How many people buy a particular beauty product (skin care, soap, hair care etc) because it smells sooooo good?
I used to do this myself ( lurrved coconut and lime body lotions and herbal essences shampoos and conditioners!) until I got quite ill with endometriosis and took a good look at what was the cause of the problem, not at just helping the symptoms. It turns out that people like myself (and my god there are a lot of us out there these days) can’t metabolise estrogen properly (estrogen dominant) and all the products I was using on my body, eating and cleaning my house with was full of these xeno-estrogens which mimic natural estrogen and played havoc on my body (ovarian cysts, nasty tissues sticking organs together, heaps of pain, you get the idea).
Apart from all the ‘regular’ nasties that these luscious creams, soaps and concoctions contained such as phthalates, tricloson, SLS’s, dioxane, parabens and ethylene oxide amongst others, it turns out that the fragrance oils which make all those products smell delicious are really really bad for you. Carcinogenic bad….some of the words I just used above are in them, as well as many more. These chemicals can cause all sort of skin problems as well. If you are using a whole range of skin care products everyday (twice a day usually) eg, soaps, moisturisers for face and body, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, cleanser, toner, make-up, then that is a lot of chemicals being absorbed each day given that your body absorbs 60% of what you put on it.
(Some of the ingredients in beauty products aren’t that pretty. U.S. researchers report that one in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, and hormone disruptors.) toxins in fragrance oils
‘So why are they so widely used?’ I hear u ask! Because they are cheap, and the cheaper they are, the nastier they are. Some high quality fragrance oils (like the ones we currently use in our wooden wick candles) do contain essential oils and resins but mainly use chemicals to achieve those wondrous and often overpowering smells. (We are working on a range which use entirely essential oils)
They also have a longer shelf life than soaps, candles and body butters etc that are made with essential oils. Now, I like to use something when I get it, not let it sit around for months on end so that the natural ingredients in the product spoil whether it contains essential oils or not.
Another reason so many people choose to use fragrance oils over essential oils is that there are a much wider variety of smells to choose from. However, once you get used to not using products with fragrance oils, you can tell something artificial a mile off and it no longer smells quite so lovely!
The thing that gets to me is that so many companies large and small state that their products (and some are lovely products) are completely natural with no nasty chemicals, and then go ahead and add fragrance oils. It simply cancels itself out and makes a lie out of the products. (Ask about the use of fragrance oils the next time you buy a personal natural beauty product, soap or candle from the local markets, it would be interesting to hear what they have to say about using them) So I urge you as a consumer, whether you want to use all natural products as a result of an illness or simply to (smartly) prevent one from happening ie: taking responsibility for your own health, please question everything you use and read labels very closely. Believe me, when you change your habits to suit your bodies needs and feel amazing as a result, reading labels becomes routine (as does screwing up your nose and rolling your eyes!)
We love to use essential oils in all of our Bare Beauty body care, face care, therapeutic salves and bath bliss range, not just for the lovely true fragrances we can create but also for the aromatherapy properties each oil contains. Our blends are all created with a purpose in mind such as calming, balancing or energising. So do your body a favour and question, question, question!!
Laura 🙂 <3
