How Do You Feel about Fragrance in Personal Products?
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Do you go out of your way to avoid fragrant personal products across the board — and do you prefer unscented or fragrance-free products? On the flip side, are you fine with most fragrances in products, and just avoid the ones that are personally offensive? I've been surprised by my own answers.
First, let me back up on what got me pondering this: the social media ads for Prose custom hair products finally got me, and I purchased some to try. I'm still assessing whether I like them or not, but the most interesting thing is that when it came to select the fragrance, I selected “do not add fragrance”… and I feel like it's a really noticeable difference, and not in a good way.
(This was 100% my choice — they had several specific scents you could select, but I've had so many products ruined by an overwhelming, distasteful scent (like this one), I figured, nah, why bother! I can't quite describe what's so off putting about it — it may be that without any fragrance added I'm smelling my own dirty hair more while shampooing.)
There apparently is a difference between “no fragrance added” and “fragrance free,” though, as the NYT's Wirecutter just explained. According to the EPA's “Safer Choice Fragrance-Free” spreadsheet from 2016:
Fragrance-free means that fragrance materials or masking scents are not used in the product.
Unscented generally means that the product may contain chemicals that neutralize or mask the odors of other ingredients.
We've bought a lot of unscented products over the years thanks to both kids having sporadic issues with eczema — we've never missed it in shampoos, detergent, and other things. And, obviously, as their eczema has more or less gone away I've gone back to my occasional wearing of perfume.
Readers, what are your thoughts? Do you prefer unscented or fragrance-free products — or do you just not want an overwhelming, cloying scent? On the flip side, do you have a strong preference for specific scents?
(Another story: I recently fell in love with a handsoap in the bathroom at a restaurant recently and wasn't surprised at all that it was vetiver-scented — it's one of my favorite scents. When I got home I was surprised to see that the handsoap was $46 (yowza!) — but while looking at that another ad for vetiver-scented Method hand soap came up, so I purchased that instead.)
I suppose that answers my own questions — I do like fragrant products, but only in the scents and quantities that I prefer. If not, I prefer unscented products. But I don't think I'll be choosing fragrance free products again, at least for shampoo.
Stock photo via Stencil.
Mild at most and definitely not anything advertised for its scent – like that Fraser fir or Diva laundry soap, fancy seasonal hand soap, etc.
Any Massachusetts attorneys here? Have you heard about the public defender strike? I am purposely being vague because while I think it’s received a lot of news coverage I am one of the lawyers affected so I am following it. Curious if any other MA attorneys even know what is going on.
It’s not the public defenders who are on strike, it’s the panel attorneys. That leaves the PDs to take all the cases.
I know that. I was keeping it simple as most people don’t know the difference. I am a panel attorney. So you’re at least one person in the loop!
I used to enjoy them, but now I have become allergic to some scents (contact dermatitis). It is a bummer, as many fragrance free products (especially for hair care) have been a huge disappointment. My dermatologist recommended a Whole Foods shampoo that was free-everything, and it is just terrible.
I honestly don’t mind scents (I like the Pear scented Dawn Powerwash, and the 365 Lemon scent dish soap). I put a tub of Freshwave in the bathroom and appreciate it.
But I despite migraine trigger fragrance enhancers.
More transparency in product labeling would be tremendously helpful!
We buy unscented everything and now anything with a fragrance smells chokingly awful.
+1 Almost everything I use is fragrance-free and I now find fragrance annoying. One of the worst offenders is laundry detergent. I can’t stand if my clothes get washed with a laundry detergent that has fragrance or even if something that was last washed with a fragranced laundry detergent gets washed with my clothes. Having the fragrance on me all day is bothersome.
I can’t shop secondhand for this reason.
I do shop secondhand sometimes, but it takes a frightening number of washes to get rid of the smell of scented laundry detergent! We made the switch to unscented laundry detergent almost four years ago when we had a kid. I found some old clothes in a box washed with our old detergent the other month and I could *still* smell the detergent.
It’s a real minus when shopping for items online if they aren’t clearly marked unscented or fragrance free
I never lost the enhanced sense of smell that comes with pregnancy (my kid is now in college), so scented products are a no-go for me.
I have super sensitive skin and also dislike smells so I avoid scents as much as possible. I’m still really annoyed that Dawn added a much stronger and lingering scent to their dish soap, forcing me to switch to an inferior (and more expensive because I have to use at least 3x as much) unscented alternative.
I need unscented laundry detergent because I sometimes react to the scented ones. For other products, I’m fine with scent as long as 1) I like it, and 2) it isn’t too strong.
I generally prefer spicy/woody scents to fruity/floral ones. I have absolutely not finished a bottle of hair product because I can’t bear the scent — Dae products smell like Kool-Aid fruit punch to me (derogatory). But Davines products have a milder fruit scent that I’m fine with.
I sometimes wonder if the rise in non-scented products and social pressure to avoid using scented products in public settings (with the admirable intent of accommodating people with sensitivities) has given rise to more people with sensitivities, rather like avoiding peanuts for babies led to a lot of children having peanut allergies. I suppose it could also be that artificially scented products cause more issues than the “natural” scents of sewage, beef tallow, lamp oil, smoke, and unwashed bodies that used to prevail before modern sanitation, heating and lighting.
Which is not to say I do not avoid using scented products in public, no matter how much as I like them at home, because I do not want to cause anyone pain, but I am struck by how much more sensitive people seem to be now (or maybe it is just that they are more vocal about it?). Does anyone know of any research on this?
I think the trend is actually toward ever increasing levels of scent in everything, not the other way around. The few things that are sold as unscented are just push back to the fact that all kinds of things that didn’t previously have a strong scent now do. It is true that the incidence of allergies, asthma, and autoimmune conditions is higher than it used to be and many people with those conditions are sensitive to scents for various reasons, but the rise in these conditions is most likely due to changes in early life exposure to microbes and parasites. At least in the case of asthma, childhood exposure to pollutants and other irritants (and probably early childhood respiratory infections) makes it more likely that a child will develop asthma, not less.
I hang the clothes outside in the garden for some days before I wash it. seems to do the trick