Who would've thought you could have a perfume that not only smelt amazing but had a function for your physical health? I certainly didn't think of perfume to have any benefit other than to smell nice.
Functional perfume was in fact being used from around 4500 BC (Before Christ) and is still being produced by natural perfumers today. Perfume was always made this way as there hadn't been any synthetic chemicals manufactured yet.
Essential oils are a powerhouse of healing and medicinal properties that not only give us phenomenal aroma, but can assist us in aiding our immune systems to start detoxifying. The first obvious reason for that would be because you are no longer using chemically enhanced perfume and the second reason would be because your natural perfume has a FUNCTION that resonates with your cells. The question is, can you make the switch? The question to that question is, do you know enough about what your conventional perfume is doing to your cell production..?
Pretty Poison
It fascinates me how far we've come yet how far backwards we've also become. Not remembering or resonating with the fact that we are natural beings, and only natural material is what resonates with us and keeps us in good health.
Have we allowed systems to make us believe that synthetic ingredients in our products is more than okay?
Are chemicals really necessary? Yes and no. Chemicals may need adding due to the fact that some products can grow bacteria or cannot sustain a long shelf-life. Our God is an intelligent God, and He created plants that can self-preserve and do not need chemicals to kill bacteria. Plants are STOCKED with chemical defense compounds that kill pathogens in their tracks. If used correctly, the use of plants in everyday products can be lifechanging.
Why chemicals are used in perfume is based on various reasons. If we break down what a perfume is made up of, we will find fragrance enhancers, preservatives, secret recipes hidden under umbrella terms such as "linalool", "limonene" and "fragrance", which is the norm in the perfume industry.
Perfumes that contain fragrance use up to 4000+ chemicals that remain unregulated due to trade secrets. Companies are protected by these laws so no one can copy their scents. Fair enough. But what about what these toxic ingredients do to your health long term and how will you ever know what's causing your auto-immune?
Fragrance Triggers Auto-Immune Responses
Published by the National Library of Medicine, fragrances can cause allergic skin reactions, expressed as allergic contact dermatitis and reactions in the respiratory tract that range from acute temporary upper airway irritation to obstructive lung disease.
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences also, chemical-based fragrances are endocrine disruptors; meaning they change hormonal growth and affect humans as well as wildlife. By reducing the use of synthetic perfume, not only are you reducing the risk of organ disruption, but of those around you. Application of synthetic perfume is like passive smoking. It affects everyone. Children exposed to PFAS had diminished immunity and increased ADHD. Synthetic fragrance also triggers poor metabolism, insomnia and fertility issues.
Conventional perfume is a concoction of man-made chemicals that originally derive from natural components. But because they have been completely pulled apart from their original state, they require chemical-binding - but our cells cannot recognise them. Hence the irritation and auto-immune caused.
Dangerous, (and very common) chemicals you will find in conventional perfumes are phthalates, methylene chloride, limonene, styrene, musk ketone, synthetic musk, parabens, benzaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzophenone, benzyl acetate and butylated hydroxytoluene.
These chemicals are known to stain the skin (forever chemicals), harmful to the environment and wildlife, cause birth defects, carcinogenic, banned in regions such as Europe and have been called to go under regulation due to further research and investigation for unlawful use in the industry.
Why are these chemicals even used? Well, the most obvious reason - profit. Synthetic ingredients are cheap.
Some Good News
Do we really need to compromise our health to smell amazing? Absolutely not.
When we craft perfume naturally, the concentration of essential oils used is important. If a perfume is concentrated right, it has longevity when applied.
Conventional perfume requires chemicals because the natural components have been pulled apart, so they need enhancers. Natural perfume contains full-bodied, pressed plants, which are deep in aroma naturally, they haven't been tampered with. What makes or breaks a natural fragrance is the quality of their carriers, which would either be blended in an alcohol or oil base.
Can we copy designer perfumes with natural ingredients? Not necessarily. Fake fragrances like "musk" are a chemical concoction. We can develop musks using hot and sweet oils, but we are not a "dupe" perfume company that slides any ingredients in just to please that side of the market. The whole reason for starting this perfume line was to protect and honour what resonates with our vessels and educating customers on why it's so important to reduce toxins as much as possible.