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Me watching ya'll debate fragrance in products, waiting for the right time to tell you that even "fragrance-free" products have fragrance in them.
The truth of the matter is, 98% of you, if you were to smell natural formulas as is would gag. A good amount of bigger brands add fragrance to take the edge off that they're not telling you about, and are not legally required to disclose.
There are workarounds, from the percentages, to the aldehydes being added to raw materials pre-blend to skirt the regulations. There may not be enough added fragrance to trigger irritation...but it's in there.
Because it's not immediately perceptible, no one thinks anything of it, and we frequently assume that it IS in fact fragrance free, because it smells like nothing.
That's a reversed engineered result, esp in the naturals space.
That's a reversed engineered result, esp in the naturals space.
Even with the brands that are disclosing that they're adding fragrance, fragrance profiles can often be considered intellectual property (ie trade secrets) so they're not required to disclose what's in it beyond saying "fragrance" on the label.
The other way they get around it is in the minutiae of what's defined as fragrance. Because in some cases it's not several chemicals compounded to create a "fragrance" manufacturers don't consider it as such, so there's nothing to disclose.
For example, if I add an aromatic aldehyde to watermelon extract to bring out more of that watermelon "smell", I've technically not added fragrance. Just an ingredient to enhance the natural fragrance profile of that safe, previously disclosed ingredient.
Alot of this is a result of conditioning (esp in America).
We all know what "clean" smells like right?
No, we don't. We just know what a century of marketing and fragrance labs have been telling us it smells like and our brains are hardwired to that now.
We all know what "clean" smells like right?
No, we don't. We just know what a century of marketing and fragrance labs have been telling us it smells like and our brains are hardwired to that now.
There's maybe 12 companies that make 90% of the world's fragrances. Most of them also make flavors too. There's a direct link between what we smell and what we taste in products, and it's the same folks making all of it.
Personal care, food, cleaning products...all engineered.
Personal care, food, cleaning products...all engineered.
As a brand owner, I have my own values around this. Personally, for anything you leave on your face, I truly try to avoid adding any fragrance to.
It doesn't always work out that way in terms of formulating for various reasons, but it's a top priority.
It doesn't always work out that way in terms of formulating for various reasons, but it's a top priority.
It's often a struggle, and sometimes I will need to add a *likkle* bit of fragrance to smooth things out, but I have thresholds of percentages that I stick to for the least amount of impact.
I'm also an indie brand without an R&D team, so there's that.
I'm also an indie brand without an R&D team, so there's that.
