Are Perfume Oils & Ingredients Bad for Our Skin & Bodies?
We often stop to think for a moment and wonder if the things we eat, or in this case, wear, are good for us. In this blog, we want to look at how perfume oils affect the skin and body and determine if they’re safe for us to use. We’ll be looking at the different kinds of oils and answer the question if perfume oils are safe to use. So let’s get started.
Types of Oils
Perfumes are made up of many different components. Sometimes they’re 100% natural, and other times they’re a blend of different types of oil. We’re going to focus on the three main fragrance oils to explain how they might affect your skin and body.
Essential Oils
Before diving head first, into fragrance oils, we need to discuss essential oils. These types of oils have very different properties, even though they’re used for the same purpose.
Here are a few key components that you need to know when it comes to essential oils:
100% natural
Essential oils are plant extracts. These oils are made by extracting oils from roots, barks, flowers, or plant stems. Some of these oils can be used directly on the skin. Others need a carrier oil, and then they’re safe.
Free of synthetic ingredients or animal by-products
An essential oil, as mentioned, is 100% natural and therefore contains no synthetic fragrances or animal ingredients, unlike most fragrance oils.
Complies with all regulations
Essential oils may be 100% natural, but that doesn’t mean they’re not exempt from scrutinising health organisations and regulations. Any product that hits the shelves of major and minor retailers, both physical and online, is predominantly approved by countries' central health agencies. This means they’re safe to use.
Therapeutic properties
Essential oils are commonly used for therapeutic purposes. Whether it’s aromatherapy or to heal the skin, this makes them safe for skin care compared to fragrance oils.
Safe for skin
Overall, essential oils are safe to use on your skin. They’re probably the safest oil you can use on your skin. However, in most cases, an essential oil still requires a carrier oil due to the powerful and concentrated nature of essential oils.
Lavender is considered the most beneficial essential oil for the skin. Other essential oils include sandalwood, cypress, rose, tea tree, geranium, and neroli.
Synthetic Fragrance Oils
Synthetic fragrance oils are used to replicate certain smells en masse when they’re difficult to produce, find, or harvest. Here’s what you need to know about these types of oils.
Artificial
Synthetic fragrances are exactly what they sound like; they’re manufactured scents. Think of scents like cherry, which is easy to synthetically produce.
Sometimes they contain essential oils
Even though they’re synthetic fragrances, some do still contain some essential oils as well. However, the true amount of essential oil in a synthetic fragrance can sometimes be minimal.
Can have natural elements
Beyond natural elements like essential oils, synthetic fragrances can also have resin or other types of natural elements to them.
Some synthetic fragrances contain toxic chemicals
It’s important to remember that synthetic fragrances are made in a lab. This means they’re made using by-products of petroleum, such as benzene derivatives, aldehydes, toluene, etc. Therefore, a synthetic fragrance on its own is unlikely to be entirely safe for the skin. Likewise, synthetic fragrance oil isn’t safe to use as a topical on your skin.
Natural Fragrance Oils
Natural fragrance oils might sound like they’re perfectly fine for your skin, but that might not always be the case. Here’s what you need to know.
It might contain essential oils
This is dependent on the general ingredients of the natural fragrance oils. Some ingredients don’t work with essential oils. Still, if they do, it can be a minimal amount of essential oils located in natural fragrance oils.
Possibly safe for your skin
It’s never guaranteed, but when a fragrance oil is advertised as ‘natural’, it most likely is safe to use on your skin.
Avoid added ingredients
Added ingredients can take a safe-to-use natural oil and make it potentially dangerous for the skin. So be wary of added ingredients and just avoid them.
Synthetic ingredients are sometimes used
If a fragrance oil is claimed to be ‘nature identical,’ there might be some synthetic elements. As soon as something has a weird name like ‘autumn breeze’ or ‘seaside air’, there’s a chance it’s not as natural as they’re claiming it to be.
Produced using a single scent molecule
Instead of using essential oils, natural fragrance oils are usually made using a single scent molecule. This means that the oil is made using an entire scent compound of a plant. This isn’t guaranteed, but it does open up the possibility that artificial scents have been added, which may be harmful to the skin.
So Is Perfume Safe?
Yes. Perfumes are safe to use. Manufacturers make perfumes that consist of the right ingredients to work for almost all kinds of skin. Perfume oils are alcohol-free and last longer than their alcohol-based counterparts.
Understand that all skin is different. What works for one person might not work for you. Even products cleared by regulatory agencies that determine the safety and effectiveness of a product can fail your skin or cause irritation and allergic reactions. Find out what works and what doesn’t, and take note when it doesn’t.
When you’re shopping for any product, you should question what is in the product. You know your body and what it can and can’t take. Parfum is a chemically manufactured scent. The unfortunate truth is that companies don’t have to expose the entirety of their ingredient list. So you might not always know what is on the inside, or at least you won’t have a full picture.
Conclusion
Want to find the right perfume oils for you? Catch Marketplace is loaded with incredible perfume oils. You can find safe and effective perfume oils all right here to use. So go and check out what's on offer! We’ve got the broadest range of products to satisfy all fragrance needs.
Popular Questions Asked
Is it unhealthy to wear perfume?
It is not unhealthy to wear perfume, however, recently more than 1,200 fragrance chemicals currently in use have been flagged as ‘chemicals of concern’. A lot of these fragrances have been called out and are in the process of getting it fixed.
Is it bad to wear perfume everyday?
It’s not bad to wear perfume everyday however, wearing too much of it can trigger migraines or even allergic reactions.
Is perfume toxic to humans?
Some perfume can be toxic to humans. They may contain toxic ingredients such as ethanol and isopropyl alcohol. Some people may also have redness, itching or sinus irritation as a reaction to certain fragrances.
Is perfume bad for your hormones?
Synthetic chemicals in products like fragrances can mimic hormones and interfere with or even disrupt hormones. Unfortunately, we are exposed to these chemicals daily, and we are most vulnerable to them during our younger years and development – throughout childhood.