product you’ve kept too long.
How bad is fragrance in skincare really?
A fragrance may be an experience that your skin would rather avoid! Especially if you have sensitive skin or suffer from eczema or psoriasis. It is also one of the most irritating and allergenic ingredients in your skincare. It can trigger:
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Eczema
- Headaches
- Hives
- Irritations
- Nausea
- Migraine
- Psoriasis
So, while everyone continues to use them, we recommend you opt for fragrance-free products whenever possible. Fragrance may not cause any serious harm on healthy, non-sensitive skin, but it has no benefit either. If you really love fragrant products, we suggest have them in your soaps, body cleansers because they do wash off, but not in your serums, body butters, moisturizers, or SPF. Cleansers with fragrances are less likely to cause a reaction because the contact time is shorter than products that are left of the skin for longer like toners, serums, and body creams. This is the reason Butterberry body butters, foot creams, scrubs and masks are fragrance free and contain natural aroma derived from essential oils, hydrosols and herbal extracts.
