I’m sure you’ve heard about fragrance being bad for sensitive skin, what about other skin types? Should you avoid fragrance in your skincare products if your skin isn’t sensitive? Why is fragrance in skincare bad?
I will answer this question today & also explain why skincare companies add fragrance in their formulations in the first place
Press play on the audio/video below or carry on reading
Fragrance doesn’t have any beneficial role in your skin. It doesn’t hydrate, treat any skin condition nor does it prevent premature aging. The only reason skincare companies add it is for marketing & selling purposes
Fragrance: Marketing
Each one of us has certain things that influence our buying decisions.
I just launched my online store & am stocking SKIN functional as a brand in my store. My sister wasn’t aware of the brand & wanted me to send her a picture of the packaging because that’s important to her. She wanted to see what the bottles looked like & the packaging because this influenced her buying decision.
I don’t care too much for packaging but I love the feel or texture of things, for example, if I go clothing shopping, I don’t care how beautiful or stylish a garment can be, I won’t buy it if it doesn’t feel nice. This is why I cannot buy clothes online, I need to feel them.
Someone else might be influenced to buy something based on how it smells… queue in fragrance in your skincare. This is the only reason companies add fragrance, to influence our buying decisions.
Fragrance: Sensitive skin
Sensitive skin is reactive, it reacts to ingredients easily. This is why fragrance is typically bad for people with sensitive skin.
People with a sensitive skin type are born that way, they tend to have allergies, and eczema & have been like this from birth.
Some people may have sensitive skin but their skin has been sensitized, meaning something has made their skin sensitive whether it be their environment, medication or using the wrong skincare products/using skincare products incorrectly.
This can be reversed & treated so that their skin reverts to its original skin type. These people should also avoid fragrance in their skincare as their skin will react.
Why should you avoid fragrance if your skin isn’t sensitive?
If your skin is not sensitive or your skin hasn’t been sensitized, it’s best to avoid fragrance as this will sensitize your skin in the long run.
In the short term, your skin may feel fine & the fragranced product might not affect you. In the long run, with repeated exposure to the fragranced product, your skin will become sensitized.
We all think of tingling, itching, rashes or irritation when we think about sensitization but it might not even start that way… it might start with your skin being chronically dehydrated!!
Sometimes the inflammation from your skin being sensitized may be so minor that you don’t feel any tingling but your skin’s barrier is still being impaired by the inflammation. This will lead to dehydration, fragrance can cause this.
Your barrier being impaired will allow irritants to enter the skin easily leading to more inflammation. Inflammation leads to pigmentation and premature ageing & it’s also a precursor for acne. Now do you see how a small thing like fragrance can impact the skin?
So the effects of fragrance on the skin are not only short term, they are long term. Over time, using products with fragrance will sensitize your skin.
Sensitivity leads to inflammation & inflammation leads to conditions like pigmentation & acne. Bottom line, avoid products containing fragrance.
I hope you found value in this week’s post. Please share with anyone you think will benefit from this information 
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