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Enhance your natural beauty with rejuvenative scents
Are you a perfume wearer? If so, you most likely have a scent you prefer, whether it is a delicate floral, a crisp citrus, or a warm, sultry musk. How does wearing that scent make you feel? Whether you change fragrances seasonally or are committed to one signature scent, the fragrance you wear has the power to shape your emotions and your outlook on life. It also has the power to make you sick.
Do your research
When purchasing a fragrance, understand what you’re buying and its impact on your health. Contrary to widely held assumptions, the FDA does not regulate fragrances. A loophole in the FDA’s law lets manufacturers label ingredients as “fragrance” without listing the individual components. According to an article published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an advocacy group dedicated to protecting public health and the environment, “An analysis of the chemical contents…reveals that… ‘fragrance’ often contains chemicals linked to negative health effects.” Sonya Lunder, senior analyst at the EWG, states that health effects from perfume “range from allergic reactions to hormone disruption and neurotoxicity.”
To check your perfume’s health rating, log on to the EWG’s Skin Deep database (cosmeticsdatabase.org). The site rates the safety of thousands of personal care products based on data from over 50 toxicity and regulatory databases.
Select Natural alternatives
To ensure your physical and emotional well-being, and that of those around you, choose botanical fragrances, which use flowers, fruits, and plants as their scent source rather than the chemicals that comprise conventional perfumes. Lara Wright, laboratory director at The Lab at Green Valley Spa in St. George, Utah, grew up harvesting fresh flowers and herbs, learning the art of fragrance from her mother. According to Lara, “Our sense of smell has a huge impact on how we react to life… Artificial and synthetic scents interfere with how we relate to other people and to the world at large.”As an added benefit, natural fragrances have a subtlety and complexity that synthetic fragrances lack.
Embrace your essence
Perfumes have long been used to scent the skin and alter mood, lingering softly on the skin and in one’s memory. A fragrance is capable of creating powerful associations, conjuring memories of faraway places and people we once knew. Perfume can also serve as an extension of your image; it is the olfactory equivalent of your sense of style. While mainstream perfumes have morphed into synthetic health hazards, we are fortunate to have a plethora of natural, chemical-free options available to us.
Natural perfumes, from left to right. Photograph by Kyle Chesser
Violet Atomizer of Essential Oils and Attars, Green Valley Labs. To buy: $5.99, Whole Foods Market in Cupertino, greenvalleylab.com
Malibu Lemon Blossom Spray Perfume, Pacifica Perfumes. To buy: $22, pacificaperfume.com
Guaiac Organic Perfume Oil Roll-On, Red Flower. To buy: $49, Barneys New York in San Francisco, redflower.com
Hawaiian Ruby Guava Solid Perfume, Pacifica Perfumes. To buy: $9, pacificaperfume.com
Safe scents
Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author of Not Just A Pretty Face, encourages consumers to get involved in perfume-related health issues: “It's important to note that we can't just shop our way out of this problem. We need to change the law to require companies to disclose all the ingredients in their fragrance, and to eliminate hazardous chemicals. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is working to change the law; you can join in this effort by taking action at SafeCosmetics.org.”
