Fragrance-Free Living: Simple Swaps for a Healthier Home

It’s that time of year when I'm conflicted — I love burning scented candles (pumpkin spice, banana bread, toasted marshmallow 🕯️😍) — but… I’m also keenly aware that candles (and other scented household or beauty products) can introduce harmful chemicals into my home and body.

🧴 BACKSTORY

I’ve worked on reducing my family’s exposure to toxins since the birth of Mallory in 1991 👶. It started with very simple changes that I slowly implemented over time. My first “bang for my buck” swaps were things like air and water purifiers 🌬️💧.

Over the years, I’ve made a lot of progress — but up until about 3 years ago, I still burned candles that I knew were probably full of chemicals (it’s often hard to know, since ingredients in “fragrance” aren’t required to be listed).

I justified it by cracking a window or running the air purifier. Fast forward to today — I’ve finally committed to reducing this toxin in my home 🙌.

Now, I only burn unscented beeswax candles or ones scented with safe essential oils (though even those can sometimes cause adverse reactions — see this article 📰).

Do they “throw” scent like synthetic ones? Not really (and yes, I miss that ☹️), but since my young grandsons are often at my house, I’m very happy to have made this change 💛.

💭 IF YOU’VE BEEN PROCRASTINATING…

When it comes to reducing synthetic fragrances — I see you, I was you, and I feel you!

Let me share why I decided to reduce my exposure to synthetic fragrances — maybe it’ll help you take that first step too 💪.

🌫️ WHERE DO YOU FIND SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCES?

Synthetic fragrances (sometimes listed as “parfum”) are everywhere:
🕯️ Candles
🧴 Bath & beauty products
🧺 Laundry detergents
🧽 Household cleaners

Due to their volatile nature, fragrances spread easily throughout indoor environments — think of them as the new secondhand smoke! 🚭

By law, manufactures can protect their "trade secrets" (or avoid drawing attention to harmful ingredients) by lumping any number of harmful chemicals into a category that is just listed as fragrance or parfum on the label (There are over 3,000 chemicals allowed under this umbrella 😳.)

🧠 WHAT’S WORTH REMEMBERING

What’s important to remember is that exposure to harmful chemicals in fragrances is actually voluntary — unlike some toxins in our environment (such as industrial pollutants) where we have no control.

For motivation, I like to remind myself that:

• 👶 Newborn babies already have over 200 chemicals in their umbilical blood.

• 🧍‍♀️ As adults, our toxic load steadily increases over time.

If we want optimal health for ourselves and our family, reducing exposure to synthetic fragrances is a worthwhile goal ⚽️🥅 (see this article).

When I embarked on my journey to reduce my exposure to fragrances I felt overwhelmed. To make the task more manageable, I started with eliminating one fragranced product at a time. When I was running out of that product, I switched to a cleaner option. Over time as I eliminated more and more products I actually found the process to be very fun and rewarding.🏆 Now I’m so used to avoiding fragrance that I have to hold my breath if I walk past a Bath and Body Works!!

HOW CAN SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCES AFFECT OUR HEALTH? 🚫🚫🚫

Well it’s the typical harmful chemical bad actors. Synthetic fragrances are composed of chemicals (from a few to hundreds of chemicals can be used to make a fragrance) and some of the chemicals are known to disrupt hormones, activate the immune system, tax our body’s detoxification systems, cause skin and respiratory irritation, be detrimental to the brain and nervous system and there are even chemicals that can cause cancer and birth defects.

See this article and this article.

The body is a very complex machine that requires precise instructions.CHEMICALS DUE TO THEIR SPECIFIC SHAPE ARE LIKE BARCODES that the body reads. If it’s a chemical from nature - when the body “reads the message” it usually initiates or facilitates a normal function in the body. Unfortunately, artificial chemicals can send the WRONG MESSAGE to the body, resulting in interference with its functions or even stopping its normal functioning

💞 LET’S LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE — SEX HORMONES

Estrogen and progesterone have specific chemical shapes that the body recognizes and knows how to use.

For female health, it’s important that these hormones are present in the right amounts at the right time.

Some chemicals in synthetic fragrances can:

• 🌀 Fool the body into thinking they are hormones, or

• 🚫 Disrupt hormone function by blocking the action of a needed hormone.

One sneaky chemical that can disrupt the body’s delicate female hormone balance is phthalates.

• Phthalates can imitate female hormones, or

• Block them altogether.
  👉 [Download now.]

Either way, the result is hormone imbalance — leading to what I call hormone havoc:
PMS, PCOS, infertility, and other related issues.

It’s not just female hormones at risk — hormone interference can also occur in males.

❤ ✨HEALTH YOURSELF ACTION: 

AVOID PRODUCTS THAT HAVE “FRAGRANCE OR PARFUM” LISTED ON THE LABEL.

Currently “fragrance or parfum” is a loophole that many companies use to hide harmful chemicals in their products. It’s best to just avoid products that contain UNDISCLOSED chemicals. Luckily, due to consumer concerns, more and more products are now fragrance free or the company voluntarily lists ALL ingredients instead of hiding them under the fragrance umbrella.

🔁 SOME OF MY FAVORITE PRODUCT SWAPS

💡 You can find many of these in my Healthy Living Amazon Store — a great resource for low-tox living.

🧼 Household Products:

• Truly Free laundry + home products — unscented or essential-oil scented. They list all ingredients and offer a great discount (code MONEYTALKMAL).

🕯️ Candles:

• Bluecorn Candle Co. – Unscented beeswax candles with a mild natural honey scent 🍯
• Luca + Grey Candle Co. – Handmade in Kansas City, my next to try!
• Fontana Candle Co. – Scented with essential oils (subtle but lovely).

🧴 Body Care:

• Deodorant: Native or Primally Pure (unscented)
• Soap: Pretty Farm Girl Unscented Milk + Honey soaps 🐝
• Perfume: I use a dab of Garden of Life organic essential oils (lavender 💜 or peppermint 🌿) on my clothing — never directly on skin.

💧 Moisturizers:

• Face: Squalene oil
• Body: Jojoba oil — both single-ingredient, fragrance-free winners!

💇 Hair:
Still experimenting — everyone’s hair is different! Many fragrance-free or essential-oil-based options exist.

🌬️ Room Scents:

• I skip plug-ins entirely.
• Try Enviroscent or Scent Fill for safer options.
• Primally Pure room sprays are a great non-toxic choice.

Final Thoughts

To all those women out there trying to live a low tox lifestyle: PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK 🖐️. It can be daunting in this toxic world but each little step you make is PROGRESS 🫶🏻 

Your Health Is Wealth Advocate,
Dr. Brenda Smith