My friend Elissa texted me the other day. She said
“OMG at the dentist and they have Glade plug-ins all over! Instant headache! WTF! A medical office shouldn’t smell like Yankee Candle.”
Yep, that’s what she said word for word.
I’m proud of her because she actually complained. She told them that after 20 minutes she felt nauseous, dizzy, her hands were shaking, and her head was pounding. They agreed to unplug them and get this THE STAFF COULDN’T EVEN SMELL THEM! Hmm...I wonder if they plugged them back in later.
I thought this was the perfect time to address scents not only because of Elissa’s text, but also because as the holidays get closer, you’re more likely to be inundated with scented candles, potpourri, and perfume. Here’s some good data to share to kindly encourage others to just stop it already with the fake smells. They’re not good for us!
So what’s wrong with fragrance?
We’ve talked here before about the ingredient “fragrance” or “parfum” commonly found on product labels and why you should avoid it altogether. (Fragrance/parfum is a proprietary term meaning that cosmetics companies aren’t required to reveal the individual chemicals included within the term.) But here’s more fuel for the fire.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, together with other non-governmental organizations, commissioned independent lab testing of 32 beauty, personal care, and cleaning products and found three quarters of the toxic chemicals in the products were fragrance chemicals. One in four of the 338 fragrance chemicals detected were linked with serious, chronic health effects including cancer, birth defects, and hormone disruption. No thank you!
These are the same chemicals found in many home fragrances.
Women’s Voices for the Earth commissioned an independent lab test to find what chemicals could be hiding in air fresheners. While they only had enough funding to test for allergens, synthetic musks, and phthalates, they found ALL of them in the Glade products tested - despite the fact that Glad had committed to phasing out phthalates two years prior.
When you use something like a plug-in you’re constantly breathing in those chemicals. These intrusive fake smells not only have potential long term effects, some people have an almost immediate reaction. Alexander Mauskop, MD, director of the New York Headache Center, includes perfume as one of the most common smells that trigger migraines, and more than 2 million Americans are allergic to fragrance.
Want to make the house smell amazing but don’t want the chemicals?
Here are a few suggestions for you -
Use a diffuser with essential oils. How about this recipe I found called “Crunching Leaves”:
2 drops Frankincense
2 drops Myrrh
3 drops Wild Orange
2 drops Cedarwood
Create an “old school” potpourri:
½ lemon, sliced thin
½ an apple, sliced
4 cinnamon sticks, or ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
Place a medium sized saucepan on the back burner, fill with ingredients and let it simmer on the lowest setting. Start your potpourri about a half hour before you have guests come over…your home will smell amazing.
Deep clean your home so you don’t have to cover up lingering scents.
Open up your windows and bring fresh air in.
My favorite tip to help eliminate unpleasant smells - sprinkle baking soda on rugs, carpets, and furniture before vacuuming and toss throw pillows and other fabric items in the wash for a deeper clean.
So the next time you get into an Uber that smells like an entire bottle of Axe threw up, will you say something? Let’s be like Elissa and speak up!
