Free The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances by Julie Gabriel Page A

have increased by 2,000 percent since 2004.
    Here’s a bit of harsh reality: British researchers spent quite a bit of money on a massive shopping spree, buying 300 perfumed cosmetic and household products available on the shelves of UK stores in January 2006 (Buckley 2007). They only bought products that listed “parfum,” “fragrance,” or “aroma” among the ingredients. The results weren’t all roses: the top six most frequently labeled fragrances were linalool (found mostly in expensive perfumes, soaps, shampoos, and shower gels), limonene (most frequently found in toothpastes, aftershaves, dishwashing liquids, and detergents), citronellol (found in deodorants), geraniol, but ylphenyl methylpropional, and hexyl cinnamal. Other top scents detected in 300 popular cosmetic products were eugenol, hydroxycitronellal, isoeugenol, cinnamal, and oak moss (Evernia prunastri) absolute. Hydroxyisohexyl-3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde (Lyral) was present in large concentrations in almost one-third of the products. Scientists concluded that linalool and limonene, both strong allergens, are the most frequent fragrances inhaled and rubbed into skin by millions of people.
    And the list, sadly, can go on and on. A potent carcinogen, methylene chloride, banned for use in 1988, can still be found in shampoos and shoe polish spray; methyl eugenol, also a potential carcinogen in animals, is present in shampoos and men’s grooming products; ethyl acrylate, another chemical that killed rats with cancer in 2002, is listed among ingredients in antiaging creams, designer fragrances, and sunscreen towelettes.
    When I made a big leap and switched to purely organic scents, the whole picture got clearer and scarier—or maybe my head was working better without all those synthetic vapors? On one side, there is a noticeable interest in truly natural scents. On the other, famous “noses” come up with yet another alluring twist and weave together scents that Mother Nature still has to invent. I can’t help but suspect that the fragrance industry may now be acting similar to the tobacco industry in the early 1990s, hiding the truth of the very serious health effects of secondhand smoke and chemicals from cigarettes.
    Even perfectly natural and gentle skin products, such as a “98.36 percent natural” carrot moisturizer that I have tested and reviewed recently, contain fragrances. They are used to mask otherwise blunt or even repulsive odors of natural ingredients or to add depth and staying power to scents of essential oils already present in the composition. After years of testing various beauty products, my skin became as tolerant as a celebrity UN ambassador, and I suspect nothing can throw it off balance. But since the phrase “made with pure essential oils” translates to an ingredient list with a small percentage of essential oils, with the remainder being synthetic fragrances, chemical enhancers, and boosters added in an attempt to cut costs, I cannot help but think that a natural herbal scent is in fact a chemical cocktail that is anything but healthy.
    Can you really be too careful? Well, you are informed now—maybe scared—and the choice is yours. With a little girl growing up and a family history of allergies and cancer, I prefer to err on the side of caution. If something was proven unsafe once, even in animal studies, I would avoid this ingredient so when new research emerges, I won’t be biting my nails (buffed, not polished) over some benzaldehyde-loaded “holy grail” lotion I used diligently over the years. Have you ever heard of a chemical that was considered unsafe for many years being recently declared safe? I haven’t. More often, things happen the other way around.
    The Golden Rule of Beauty
    When people encounter new scientific information that casts doubt on the status quo, they often can’t believe their eyes (or ears). If all this is true, you may ask, why haven’t I heard it before? Why do so many