Fragrance is a combination of chemicals that gives each perfume or cologne its distinct scent. Fragrance ingredients may be derived from petroleum or natural raw materials, and companies that manufacture perfume or cologne purchase fragrance mixtures from fragrance houses to develop their own proprietary blends. Fragrance is not an individual ingredient or chemical but rather an umbrella term that refers to all the compounds and chemicals that comprise a product’s fragrance. Typically, this is dozens of ingredients, and companies are not required to disclose the individual fragrance elements as the fragrance “blend” is considered proprietary information.
There are thousands of registered fragrance ingredients made from five classes of compounds: alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters, and lactones. Synthetic fragrance ingredients can either be nature-identical or artificial. Natural-identical synthetic fragrances are made from synthetically derived ingredients to have the same chemical composition as a fragrance found in nature. Artificial fragrances are made from synthetic ingredients and have a scent and/or chemical composition not known to be found in nature.
While most fragrance chemicals are not disclosed, some are linked to serious health problems such as cancer, reproductive and developmental toxicity, allergies, and sensitivities. The chemical components in fragrance itself are protected as trade secrets and described on the label only as “fragrance”. In addition to “scent” chemicals that create the fragrance, perfumes and colognes also contain solvents, stabilizers, UV-absorbers, preservatives, and dyes. These additives are frequently, but not always, listed on product labels.
If you are concerned about the ingredients hiding in your products, there are many beauty brands to choose from that do not use fragrance and disclose every aspect of their product’s ingredients. However, manufacturers are not required to disclose fragrance ingredient information to their customers, which results in many people suffering from unnecessary exposures.
