How bad is "fragrance"?

nunulove

I know that people who are super natural and want to know exactly what's in their products sometimes have a problem with the ingredient "fragrance". I'm trying to use all natural products and also do DIYs... if the product is all organic and natural except for "fragrance" would you still use it?

There's a site I found that sells them free of phthalates: Crafters Choice


Hmm

Fmasuhr

nunulove wrote: »

I know that people who are super natural and want to know exactly what's in their products sometimes have a problem with the ingredient "fragrance". I'm trying to use all natural products and also do DIYs... if the product is all organic and natural except for "fragrance" would you still use it?
There's a site I found that sells them free of phthalates: Crafters Choice


Hmm

depending on what kind of fragrance it is, lots of the ones that are in non natural products use harsh things, n lots need alcohol so you can really smell it, stuff like that i adviod like the pest, cause the alcohol drys my hair out, my scalp doesnt like it n it just sinks i think.
On the other side, same natural products use natural sents or essenail oils, when i see that and i like the smell then its no worries, cause i use alot of essensail oils in my home made stuff.
caming back to your questen, if its a natural sent, lavender, rose rosemary, what ever, then i would use it.
Gorgoes curls btw :angel5:

bringingcurliesback?

I'm one of the supernaturals you speak of. I've just stopped using artificial fragrances in general over the past few years. The only place I compromise is with Curl Junkie products. Those products also have other baddies that I normally avoid (dizolidynl urea, propylene glycol etc.). I will say that that is barely a flaw if anything. I'm pretty hardcore so if I'm willing to overlook that it's definitely a bigger deal lol.
Right now, I only have two of them, but I'm wondering if I should be compromising. I can handle the smells somewhat but usually it's just been so long that I'm like woah lol. For people that are picky on how they smell to others it can be good to try fragrances that don't linger or are more subtle so they don't have that problem. Curl Junkie is good with that. There are also companies like Jessicurl that offer a fragrance free option so that's cool too.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using CurlTalk App

nunulove

Thanks guys! There's just something awesome about knowing/being able to say it's all natural lol I kind of wanna use some artificial fragrance but I wonder if that would defeat the whole purpose. I'm probably gonna try a tiny tiny percentage of it and see how it turns out that way I won't feel so bad :iconbiggrin:

naturecat

I find that artificial fragrances tend to give me an itchy scalp, even when I'm not very allergic to them. I definitely prefer essential oils or fragrance free, but it's a personal choice. In terms of how bad health effects can be… no one knows. Each fragrance has unknown chemical components, presumably none of which have ever been tested.

wavydaze

Artificial fragrances can be bothersome/irritating to skin, but then, so can natural fragrances like essential oils. I know some are more irritating than others, like tea-tree or lemon. I stay away from any fragranced products, especially on my facial skincare. I don't mind fragrances in my hair products or body products like lotions. Fragrance-free for all body/hair products is always a great option though!

Roseann0617

I just wanted to chime in here. I make handmade cold processed soaps, lotions and some hair care items. I can tell you from a formulating perspective that if a products says "fragrance" it is such a minute amount of the whole picture.
Most people understand that ingredients are listed on a label in order of predominance (at least in the US). Fragrance is usually somewhere towards the bottom of that list. It is also safe to say that if a product is scented with fragrance and not essential oil then it should NOT be marketed as "all-natural". Fragrances like, cucumber-melon, kiwi, watermelon etc... are NOT natural.
If you take a look at this formula for hair gel, you can get a better visual on just how little bit of fragrance is really used. It is usually less than 1% of the entire recipe.

http://www.lubrizol.com/Personal-Care/Documents/Formulations/S-G-Styling-Products-Gel/S-G0039C-Hocus-Pocus-Hair-Gel.pdf

IMO fragrance is not bad at all. Most of the time it's what sells on the purchase in the first place. Who doesn't like hair care products that smell fabulous? I am ALWAYS sniffing the bottles before I purchase.
Anyway, hope this helps some.

curlyamaryllis

naturecat wrote: »

I find that artificial fragrances tend to give me an itchy scalp, even when I'm not very allergic to them. I definitely prefer essential oils or fragrance free, but it's a personal choice. In terms of how bad health effects can be… no one knows. Each fragrance has unknown chemical components, presumably none of which have ever been tested.

Yup. Some artificial fragrances I'm legit allergic to, others I find irritating. Natural fragrances, i.e., lavender oil, never bother me at all. So I try to stay away from artificial fragrances in anything that will touch my skin - hair products, lotions, soaps, laundry detergent, etc.

Generally speaking, smaller, niche companies are better for this and it's easier to find artificial fragrance free products at places like Trader Joes and Whole Foods than it is at Walmart or Giant.