There is a growing trend today in the beauty industry as consumers are turning away from heavy chemical additives and seeking healthier, cleaner alternatives. This trend is now taking shape with perfume as well. Today, consumers are focusing on fragrances that smell clean, not just because they share similar scents of good quality but because they rely on natural ingredients and not synthetic ingredients.
Clean Fragrance
Clean fragrances are not just fragrances that smell clean and fresh but they are fragrances that rely on natural ingredients, setting them apart from traditional perfumes.
Clean-smelling fragrances are often musky or floral, but they get their scent from essential oils instead of artificial chemicals.
Traditional Perfumes Explained
Traditional perfumes have used things like synthetic musks and phthalates. Traditional perfumes often used artificial sources of scent rather than natural sources. This takes the form of synthetic musks as well as other chemicals to serve as a carrier.
Health and Environmental Impact
The chemicals used in traditional perfumes have since been shown to cause several issues.
Synthetic Musks
Synthetic musks that are widely used in traditional perfumes include things like galaxolide (HHCD) and tonalide (AHTN), both of which are lipophilic. Lipophilic compounds like these build up in your fat tissue, and because they can mimic natural hormones, they can interfere with endocrine processes.
These compounds have been found in umbilical cords, breast milk, body fat, and blood samples.
Xylene and ketone, two other synthetic musks, have also been discovered in body fat, blood, breast milk, and umbilical cords. Some studies indicate that these two synthetic musks have been linked to ovarian failure and infertility because of the impact they have on endocrine and biological processes.
Synthetic musks also don't break down, so if they get released into the environment, they remain in the environment much the same as they remain in your body.
Carcinogens
Some perfumes include styrene and benzophenone, both of which are carcinogens that can cause allergic reactions.
Phthalates
Phthalates are scent-creating chemicals. They don't actually have a scent on their own, but instead, they work as a solvent or carrier in traditional perfume to help carry the synthetic scents from the synthetic musks.
Studies have since determined that these are endocrine disruptors, which means that, much the same as synthetic musks, they can disrupt a woman's endocrine system. This has been shown to cause reproductive and developmental harm potentially in humans. Diethyl phthalate (DEP) has been positively linked to sperm damage in adult men and unusual reproductive development in newborn boys.
Benefits of Clean Fragrances
So, what are the benefits of the best clean fragrances?
The fact that clean fragrances use natural ingredients instead of synthetic ingredients means that you have better performance and longevity. Perfumes will last longer, not just in the bottle but on your skin, because they are delivered with a natural carrier.
The scent is also more profound and noticeable because it comes from natural essential oils. These essential oils can carry deeper scents that smell cleaner, pure, especially when juxtaposed with traditional perfumes.
More than that, you have the efficacy of clean fragrances and improved innovations in longevity, which means your investments last longer, and you are paying for good quality, environmentally friendly, and healthy ingredients only.
Market Trends and Consumer Preferences
Consumer preferences have started to shift over the years toward things that are much more environmentally friendly and health-conscious. This trend has made its way into food, transportation, cleaning products, and beauty products.
There is a new demographic appeal, particularly to younger demographics who want reliable products that are customized, healthy, and safe. Consumers today are shifting away from mass-produced products that everyone uses toward things that are much more unique, and customizable, with a broad appeal to unique characteristics and personalities.
Personalized clean fragrances can offer all of that.
Choosing Between Clean and Traditional
When you are choosing between clean fragrances and traditional perfumes, you'll have to consider several factors.
- Factors to Consider
Some of the key factors include your lifestyle, your health, and your environmental values.
For example:
- As a man, you might decide to avoid traditional perfumes that have DEP in them because of the potential sperm damage.
- As a woman who is currently breastfeeding or has plans to get pregnant in the future, you might want to avoid synthetic musks that have been shown to exist in breast milk and umbilical cords.
- As a consumer you might decide that you don't want products that can't break down in the natural environment.
That said, contingent upon your health and environmental values, you can choose to continue using traditional perfumes but make it a point to verify the ingredients that are in them, or you can choose to transition to the best clean fragrance that mimics the same scents you already like or prefer, without the environmental and health impacts.
- How to Transition
If you decide that you want to transition to clean-smelling fragrances that don't have fragrance chemicals, allergens, or other toxins, you have several options:
- Firstly, you can find a scent you already like but one that's made with natural essential oils and simply make the switch to something that has a clean fragrance.
- Secondly, you can purchase a perfume sample set that has lots of clean fragrances in it without all of the additional chemicals and see which ones you like best.
Summing Up
Overall, there are several key differences between clean fragrances and traditional perfumes. The two biggest differences are the source of scent, which comes from essential oils with a clean fragrance but comes from chemicals in traditional perfume as well as the health and environmental impacts they have.
It is important to make an informed choice in the context of personal and environmental health. As more information arises about the impacts of these ingredients and more clean fragrances, become available, continue to explore different types of fragrances available and test the things that you like most.