Why High-Levels of Fragrance in Deodorants is Bad News
Did you know? Fragrance is the leading cause of skin irritations. With your underarms and scalp being the most sensitive parts of your body, it’s important to be cautious of using highly-scented products in these areas.
Today on DECODED, I’m going to share why you should avoid high levels of synthetic fragrance (and natural essential oils too) in your deodorant.
The Rules of Formulating with Fragrance
Since I have a great deal of experience developing and formulating natural deodorants, I wanted to share some of my knowledge on formulation “rules” that should be followed.
Rule 1
NEVER formulate a deodorant with more than 3% fragrance. Although 3% sounds incredibly little, this is an “insane” amount of fragrance for a deodorant. The reason for this is because your underarms are one of the most sensitive areas on your body and are most prone to skin irritations. This is often why so many consumers have skin irritations and reactions to certain deodorants and antiperspirants.
Rule 2
Natural essential oils doesn’t always mean it’s better. Some inexperienced formulators may use several essentials oils to create their fragrance mix, thinking that because it’s natural, it’s okay. In reality, this is actually very troublesome because even if the essential oils in your product go over the 3% mark, it will still be very irritating for sensitive skin types.
How to Tell if a Product is Using Too Much Fragrance
Whenever I’m at the drugstore, I like browsing through the deodorant & antiperspirant aisle just to see what’s new. However, every time I open the lid of a deodorant, I’m instantly hit with an overpowering fragrance. Chances are, these drugstore deodorants/antiperspirants are probably using fragrances formulated at 3% or higher – a major NO-NO!
What you can do:
Do the sniff test. If you open the lid and the scent is overpowering (sometimes you can already smell the deodorant with the lid on), you can assume the fragrance levels are far too high.
You can further verify by looking at the ingredient label. If fragrance is not listed in the last two lines of ingredients, you can assume it’s included at high levels. Sometimes, it will be difficult to tell what percentage the fragrance is at because manufacturers can add more ingredients at the top, burying the fragrance and pushing it further down the list.
Look for ingredient labels that lists out the essential oils used, that way you know exactly what you’re getting. Avoid products that just say ‘fragrance or parfum’, as it potentially could include a number of hidden toxic chemicals as they are likely synthetic blends.
Be Careful of Painful Armpit Rashes
Don’t get me wrong, I love fragrance as I believe it is truly an integral part of my life. However, I want natural fragrance blends, and only at low levels. This is especially important with deodorant, as it’s used in a sensitive area. Armpit rashes are often the results of over-doing the fragrance in a deodorant, so be careful!
Although scent is very important in a deodorant, I paid very close attention to the levels of natural fragrance used in the takesumi detox® deodorants. Although our deodorant scents are 100% natural and derived from essential oils, they are integrated at very low levels in order to protect our consumers from irritation.
At kaia naturals we believe in disclosing all of our fragrance ingredients, so check for our essential oil blends at the end of the ingredient list.