Why Fragrance-Free Skincare Is Safer For Your Skin

If you are here, reading this article, it’s safe to assume that you really enjoy self-care activities, and specifically skincare. We all like to indulge in deliciously scented candles or even lotions because they make us feel good and relaxed. But, here’s the thing: that rose scented moisturizer; it’s probably the culprit after your skin redness.

Why do brands use fragrance in the first place?
Fragrance has been part of skincare formulations for decades, up until recently when it got a lot of backlash. In 2007, the American Contact Dermatitis Society (ACDS) labeled fragrance as the Allergen of the Year. Since then, a lot of brands have decided to avoid this ingredient from their products.

Research has shown that fragrance, natural or synthetic, doesn’t have any clinical purpose in your skincare products. We don’t get any benefits from using them, well besides a potential irritation. However, fragrance in skincare products is still very common. Why is that?

Simply put, skincare brands know how the marketplace is for wonderfully scented products. They know for sure that consumers are more prone to buying a lotion that smells good because it has a sensorial effect on them.

On the other hand, a lot of ingredients used in product formulations, have a very unpleasant and distinctive scent and fragrance helps to camouflage it. However, there are other agents and formulation techniques that can make the product have a more neutral scent that have no potential risk on the skin. So using fragrance as a masking ‘tool’ it’s still unneeded.

Why is ‘fragrance-free’ skincare better?
Many clinical studies have shown that fragrance can have sensitizing effects on the skin. This component has been the center of attention of dermatologist due to its link to inflammation and premature skin aging. Inflammation, whether from sun exposure or fragrance, over the time, can cause oxidative stress
on the skin, degradation of collagen and as a result, aged skin. On top of that, fragrance is associated with cases of redness and allergies that can affect every skin type.

Naturally, some questions may arise, such as: I used a fragranced serum, how come my skin is not irritated? Unfortunately, your skin is very good at hiding it. Think about the sun damage for instance. Hyper pigmentation from unprotected sun damage starts to form way before it actually becomes visible.
This is the same case scenario. Your skin can be very resilient, up until it can’t handle it anymore and the inflammation and irritation will start to be visible.

Why your ‘fragrance-free’ skincare product still has a scent?
There is a difference between being fragrance-free and being unscented. Fragrance free, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, means that no masking fragrance or perfume were added to the product. On the other hand, unscented implies that the product has ingredients that are used to mask the unpleasant odor of the product. Naturally, skincare products don’t smell very good, so even if you see on the label ‘fragrance-free’, you can still detect a scent.

Here at Lorde and Belle, we assure you that we don’t add any fragranced agents that can irritate your skin. Our formulations are science based and clinically proven to be effective on the skin.