Avoiding toxic synthetic fragrances and removing them from your home and personal care routine has never been more important.

Synthetic fragrances are becoming increasingly common, with almost every product you use including a synthetic scent. 

From perfumes, soaps and deodorants, to room sprays, laundry detergents and cosmetics - synthetic fragrances are in almost everything, even though you may not realise the harm these chemicals are causing to your long term health.

When products are promoted and labelled as “fresh, clean or fragrant", it's easy to overlook the harmful nature of the plethora of toxic, chemical ingredients that they contain.

From respiratory problems and allergies, to weakened immunity, hormone disruption and skin irritations, these symptoms are all compounded by chemical synthetic fragrances that you put on your body and use in and around your home on a daily basis.

The goods news is, there are safe, natural alternatives that won't cost you the earth - in fact will save you money from expensive synthetic options once you make the switch and make them part of your life.

Here we reveal why you should consider eliminating synthetic fragrances and replacing them with more health conscious and earth friendly alternatives that work just as well, but that won't harm your health.

Toxic Ingredients

Synthetic fragrances are cheap and effective way to make personal care and household cleaning products more appealing with their fresh, clean or unique scents.

The problem is most synthetic fragrances are made from petrochemicals, which include phthalates and other known cancer-causing toxins. 

The side effects of these toxic ingredients are serious and well known. Not only can they induce instant headaches for some, they worsen asthma and allergies, disrupt our endocrine system, and can even lead to birth defects, nervous-system disorders, liver and kidney damage, and even diseases like cancer. 

Companies continue to use these toxic ingredients to create scents because of how much cheaper they are versus natural scents. Consumers also generally prefer scented products, so by adding in these chemicals and creating a unique branded scent can create customer loyalty over a long period of time.

However, by using synthetic fragrances every day in a variety of ways, you’re exposing yourself constantly to toxins that can have serious and harmful effects on your body and health.

How to Avoid Synthetic Fragrances

The adage, "if you can't recognise the ingredients, don't put it on or in your body", is a good basic rule to follow if you want to completely avoid synthetic fragrances.

Thankfully today, there are a number of health and environmentally conscious brands on the market in the personal care, cosmetics and household cleaning product categories, you just need to look out for them.

These brands make a conscious effort to minimise or eliminate chemicals that are toxic and harmful, so when you find the brands you like, it's a good idea to support these brands and companies.

Here is a list of common items that generally include synthetic fragrances, that you should look out for:

• Laundry detergent 
• Perfume
• After shave
• Face creams and serums
• Car air fresheners
• Shampoo 
• Scented candles
• Soap 
• Deodorant
• Sunscreen
• Cosmetics 
• Cleaning products

The list is endless and can be alarming. Even products that use the words “natural” or “organic” on their packaging can still be hiding toxic ingredients under the fragrances. 

The Alternatives To Synthetic Fragrances

As mentioned, the good news is you can find companies out there who manufacture many of these products using natural ingredients that won't harm your health.

Also, when it comes to fragrances for household, air purifying, cosmetic use, nothing beats pure essential oils. 

In fact, you can completely transform and simplify your skin care, personal care and house cleaning routine with essential oils and in the process save hundreds - if not thousands of dollars - per year in the process. 

Remember, essential oils are pure plant extracts that support not destroy your health and every oil carries an abundance of beautiful natural fragrance as well. 

They can be combined with carrier oils and other simple natural ingredients to take care of most personal care and household cleaning use cases.    

 

More tips for avoiding toxic synthetic fragrances:

• Use pure essential oils in diffusers and room sprays, like the doTERRA brand that uses only pure and quality essential oils 
• Place more potted plants and herbs around the house, especially air-cleaning plants like aloe vera, spider plants, English ivy, snake plants, and more
• Opt for fragrance-free and unscented products whenever possible
• Switch to beeswax candles
• Go back to basics with cleaning products and use mostly vinegar and baking soda.

Keep in mind that babies, children, and pregnant women are most vulnerable to the dangers of synthetic fragrances, so it’s especially important to keep them away from products with them.

It’s also important to note that we can quickly build up a tolerance to synthetic fragrances, which makes them harder to notice and avoid. Once you remove them from your home and your personal care routine, you may become much more sensitive to them and to other smells. This is a natural effect of the detox process and one that should be welcomed because it means your body has purged itself of these toxic ingredients. 

 

The Main Take Away

Synthetic fragrances have become common ingredients in many of the everyday products we use from personal care, to household cleaning and more.

Whilst this is an area that is easy to overlook, by being more conscious of the chemical products your exposing yourself to and by replacing them with safer, natural alternatives, you'll go a long way to avoiding immunity and hormonal disruption, respiratory and skin irritations and a host of other long term health problems and challenges.

 

Tolman Self Care.