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Perfumes and hormones

Did you wear perfume today?

Millions of women around the world use perfume everyday, the once occasional luxury is now a daily thing but is this wise?

There is a growing body of evidence that perfumes actually have more than the label indicates and it’s not good.  So this is where reading between the lines comes in.

Do you know that in a number of perfumes there can lurk synthetic chemicals which some believe are endocrine (hormone) disruptors, as well as synthetic chemicals that can damage sperm counts and are thought to create allergic reactions?

Perfume or fragrance on a label can hide many other ingredients which are rarely listed! What you are using on your skin or spraying on your body is somewhat of a mystery.

CTV in Canada covered the perfume issue, with an interesting film piece on many well known perfumes.  Learn what is in perfume in this CTV news video.

Hormone disruption is a serious issue.

You need hormones to regulate many processes in your body and as many menopausal women will say, having the hormones messed with is not a joyful experience.  Yet you often unknowingly use products that contain ingredients which can upset your body’s delicate functioning.

I stopped wearing perfume, some ten years ago after I found out that phthalates were very often found in perfumes.  Phthalates are widely thought to be endocrine disruptors and contribute to reproductive issues.

The tip is to avoid products that say ‘parfum’ or ‘fragrance’.

TOP TIP:  Read your labels!

That means that most perfumes are out unless they just use essential oils but help is at hand as there are a some great perfumes on the market that come without the added synthetic chemicals!  These companies simply use organic essential oils and they smell beautiful.  These are:

Miessence perfumes- $$$ +$100

One Seed company made in Australia $$ $89

Maoli perfumes made in Hawaii $ 28

My current favourite is Love by Miessence, which is a potent combination of certified organic essential oils and certified organic jojoba oil.

Smelling beautiful need not be toxic!  Actually your own natural smell is far often more attractive than a perfume.  Why not try it?

Did you know about the concerns of perfume ingredients?

©ActualOrganics 2010

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7 Responses to Perfumes and hormones

  1. [...] unless it is an essential oil really is worth avoiding, although there are some that use essential oils.  Why use a toxic synthetic chemical to make yourself more attractive?  You smell great just the [...]

  2. Arelis says:

    Thank you for the article and for linking readers to sites that offer better fragrance options.

  3. [...] you or your friends will end up buying a cream only to discover later that it contains dimethicone, parfum or propylene [...]

  4. [...] in your shampoo, air fresheners, cosmetics, lotions, washing powder, moisturisers and perfumes [...]

  5. [...] ingredients in deodorants, such as aluminum, parabens, propylene glycol (weak antifreeze) and parfum that are vital to avoid, when it comes to daily application to the [...]

  6. [...] of the breast cancer support lipsticks, nail polishes and creams contain parabens, synthetic perfumes and musks.  Many conventional cosmetics have synthetic chemical ingredients and these are not [...]

  7. [...] and colognes: anytime you see ‘fragrance’ on a label, or ‘parfum‘, it can hide a mass of undisclosed ingredients many of which are synthetic chemicals, or [...]

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