Mainstream perfumes were one of the hardest things for me to let go of when I began my non toxic journey but ironically now the smell gives me a hardcore headache. I literally can’t stand it anymore. Amazing how our bodies will naturally reject toxic things after a while right?
There are a few good reasons why I decided to ditch perfumes but I’ll try to simplify it as much as I can. To keep it short, there’s something called the Fair Packaging and Label Act that protects the need for major perfume companies to list all their ingredients as a sort of loop-hole to protect their “secret” recipe. The issue with this is pretty obvious – they can put whatever they want in there and are legally able to. Not sure about you but I want to know what I’m putting on my body.
On top of this, there’s issues with some of the ingredients that ARE LISTED. Things like acetone, benzyl acetate, camphor, ethanol, ethyl acetate, limonene, benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol and linalool – can usually be found on your favorite perfume bottle. The problem? These things are endocrine disrupters, causing damage to your nervous system and cognitive abilities.
Though I haven’t worn any strong, synthetic fragrances in 5+ years I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy a sweet natural aroma from time to time. Lucky for us there are presently some amazing brands that have created wonderful non toxic options for us. Here are my top picks free from toxic chemicals:
1. Kuumba Made Fragrance oils
This was the first clean fragrance/oil I used after giving up perfume. I was browsing around Whole Foods one day and came across these in the cosmetics section. The consistency is a smooth oil that applies with a roll on ball. They have a TON of different scents to choose from (you can sample them in store) and are perfect to throw right into your purse. My favorite is the Water Goddess (a soft beautiful floral) scent pictured here and my hubs loves the Frankincense & Myrrh.
2. Lurk Beauty – RSW005
This was the second natural perfume I tried and is closer to the “dab” on conventional perfumes we’re all used to. The smell is gorgeous and you can probably start to see I like soft floral smells haha. This one is by a brand called Lurk Beauty that I was introduced to on Instagram and they have a wide range of other scents to choose from. The bottle pictured here is their travel/sample size if I’m not mistaken but it’s lasted me forever! This is typically the bad boy I put on for fancy outings.
Pour le Monde is another brand I found via social media and love how clean and natural they are! These babies pack a strong punch making even a sample size like this last a while. They currently offer 3 different scents that you can purchase in mini tubes before committing to a full bottle. “Envision” is my personal favorite of the three – no surprise it’s the most floral but the others are more earthy and musky if that’s your sort of thing.
5. Veyali
6. Sigil Scent
While both are true to their descriptions, I will say that Bloom is much stronger than I anticipated. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing it’s just not what I’m used to wearing (soft, delicate floral). Aura definitely has a woodsy fresh smell that makes for a lovely room spray. I’m very curious about the rest of their scents and love that you can purchase a sample collection to try them all in mini versions! Their ingredients are also fantastic.
Hope this helps to point you in the right direction for all natural non toxic fragrances! As always shoot me a comment if you have any questions 🙂
Til next time,
~ Chantel