Is Your Fragrance Harming or Healing You?

Have you ever done one of these things?

• Bought scented detergent so your clothes smell good
• Sprayed fabric furniture with a strong scent to mask odors
• Slathered a baby with lotion made of powdery, soft scents--what all babies should smell like
• Smiled that your kitchen was clean because it smelled like bleach or lemon

We have, too. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying and using pleasant scents, of course. In fact, we’ll mention a few we recommend a little later.

But first, get this: all fragrances aren’t created equal. Yes, it’s true! Some fragrances heal, but many others don’t. What exactly am I talking about? Synthetic (or artificial) fragrances.

These fragrances pervade everything and really are silent killers of the ecology, human health, and overall well-being. And that’s no exaggeration.

Quite often hundreds of synthetic components are required to make just one fragrance—resulting in a chemical cocktail that over time does serious harm to your body. Did you know companies don’t even have to share with their customers which chemicals and how many of them they use to make their fragrances? They are allowed to simply list the word “fragrance” as an ingredient in their products to represent their scent formulas.

So why is this a problem anyway?

Statistics show many of these chemicals hurt our skin. Fragrances are one of the top allergens for people. Ever had symptoms like a headache; eye, nose, and throat irritation; nausea; forgetfulness; or loss of coordination? These and other symptoms may be triggered or aggravated by your Japanese Cherry Blossom spray or other artificially scented product.

Whenever you see the word “fragrance” on a cosmetic or household cleaning label, and it is on there without a caveat like (derived from essential oils, or “plant-based” or naturally derived), what you are in fact using is a cocktail of chemicals that include known and scientifically documented:

Carcinogens

Endocrine disruptors

Neurotoxins

Respiratory irritants

Allergens

Environmental toxins

A simple google search on “synthetic fragrance health effects” will lead you down a rabbit hole of discovery that includes scholarly, academic articles as well as more reader-friendly blog posts from popular doctors and holistic practitioners alike.

Being careful about fragrance is no longer a “fringe” concern.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. What’s the alternative? Should we walk around smelling unpleasant, to be safe? Not at all!

Just use natural fragrances instead.

Natural fragrances are often composed of compounds that have been with us since time immemorial. The human brain/body has evolved with these plants over millennia and can actually biochemically communicate with them in a way that is beneficial to our health! Simply put, your skin and body like natural fragrances better.

Think about it. Aromatherapy works because the aromatic fragrant components of hydrosols and essential oils directly affect the limbic system area of the brain, which is the seat of our behavioural and emotional responses. This is why true aromatherapy can often feel soothing, calming, uplifting, refreshing, or mood enhancing in any way you desire. A refreshing burst of fragrance and cheerful flowers can lift a bedridden elderly or gravely ill patient’s outlook. Other fragrances encourage people to intimately connect with each other. Hello, date night!

(However, if that fragrance is toxic, it defeats the purpose.)

Now personally, we love a good fragrance mist for our hair, skin, or even our car. It’s so hard to find ones that are less harmful than the usual department store perfumes, though!

That’s why we started Rejalla and went to work to make our own.

Our fragrance collection is composed of plant hydrosols, aromatic extracts (with beneficial properties for skin and hair too!) and in some cases essential oils as well.

Here are a few we recommend you try for yourself:

One of our fragrances—Rose—is designed for skin and hair. Menopausal women also find our Rose spray to be soothing for hot flashes and the irritation that comes with them. Carry it in your purse and use liberally whenever you need to feel soothed, romantic or refreshed.

Two of our other fragrances—Summer Breeze & Ocean Breeze—are safe enough to use on the body but were designed for freshening rooms and fabrics. Use these in your car, as a linen spray, bathroom refresher, or to just to change the energy of a room.

So see, you don’t have to settle for using products with artificial scents. Choose to smell, spray, and slather on something new that’s better for you. What have you got to lose? (Well, other than quite possibly a ton of allergy problems.)