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Is Perfume Toxic and Bad for You?

The everyday natural aromas fill our life. The smell of the ocean, your mom’s cooking, and the scent of the body. These smells provoke emotions deep within us and connect us to our past or ignite a new feeling. These natural aromas are the everyday part of our life, but so are other smells like our laundry detergents, or our commercial cleaners. Manufacturers add artificial synthetic perfumes to everything from cleaners, to hair products, and even food packaging. The best smelling perfumes for women, the production and use of a fragrance keep increasing dramatically worldwide. Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily a good thing.

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As per our experts’ concerns about the proliferation of perfumes have to do with their potential effects on our health: With approximately 3,000-plus chemicals, most of them are synthetic are used in the manufacture of artificial perfumes, the repeated exposure is causing our bodies to be toxic.

Most of the chemicals have no regulation, testing, and we are left to be our own advocates for our health. The most common adverse effect of these chemicals is skin allergies. Dermatology researchers state that synthetic fragrance is among the top five allergens. The effects of repeated exposure can be very harmful. These synthetic perfumes can worsen an existing asthma condition as well as cause problems in the immune, reproductive, and central nervous system. The men in your life may be used to wearing men’s colognes and deodorants that often contain synthetic musks which have been linked to cancer.

Many of the chemicals in these synthetic perfume stores in our bodies over time and have been found in breast milk. These best musk perfumes don’t biodegrade so they are found in everything from plants to our water supply to the animals.

Another group of chemicals known as phthalates is used in perfumes to allow the smell to last longer and are linked to interfering with the reproductive and endocrine systems as well as the kidneys, and adrenal glands.

It is infuriating that these ingredients do not have to be listed on labels at all, especially in household products like cleaners and laundry detergents. While the personal care product companies can conveniently label their ingredients to mention a blanket term of “fragrance”. The products of these kinds are virtually unregulated.

The FDA has banned only a few ingredients in personal care products as a result of outrage from informed consumers. Often the FDA leaves it to the manufacturers to tell them if a chemical can be deemed “harmful”. Does that make any sense at all when the FDA is the one required to regulate these manufacturers? This is the time for you as the consumer to be empowered to make sure you invest your dime and effort in truly green companies that are dedicated to making products non-toxic.

Many of these companies voluntarily reveal their ingredients even when they are not required to in order to let the consumers know that they are using safe ingredients. The power of using certain essential oils is tremendously beneficial and you can create many products on your own using essential oils.

Just the smell of lavender or rose oil can be de-stressing. There are hundreds of plant natural scents that can ignite feelings of relaxation, being uplifted or energized. Lavender, Sandalwood, and Rose oils can help reduce stress and help you relax, while Eucalyptus and peppermint oil can help awaken and energize to produce some of the best smelling perfumes for women. Start by understanding what products can be harmful and seek to replace them with alternatives.