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The Only Perfume You Should Be Wearing

Your go-to fragrance may smell nice, but what it’s made of isn’t

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Sam Livingston
Feb 26 2019 | min read
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Your go-to fragrance may smell nice, but what it’s made of isn’t



If you’ve been reading the blog for a bit, you might know that I’m very into learning about what goes into the products I use: if they contain carcinogens or not, and ultimately what to avoid and what to use instead. If you’re wanting to learn more about what ingredients are in your products, I recommend looking them up on the Think Dirty App or the Environmental Working Group Database. I wanted to check out PHLUR after hearing about them on a podcast and I ended up choosing the a couple of fragrances, a candle and a body wash.



I love that PHLUR avoids potentially toxic ingredients like parabens, phthalates and BHT, as well as possible endocrine disruptors. They’re also vegan and cruelty-free: it’s so worth it for your long term health to switch to an option that values your well-being.



If you’re anything like me, you might want to give their full lineup a try before ordering a full-size scent.



Choosing a signature scent for yourself is made easier with the option to add a vitamin enriched, serum weight body cleanser to your routine. Ripe fig opens to reveal warm white floral notes—shifting before settling into a velvety base of creamy sandalwood and musk that uniquely adapts and attaches to its wearer. A deeply personal, inimitable scent, Hanami is both sweet and spicy, clean and creamy, familiar and thrilling.



Somebody Wood offers a bright burst of bergamot floats into watery cyclamen and leathery saffron accords before grounding itself in creamy sandalwood and spicy amber.



After a few days of wearing the fragrances around, I love how they wear. Sandara is my favorite: it’s cool and serene with rare Nepalese timur pepper notes that fade into velvety violet before snuggling into warm cedar and damp oakmoss.



PHLUR’s Apricot Privée is undeniably chic and decadent with rich top notes of pulpy apricot and velvety plum, dusted in cardamon before drifting into a bouquet of peonies and jasmine. Grounded in a warm base of rich tonka, creamy sandalwood, and striking agarwood.



To get into the nitty-gritty as to why traditional, mainstream perfumes are actually harmful to you, read on. The main issue is that there can be up to 4,000 ingredients in mainstream perfume (which includes any skincare, body care, home cleaning or makeup product that lists the one ingredient Parfum, Perfume, or Fragrance). Many fragrance chemicals are linked to cancer, birth defects, hormone disruption, and other chronic health problems as stated by Breast Cancer Preventative Partners and the National Toxicology Program. You can read a clear overview of this on the Environmental Working Group’s website, as well.


The National Academy of Sciences points out some vital facts: About 95 percent of chemicals used in synthetic fragrances are derived from petroleum (crude oil). They include benzene derivatives (carcinogenic), aldehydes, toluene and many other known toxic chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions. (1) Unfortunately, 30 years later, toxic ingredients continue turn up in products we use and breathe in on a daily basis. Some of these toxic ingredients used in lotions, shampoos, laundry detergents, cleaning products and so much more include synthetic scents, often listed as on labels as the elusive “fragrance.”


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) listed 20 common perfume ingredients on the EPA's Hazardous Waste list, including those listed above. Many of these chemicals list headaches, nausea, rashes and heightened asthma symptoms as side effects. The FDA exempts ingredient lists from having to be more specific, even though a perfume might contain synthetic, preservative, or allergy-provoking substances. This “fragrance” loophole was originally developed to protect a company’s proprietary perfume blend or trade secrets, under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1966. In other words, it protected Chanel No. 5 from copycats.


The takeaway here is to always opt for products without “fragrance” listed as an ingredient, unless you know for sure that it’s a blend of natural essential oils (which is definitely the case for some companies!) Also, reading ingredient lists and looking into what the chemicals inside are linked to (sometimes being disease, infertility, cancer, etc.) is your best bet.


And to close out, check out the documentary “Toxic Beauty” which largely focuses on the recent lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson by more than 15,000 women with cancer who believe the company’s talc-based baby and body powders are to blame. Another angle of the film follows Mymy Nguyen (a 24-year-old medical student at Boston University) as she submits to three blood tests over three days: one after her usual 27-step skincare and makeup regimen, one after a zero-product detox day, and one after switching over to clean beauty products. The results: on a typical day, Nguyen’s phthalate levels were five times higher and her paraben levels were 35 times higher than when she switched to nontoxic cosmetics.


Another documentary to take a look at: “Stink!” (originally on Netflix, now on Amazon Prime) — this film walks through the experience had by Jon Whelan as he confronts lobbyists who are not inclined to pressure companies to disclose ingredients lists on products, and is ultimately the story of a dad who wants to protect his daughters from toxic chemicals in everyday products after losing his wife to cancer.


The good news: there are emerging skincare and self care brands looking to right these wrongs, some of those being True Botanicals, Ursa Major, Beautycounter (meet their Science Advisory Council), Billie, Maude and so many more. The future is bright with companies like Made Safe who do third-party verification for individual ingredient safety on a product-by-product basis. And of course, in utilizing the apps mentioned above.

Ultimately, we need cosmetic reform and we need a user fee system that funds the FDA. If we continue to let conglomerates lobby FDA board members, we will never have truly safe cosmetics (or processed food, for that matter). We currently have products that serve the financial interests of those high up at major corporations that are greatly harming consumers without knowledge of what’s inside.

TEXT BETTERBEAUTY TO 52886 AND BEAUTYCOUNTER WILL TEXT YOU A LINK TO EMAIL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DIRECTLY.



Disclosure: I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you if you decide to buy any of the products I refer to and promote. Information presented is sited directly from sources above.