How powerful a smell can be, has been known for ages. Within just a couple of searches, you’ll find scientific articles, discussing the power of smell. “In addition to being the sense most closely linked to memory, smell is also highly emotive. The perfume industry is built around this connection, with perfumers developing fragrances that seek to convey a vast array of emotions and feelings; from desire to power, vitality to relaxation.” (Fifth Sense, Psychology and Smell). But what’s up with the perfume industry? And where can you find natural/organic perfumes? Let’s take a deep dive into it!
Why mass produced perfumes are not good for you
As perfume became so popular in the last couple of decades, the market grew enormously. And with everything in capitalism, people were seeking ways to produce more for cheaper.
Mass produced perfumes, the ones you will find in almost all drug stores and big malls, are build up from synthetic and sometimes even poisonous ingredients. “A 2002 study for instance showed that a number of synthetic fragrances are likely to trigger asthma attacks and migraines. They are also blamed for having a negative environmental impact, with synthetic musk compounds shown to contaminate waterways and aquatic wildlife.” (Léa Surugue, Euronews).
For that reason, I’ve stopped using regular perfumes. Instead, I tried using essential oils to create an interesting smell. This worked pretty well and I really enjoy playing around with different essential oils.
However, I was also looking for a sustainable and clean beauty perfume, that would help me smell good at any given time. But where can you find them?
Green & clean perfumes
One of my favourite places to find natural perfumes is the ROGUE online shop. ROGUE is a store based in The Netherlands, focussing on clean beauty, ethical jewellery and conscious interior design. The clean beauty section on the website has a lot to offer: make-up, soaps, crystals and perfumes.
It can be hard to find a smell you like online. For that reason, ROGUE has a little description to all smells, including a list of ingredients, which will both help to find the perfect perfume.
I really like the smell of herbs and flowers, mixed with a touch of vanilla. With this in mind, I looked through their online shop and I found two great smells. The first one is the Full Moon Body Oil by Among The Flowers. This smell is a sweet mix between vanilla, cedarwood and coconut. Because of its sweet, yet relaxing smell, I love to apply this oil right after showering in the evening.
The second perfume I got, was the Native Haze Body Oil by Rowsie Vain. This perfume has a very herbal, citric and kind of sharp smell. It’s perfect to apply in the morning to start your day bright and powerful.
My advice to switch to natural perfumes
If you also came to realise you don’t want to put on toxic perfumes and mass produced smells onto your body, than you can start experimenting with the natural smells you really like. Is it lavender, or citrus, or vanilla?
ROGUE offers a huge scala of natural smells in the form of body oils. A body oil is not really a perfume, as it’s less intense. However, it does have a unique and lovely smell, which you can apply onto your body. You can see the full ROGUE body oils list here.
Try to find out which smell really makes you happy and which you like to wear. I can understand that you don’t want to wear perfumes that cause headaches or are poisonous. But if you still want to apply something, then it’s a great choice to invest in some green and clean perfumes.
As I said before, a smell is very powerful, so choose wisely.
