Today’s consumers are becoming savvier and savvier about ingredients and what they are putting in and on their bodies. As a result, companies are becoming sneakier and sneakier at hiding toxins and harmful ingredients. One of the ways they do this is by putting questionable ingredients within “fragrance.”
Take a look at the labels of a couple of your favorite beauty products or laundry soap. What you’ll notice is they more than likely have the word “Fragrance” written on the back panel within the ingredient listing, and yet they probably smell very different. Clearly, the fragrance contained in each product contains very different things.
How is it possible? The word fragrance is protected under the United States Trade Secret Act, making it okay for companies to list the word fragrance without identifying the actual makeup of their ingredients or what they use to create the scent. Quite frankly, if they did disclose the list, no savvy customer would buy it. That Trade Secret Act allows companies of all different industries to use “Fragrance” to cover up over 5,000 chemicals that scent your products. This leaves manufacturers with 5,000 different chemicals choices to include that they do not need to disclose. Eek!
When you dig a little deeper, you’ll find of these 5,000 chemicals, only approximately 1,650 have been tested, and 800+ are known carcinogens, skin irritants, hormone disruptors or asthma inducers. In other words, not only are you not told what they are, it would be nearly impossible to make an educated guess of their risk factors – quite the opposite of transparency.
Also, recently in the news, you may have heard buzz around parabens and phthalates. Parabens are preservatives that mimic estrogen growth and are directly related to breast cancer. Phthalates are plastic additives that allows bottles to be molded quickly but are also known carcinogens when exposed to heat or extreme cold and consumed (Don’t drink the water from a bottle in a hot car, right?). Thankfully, there are a handful of paraben-free products. Good?! Maybe not. It all depends on if a bottle reads fragrance on it. If so, parabens or phthalates could still be lingering in the fragrance.
As scary as all of this is, there is a silver lining. Healthy, beautifully scented, non-toxic personal care products DO exist! How? Before synthetic fragrances existed, companies relied on essential oils. Not only for their gorgeous aromas but their aromatherapy and healing qualities. For example, tea tree is as effective for cleaning wounds as hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol. Tea tree’s antiseptic properties are similar to most chemical-based cleaners. Companies, however, shy away from natural essential oils because they are much more expensive than synthetic fragrances.
At NEUMA, we believe in full transparency. We never have or will use synthetic fragrance in our formulas. Instead, we use pure essential oil blends and plant-based ingredients to allow our formulas to bloom and give you performance with no risk to your health. And by the way, we also steer clear of parabens, phthalates, toxins and all known carcinogens. There is no need when using plant-based ingredients and essential oils.
Note: You will notice companies claiming to use essential oils or plant-based ingredients. Just remember, if you see the words perfume, parfum, or fragrance listed on the bottle, they are still not disclosing something from you. This could be because they use trace amounts of essential oils and blend them with other synthetic ingredients.
We believe in providing consumers safe choices for their beauty routines without ever sacrificing your hair, your health or the planet. With NEUMA, you can breathe deep and free and enjoy the aromatherapy benefits of our products for your body, mind and soul.