Why I Don’t Use Scentsy or Anything Else With Fragrance.
I must confess, I used to be the girl who had every Yankee Candle in her home – at least one in every room. I was especially drawn to the food smelling candles. I loved Bath and Body Works wallflowers and had those in every room in my house too. Car air fresheners were a must and leaving the house without my perfume on was a tragedy.
I never realized that all those things I was putting in my house and on and in my body were actually causing it harm. I mean really, it’s just a smell, right? Wrong.
I was dead wrong. The toxins I allowed to permeate and pollute the air in my home and car is nauseating to think about now that my knowledge has changed and I am privy to what exactly was (and still is) in those products.
Education Is Power
I would love to share this knowledge with you so you can make an educated choice. I would also encourage you not to just take my word for but do your own research as well. Environmental Working Group is a great place to start to learn all about ingredients in products. Also, emailing the companies directly for ingredients lists can be extremely helpful.
A word of caution – if a company will not share ingredients with you that is a HUGE red flag. If a company is not willing to be completely transparent, then they have something to hide. I do not ever patronize companies who aren’t transparent. Mine and my family’s health is at stake. I did email Scentsy on November 27, 2016, for an ingredients list for their products, since they are not listed on their website anywhere, and have had no response. (update 4/18, I have still not had a response to my email.)
Wax and Wicks
Before I talk about fragrance, I want to talk about wax and wicks in candles.
What is Wax Really?
Most candle wax is petroleum based (paraffin is a petroleum by-product.) There is no such thing as “high quality” paraffin. This wax is sourced from the refining of crude oil into gasoline. The petroleum sludge that is then left over is then bleached and deodorized to be used as wax for candles and such. In the refining of this petroleum, the process gives off the same soot as a diesel engine does.
This harmful kind of wax, when burned, releases:
- Acetaldehyde (the same toxin Candida Yeast releases when dying off)
- Formaldehyde (increased risk for allergies and asthma)
- Toluene (a solvent that attacks the Central Nervous System)
- Benzene (produced from Toluene and causes fatigue, sleepiness, headaches, and nausea and attention disorders)
- Acrolein (an herbicide that can change genetic structures)
These are all dangerous toxins. When these are polluting our indoor air they are extremely hazardous to our health. Even the EPA says that if multiple candles are burned in a home the pollution exceeds the safe minimum for indoor air.
Can a Wick Really Be Harmful?
Most candle wicks have a lead wire core. When that wick is burned lead is released into the air for us to breathe into our lungs, get on our skin and get in our eyes.
According to the EPA’s research, “Candles with lead wicks have the potential to generate indoor airborne lead concentrations of health concern. It is also possible for consumers to unknowingly purchase candles containing lead wick cores and repeatedly expose themselves to harmful amounts of lead through regular candle-burning.”
Low-level lead exposure, which this would be, can lead to:
- neurobehavioral changes
- hypertension
- kidney disease
- increased depression
- phobic anxiety symptoms
- mood and personality changes
- irritability
- aggressiveness
- changes in sleep patterns
- hyperactivity
- learning difficulties
- difficulty concentrating
- memory loss, & lethargy
Is Burning That Candle Really Worth it?
Fragrance and the Problem With It
There are 3,100+ registered chemicals that are choices to be used in formulating a fragrance. Did you read that? 3,100 chemicals!
When you see the word fragrance on a label for detergent, soap, perfume, candles, air fresheners, dryer sheets or any product it can often have upwards of 100 of those chemicals in it.
Fragrance is known as a “cluster ingredient” which means that one-word name can contain hundreds of chemical components.
These 3,100 chemicals are ultra-toxic to the human body. Lots of them are known carcinogens, endocrine disruptors (thyroid or hormone issues anyone?), reproductive toxicants, and toxic disinfectants. They have been linked to cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders, neurological disorders as well as allergies and eczema. Fragrance is in the top 5 allergens when it comes to ingredients.
According to Therese Kerr fragrance has caused semen quality to drop 40%, genital malformations in babies, 400% increase in miscarriage, PCOS, thyroid problems, infertility, endometriosis, ovarian cancer, early puberty and early menopause.
Of course, fragrance isn’t the sole contributor to all cases as there are many other known causes but fragrance is a big part of the root cause of these problems. Therese also says that fragrance can mimic hormones (estrogens) and cause our natural, God-given hormones to short circuit. Our bodies store toxins in our fat.
Fragrance is a toxin and is stored in our fat. Our brain is at least 60% fat. It makes perfect sense why using fragrance throughout our days can cause neurological and CNS disorders. Fragrance is always absorbed into our bodies at 100% rate.
Scentsy and Other Companies Who Use Fragrance
Under the FAQ’s on Scentsy’s website (update 4/18 – they have since changed the PDF at this link and it no longer says the following which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s still not true) …it says “… enhance your home with more than 80 fragrances.”
They also say they use both synthetic and naturally derived fragrances. Naturally derived fragrances are things like beaver anal glands for an orange scent. I really want that floating in my air and lungs!
Synthetic, manmade esters, ketones, lactones, terpenes, benzines, as amines, and aldehydes can be detrimental to long-term health. Fragrance has all of these constituents in it.
As I said above, since Scentsy does not share any of their ingredients online, I emailed the company to ask for those ingredients. They have yet to respond.
Secret Ingredients
On their website, they talk about using “secret” ingredients. I’m not big on anything secret in this day and age. I understand a proprietary blend where you know the ingredients but you don’t know the amounts but I don’t think it’s ok to have a secret ingredient anymore. It could be anything!
Scentsy Bars
In researching Scentsy’s bar wax, their website says “Scentsy bar wax fragrance contain extremely low levels of non-harmful diethyl phthalate (DEP)…”
Even at very low levels, DEP is a known danger to human development and reproduction, can cause allergies, immunotoxicity and is a known endocrine disruptor. This toxin DEP is rated number a 3 out of 10 on EWG’s website. It is on the lower end of the scale but in our home, we don’t allow anything above a two rating. The more toxins you get out of your home and car the better your health can be. For excellent health, it’s important to reduce your toxic load.
So those little wax melts you have melting in every room of your home, you might want to think about getting rid of them.
From someone who knows personally…
You don’t want allergies, thyroid problems, or reproductive problems from excess toxins floating around your home. I have had all of the above symptoms and more and it can be miserable.
Scentsy Room Sprays
Scentsy has a product called Room Sprays that come in a variety of scents. This is what Scentsy FAQ’s have to say about their room sprays:
“Spray your Room Spray into the center of a well-ventilated room. Make sure you’re familiar with the consumer warning label on the back of the bottle.”
There is a warning label on those sprays of course not pictured on the website! You have to buy the bottle to see what it says. Grrr…. With some research (because I refuse to buy it) this is what the label says:
EYE IRRITANT – avoid contact with eyes. If eye contact occurs, rinse with water. If irritation persists, contact a physician. Contains fragrance oils that may cause damage. Do not spray on or permit contact with fabrics, or painted or finished surfaces. Do not spray in automobiles or in confined areas.
Friends, do we really think this is freshening our air? It’s not. Instead, it is polluting it to dangerously toxic levels.
It’s not Just Scentsy
It’s not just Scentsy that has a fragrance and toxin problem. Many products have fragrances in them. Wallflowers, Glade Plug-Ins, detergents, most candles unless they’re organic, shampoos, deodorants, lotions, conditioners, cosmetics, perfumes and lots more.
Remember the word fragrance is a cluster ingredient and can mean any of upwards of 3,100 synthetic chemicals are included in that one name.
Here are the steps to take to make your home healthy and toxin-free:
- Educate yourself about which ingredients are harmful. You can start here by learning about toxic cleaning ingredients (many of which are found in candles and other toiletries and home goods)
- Become a label reader
- Be aware of what you’re using and if you are making a deposit into your health bank account or a withdrawal
- Vote with your dollars
Become a Toxin Detector to Protect Yourself and Help Your Friends
My family and I immediately know when we walk into a home that has synthetic air fresheners because we all start having symptoms of runny noses, headaches, restlessness, irritability, sneezing and more. The less fragrance and toxins you use in your home, the more evident it will be to you when you enter the home of someone who does. Even better is that you can pass on this information and help them become aware too because chances are, they have no idea how the chemicals that are made to smell so good are actually affecting their health.
Let’s Clean up our Indoor Air Friends
Now that you know what fragrance is, where it can be found, why it’s harmful and what products are laden with fragrance, are you going to make a point to eliminate it from the products you purchase and use? I’d love to hear about any healthy success stories you have when you reduce the pollutants and contaminants in your home! Comment below and let me know.
If you’re wondering, click >>here<< for my NUMBER 1 replacement for items with fragrance.
I know this is an old article but… What are your views on Incense? I’m quite curious.
Hi Andy, I am not a fan of incense at all. I think it is dangerous for the body. Here is what incense if often comprised of: “A typical composition of stick incense consists of 21% (by weight) of herbal and wood powder, 35% of fragrance material, 11% of adhesive powder, and 33% of bamboo stick.” (1). I do not want any of that floating in the air in my home making it an extremely toxic environment to breathe in. Personally, I use diffusers with doTERRA essential oils where I know the molecules in my air are beneficial to my health, my family’s health and my animal’s health. Good question! I hope that helps. Definitely read the study I linked above and you will learn a lot more about how it negatively affects respiratory healthy and cardiovascular health. It’s not a healthy choice.
I don’t use these scents in my house but I will say my house stinks. It stinks like old house, cat pee, dog poop, baby stink… How can I get rid of these bad smells? I am guessing cleaners with scents are also a no go. PS Not A fan of too much housework
Hi Jayne,
It’s great to hear you don’t use synthetic scents in your home. That’s a great choice for your health. The best way to get rid of the smell is find the root cause. Where is it coming from? Find out and eradicate the source. Using scents will only mask the smell. It’s kind of like addressing our health. Taking pills just masks the root cause and is like band-aid. Conversely, discovering the root cause and address it and healing can be found. With that, if you do need a solution for simple, non-toxic cleaning, you’ll probably want to check out this cleaning kit bundle that will teach you all you need to thoroughly clean your home. https://feastingonjoy.com/EssentialOilCleaners You can do as I do and hire cleaners who will actually clean your home with these cleaning recipes. Saves you from doing the work and gets your house sparkling clean with no chemicals.
Hello and thank you for your helpful article. What do you think of essential oil that says Theraputic Grade. Does this mean anything as far as it being organic?
Hi Tammy, Great question! Therapeutic is just a word just like “Natural” is. Though it can mean something, there is A LOT more to look for in a brand of essential oils than the word “Therapeutic.” I would definitely not consider this word to mean organic. It should mean of medicinal quality. There are two articles I wrote that I think will help you figure out how to choose a safe, pure and effective brand of oils. The articles are Do Your Essential Oils Have Heavy Metals in Them? and 5 Very Important Aspect to Consider When Choosing an Essential Oil Brand. I hope that helps! Blessings, Jennifer
Is there anyway to make a public school stop using candles?
Hi Gina,
You can’t really “make” a school stop but if it were me, I would start with educating. Schedule a meeting with the principle and do your research ahead of time to educate him on the perils of fragrance, lead and paraffin wax. Put a nice report together for him or her to read. Maybe gather stories from individuals who have gotten ill due to toxic scented candles. If you make an appeal in this way, it’s likely to be heard and understood. Make it about the children (which it is) and help them see the damage that can be done. Hope that helps!
While I am with you on the concerns of Fragrance having such detrimental effects to our health, I am not however with you on the Scentsy thing and here is why…. Yes, it is a disappointment that they have not responded to you, that i totally agree with. But since they haven’t written back, you truly don’t know what is in their product or maybe to know why they choose to not keep a full list open to the public. In this article, you seemed to be speaking as if you have received those answers and I feel that it is demeaning to their company as a whole.
I did learn a ton reading this article, don’t get me wrong i thoroughly enjoyed it. But it was just those bits and pieces is all. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Hi AmBar, thank you for reaching out and your kinds words. I am glad you learned from this article and enjoyed it! You are right in that I don’t know ALL of the ingredients they use because they won’t share them. I don’t patronize ANY company who has “secret” ingredients these days. Transparency is queen! The ingredients I do know about like paraffin, DEP and fragrance (which I covered in the post) are enough to make me steer clear of their products. I definitely don’t want any of those floating around in my home for my lungs, my animal’s lungs, my kid’s lungs or my husband’s lungs. We don’t use fragrance of any kind in our home from any company. The detrimental health effects are not worth it at all. Enjoy your week!
Someone in my office always has their Scentsy running and usually did not bother me and typically like the scents. There was a scent in there last week that made my eyes water and was sneezing, could not concentrate and felt like I was going crazy. I did approach her the next day about the scent and that I possibly had an allergic reaction. I am normally very healthy but have not felt well since that day. I don’t know if I was getting sick and could not tolerate the smell. I came across this site as I was looking for Scentsy ingredients and what possibly set me off that day. I seriously felt if I had to smell that every day that I would have to quit my job….pretty dramatic from a scent. After reading your site will stick to my diffuser and essential oils. Throwing out the Scentsy cubes and I will forgo the candles. Thank you for the information.
Kim, I am so glad you were able to pinpoint what the cause was. These fragrances are truly toxic. Even when we don’t feel directly sick from it our liver can get so burdened processing the fragrance. That causes a cascade effect of being unwell! Thanks for sharing your story. It’s great to hear you are sticking with EO’s. They are truly the way to go!
I am just now ordering a stop on all scentsy and any other fragrant things in my home! My husband and I hardly ever got sick. Our daughter, her husband and our 2 yo granddaughter live with us now and we have been sick with the usual colds that go around since they moved in. However, we have all been sick with some type of virus (after all of us being on antibiotics and the daughter and hubs also had flu) since October! As soon as antibiotics were finished, everyone started feeling sick again, nasal discharge, head congestion, etc. Now, it may be just a winter of viruses, one on top of the other but looking back at my scentsy order (first one), it was in late summer/early fall when I started melting them in the warmers. One in the dining room, one in my bedroom, one in daughter and her hubs bedroom, one in the family room. Oh my. I’m ordering a cease and desist (lol) from all of the fragrant makers in my home for at least a week!!!
Tammy, that sounds like an excellent idea to stop the fragrance in your home. It’s great you connected the symptoms with the cause. If it were me, I would be stopping it for at least 30 days so your bodies can detox and so you can clearly see the correlation. Best wishes on your endeavors! Blessings, Jennifer
How can I read and be part of this wonderful progress. I’m thankful for you sharing. I am chemcial senstivity and my oh my, it is a chemical filled word. Can I sign up to get these articles in my box?
Thanks
Vicky H
Hi Vicky,
It’s great to hear from you! I have two weekly newsletters. The Feasting On Joy (FOJ) one is about all things holistic health and healing for women. The FeastingOnJoy Oils (FOJO) is all about using essential oils safely, effectively and therapeutically. You can sign up here: FOJ >> https://feastingonjoy.com/FOJNewsletter FOJO >> https://feastingonjoy.com/FOJONewsletter I can’t wait to welcome you to the Feasting On Joy Community! Blessings, Jennifer
Thank you for the information . Please share this with everyone whoever is reading this. I am highly sensitive to any fragrance since I had a brain injury in 1997. Soon as I smell fragrance I Immediately get, foggy thinking, sleepy, lethargic, and I start crying because I know that when I leave the room with plugins or Scentsy pots even if immediately I won’t feel better till the next day. People wearing perfume make me sick in the same way. Limits contact with people at funerals weddings shopping social functions.. I had no idea until looking on this site how many bad chemicals in fragrance. I thank my family, children siblings friends for understanding my sensitivity. Most people don’t. I pray there is some rules and regulations made immediately with fragrance and petroleum-based fragrance makers for lack of a better term. I’m going to become proactive. Write 2 companies, legislature, EPA or whomever I need to to help.
I am the 54 year old poster-child for candle-related illnesses. For the past 3 years I have had bronchitis at least 3 times a year with each sickness lasting 3-4 months. I would be so sick that I couldn’t get out of bed at times and was routinely using 2 different types of inhalers. I always felt like I was in a fog and was tired all the time, had thinning hair and was depressed because I was constantly sick and in pain. On top of everything else, I developed a frozen shoulder that limited my range of motion and use of my left arm for about a year. Everything mimicked Hashimoto’s so when the test results came back negative for any thyroid issues, I was in total disbelief because I was staying sick all the time. I assumed an autoimmune disorder was attacking my body.
Anyone who knows me knows my addiction to candles. I live in a small apartment but It was nothing for me to have 5 candles lit each evening in the rooms where I was sitting, in addition to the Scentsy burner in the kitchen. I routinely gave candles as Christmas and birthday gifts. I have a cabinet FULL of candles, room sprays, and melts (It’s going to make me so sad to get rid of them!).
I don’t know what clicked – maybe it was a God thing – but about 2 months ago, I thought to myself that the candles may be the source of all my medical issues so I stopped burning candles as well as using the burner. Later I read online about the toxic emissions that scented candles put out. You have no idea how relieved I was to finally figure out the cause and CURE to all my pains. Later on I stopped using dryer sheets and replaced my scented detergent to one that is clear and free of any scent. I can honestly say I feel better than I have in years! I’m exercising again and looking forward to going places instead of being confined to my bed or couch. I feel like I have my life back.
Tam your story is amazing! I am so blessed that you shared and I know others who read it will be too. What an inspiration that you made those changes started feeling better. Great job! I know that you sharing your story will absolutely impact someone else positively. Praise God you are feeling better! Keep up the good work. Blessings, Jennifer
Hello!
I found this to be an incredible read, thank you so much for taking the time to put this together. We have been a candle free home for about 5 years now. However my husband just got word that bath and body works now sells essential oil candles and suggest we try them out. What is your advice for that? Would you personally allow them in your home? We diffuse EO’s daily but I do sometimes wish that I could be able to smell the scent from more places in my house then just the small area around the diffuser.
Thank you Lensie! It’s great to hear from you. As far as the essential oil candles, I still would not allow them in my home. Here are the reasons: The wax is still toxic, the wicks are still toxic and the essential oil is most likely toxic. You see, not all essential oils are created equal. The quality, efficacy and safety of an essential come down to how the plant was grown (did it have pesticides or herbicides sprayed on it? etc.), how it was harvested (did they use plastic and is the EO laden with phthalates? etc.), how it was tested – or not (does the EO contain heavy metals, fungus, harmful constituents from synthetics? etc.), and how it was bottled (did the company test that their bottles were free from mold, fungus, and rancid filler oils? etc.) All of those thing REALLY matter when it comes to the safety of an essential oil. Consequently, because I can almost guarantee that the EO’s in B&BW candles don’t meet those standards (plus all the other points I made above about wax and wicks), I would not be using those candles. The change I have made is that I buy electric candles for the ambiance. For the scent, I use doTERRA essential oils in a diffuser and I have a different diffuser for almost every room of my house to help spread the scents. I used to have a candle for every room of my house and now I switched to diffusers! I hope that helps answer your questions Lensie. Enjoy your day!
Great Post!
I am highly sensitive to fragrance so my body screams at me with many symptoms when I am exposed to it.
I am trying to remove the scentsy fragrance from the wall of a home we just purchased and cannot move in until it is gone. The oil has obviously permeated the paint. I have washed the wall with vinegar x3. That has reduced the scent but it is still there. Do you have any suggestions on how to neutralize the fragrance? I am thinking of trying ammonia next. If that doesn’t work I’m thinking I will have to use a paint product like Kilz. :(. Would much rather use an organic method.
Hi Sandra,
Thanks!
I’m in the same boat as you are. We just moved into a house where the previous owner LOVED Wall Flowers. They were everywhere. The fragrance got into the walls, paint, carpets, and even cabinets. It’s SO toxic. Basically, what we’ve had to do when it comes to the paint is sand off the surface of the paint and then repaint. We use Benjamin Moore Natura Line which has no VOC’s. Unfortunately, as effective as Kilz would be, it is still toxic so you’d be trading one toxin for another. Ammonia would also be toxic. Another solution before repainting would be to add Purify Essential Oil to the vinegar cleaning solution and see if it removes the fragrance. You can get some of that here: http://bit.ly/2xUSJvP I hope that helps and you are able to move into your new house soon!
Ionizer can be rented and take toxins and scents smells out of the air and out of paint…it has to be used with no living things…ie…pets are out of the house . ..plants are out of the house . ..anything living…renting one ischeaper than anything regarding health.
I have severe chemical sensitivities. In order to make my house safe from the nasty scented chemicals in my walls, I had to scrub the walls with TSP then seal them with BIN. Once the BIN cured it left no odor and the oils could not eat through it. Then I painted the walls with Safecoat paint and Sherwin Williams hospital paint. It’s a real pain, but very necessary! I used a mask and gloves when using the BIN and had to get help from friends who are not sensitive. I made the mistake one time of just painting and not sealing off a room that inscence had been used in. Even though I cleaned the walls with TSP the oils that had settled deep into the sheetrock still made their way through the the paint and I had to clean, seal and paint. That is how I discovered how important the BIN step was! Hope this helps you.
Thank. you for your article! I was wondering about your Scentsy FAQ’s link….I clicked on it and read it, but when I go to their site, I do not see this info there when I click on their FAQ section. So I was wondering when you got this info., as they have obviously changed it.
Thank you!
Carrie
Hi Carrie,
Great question! They have since changed their verbiage. More often than not, you’ll find they have replaced the word “fragrance” with “scent.” And instead of finding the phrase “enhance your home with more than 80 fragrances” on the Scentsy site anymore, you’ll see it used by their resellers. You’ll also note that in their blog they talk about how they use ‘natural’ and synthetic fragrance and boast of them being safe from the EPA. Dig a little and you will find that the EPA doesn’t have the best interest of the public at heart so touting something is safe due to the EPA does not hold any water with me. Since I wrote this post, Scentsy has changed their entire site which is not uncommon as websites usually change about every two years. Their FAQ section is very watered down now and finding out any real detail is very hard. I do still find that they say not to ingest a lot of their products, get them on your skin or breathe them in. That’s a telltale sign that it’s not safe. We don’t use anything in our home that we can breathe in safely and get on our skin. Anything that’s sprayed in the air WILL get on your skin and will get inhaled into your lungs. I hope that helps! You can copy the phrase you questioned into a google search and you will see where it comes up. I did also want to say that this post is not an all-out attack on Scentsy per se. Rather an attack on fragrance. We need to be aware and unfortunately, as much as Scentsy is loved by many, they use fragrance in their products which are harmful to health. Have a wonderful night and thanks for your inquiry!
Thank you! I totally agree with you. I use to sell Scentsy and loved to have the yummy “scents” in my home. I believed they were “ok” to use, but now know better. Due to health issues, I can not anymore. I too use essential oils.
You’re welcome, Carrie
Hey there,
Did scentsy ever write you back? I’m curious because I was given a neat product from a dear friend who is a consultant. I’m reluctant to get rid of it for that reason. However, I’ve recently became a huge EO user, and chemicals freak me out.
Hi Bethany, Great question! Unfortunately, no, Scentsy has never responded to my inquiry. It’s very disappointing. It’s smart to be wary of chemicals and they will most definitely hinder your health. Maybe you could find a way to get this post in front of your friend. She may not even know the ramifications or know there is danger in what she is using or what she gave you.
Jennifer,
What are your views on Scentsy Oils? I’m currently a Scentsy consultant and im constantly promoting how there products are all natural because they say they are. I’ve been to multiple seminars on Scentsy and there company as a whole is like a family. Orville and Heidi, the owners of the company are wonderful people as well. This whole post has made me entirely sad. I know you’re not attacking Scentsy but ive been with the company for years now and I just don’t understand how this can all be true. It seems more like a promotion on essential oils and the downgrading of anything that smells nice? Not personal i’m just curious how this could even be remotely true…
Hi Kayla,
Thanks for reaching out with a kind, genuine, and constructive conversation. I appreciate it. At this point, I wasn’t aware that Scentsy had essential oils. I have not researched their EO’s but when I look at any company for essential oils – these are the tests they MUST do (via third party) for me to even consider using them. Also, they must be willing to share the reports on these tests with the consumer: Optical Rotation detects synthetic additives not picked up by GC/MS, Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) which establishes the fingerprint of a pure essential oil, Refractive Index (RI) detects whether an oil has been adulterated, Organoleptic uses human four senses to detect counterfeit oils, Specific Gravity detects contamination of oil by synthetics, herbicides, pesticides, heavy metals, molds, fungi, Microbial detects harmful biohazardous pathogens like Salmonella, E.Coli, etc. as well as yeast, molds and fungi, GC measures the purity of an oil by reading the type and amount of each constituent found in an essential oil, MS measures the potency of an oil and detects contaminants, Carbon 14 Isotope testing determines that the oil came from a plant and is not synthetic and doesn’t have adulterants like petroleum products in the oil., Heavy Metal Testing/ICP-MS detects the presence of harmful heavy metals like lead, aluminum, mercury, nickel and more. If Scentsy does all those tests on their essential oils and grows their plants indigenously and doesn’t use brokers then they would have the green light from my wellness standards. If you want to learn more about this topic read this post: https://feastingonjoy.com/do-your-essential-oils-have-heavy-metals/
In regard to the words “natural” and “because they say so,” that just doesn’t hold water for me anymore. With the years of research and formal education I have under my belt being a practitioner, and my own healing of my body, I had to become my own advocate. Even with doTERRA, the founders are nice and good people much like you say Orville and Heidi are. However, I still do my research on the company, products, and ingredients and, in fact, there are a few of their supplements and toiletries I cannot stand by or promote due to added ingredients that I know are damaging to health. We are working with the company to get those few ingredients out of product formulation so I can recommend everything.
Here are some great resources for learning more about terminology used today for product marketing that doesn’t really mean anything: http://www.safecosmetics.org/fragrance-disclosure/learn-more/health-effects-chemical-concern/
http://www.safecosmetics.org/fragrance-disclosure/learn-more/trade-secrets/
http://www.safecosmetics.org/get-the-facts/
https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2018/01/natural-or-organic-cosmetics-don-t-trust-marketing-claims
I have to say I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE things that smell nice. I also love a beautifully lit candle. I have them all over my bathroom and near my bathtub. Smells and scents have amazing power in our limbic brain to create good feelings and trigger good memories. My home is not devoid of beautiful smells and burning candles. I just use different products – diffusers with safe essential oils, beeswax candles or even homemade candles with essential oils. I worked too hard to bring my health back from being on my death bed and I don’t want my kiddos to have to go through what I did, so when I became my own advocate, I chose to eliminate toxic ingredients from not only my diet but from my lifestyle. I hope this helps Kayla! I am sorry for how this affects your business. Sometimes new knowledge can be really hard to swallow. I do suggest digging in and doing more of your own research. Take care. Cheers to your health!
I couldn’t agree more! I’ve had seizures, anaphylaxis, and other ugly symptoms from fragrances so I’m really hoping this kind of information gets saturated throughout different mediums. Who knows? Maybe the harm of fragrances could be the next “gluten-free movement.” One can hope!
The health problems are real Sarah! Thanks for telling your story. Be sure to share the post to help more and more people become aware. It would be wonderful it was the next “movement!”
What is your opinion about country scent candles? They say they are FDA approved and kosher certified 100% Soy products and use 100% pure essential oils? They also say its chemical and dye free (their waxes r white-ish) i got a couple of their products and it doesn’t seem to bother my asthma like bath n body Works and such does.
Hi Patricia,
Any “scented” candles are a not something I use. They are scented with fragrance which is what this article speaks strongly against. Furthermore, if they’re soy-based, chances are they are GMO soy and also not good to use. As far as the “100% essential oils” that honestly would mean nothing to me. Being a Certified Essential Oil Coach I know the importance of using essential oils that are either certified organic or wild-crafted using superior growing, testing and harvesting protocols. There are only a select few companies that do this when it comes to essential oils. We have used this brand, which meets all those criteria, for 5 years and stand behind their oils and company processes 100%. I also wanted to mention that FDA Approval means nothing in my opinion. In fact, it can often tell me it’s something to steer clear from. The FDA approves many things that are detrimental to our health like natural flavors which are a combination of up to 1000 chemicals including GMO substances. They do the same with fragrance which is also a conglomeration of nasty chemicals that I speak about in this article. They have approved putting propylene glycol in foods which is also known as anti-freeze. I could go on and on. So needless to say the FDA stamp of approval is not validating. If you want to use candles, use a beeswax version and if you want a scent then put some fresh, wildcrafted 100% pure essential oils in an ultrasonic diffuser and your health with thank you. Even if your asthma isn’t affected by these scented candles other parts of your body are (even if you can’t feel it. Thanks for reaching out!
Do you know much about Young Living essential oils? I have been using them for about a year now and they appear to be everything you describe although I am taking someone else’s word for it because I do not know how to read labels :-\
Hi Shelly,
I do know a good amount about Young Living Oils as well as doTERRA and a few other companies. It’s really important if you are using essential oils that you educate yourself about them and learn to understand their labels and chemistry as well as some other really important factors. True essential oils are very potent and should always be used with education and safety. That’s one of the things we prioritize in the FeastingOnJoy Oils family. We always make sure that our team is educated and knows how to use their essential oils safely and effectively.
(I have a post scheduled on this very soon) When choosing a brand of oils there are several factors to consider. I won’t get into them all here because they will be in the blog post. As a Certified Essential Oil Coach, I don’t ever purchase oils that don’t meet all of the requirements I will share in that post. A few of the factors are that every single essential oil is grown indigenously. That means that it only grows in its natural environment and is not farmed un-naturally or without sustainability. The second major factor is that the plants are grown and harvested by knowledgeable farmers who know the exact times to plant, harvest and distill the plant matter. This can come down to a matter of hours to get the best potency from a plant’s oils. Another important item to consider is the testing that the company does on the plants AND oils. Do they test the soil, the water, the plant, the oil, the bottles? If not, the finished product could be riddled with synthetics, GMO’s, pesticides, herbicides, molds, funguses and heavy metals. Furthermore, is the company willing to share those results with its consumers openly? Transparency is VITAL! Does the company use third party testing to ensure that every single batch of oil is truly pure? Another important point is about when a company uses brokers – or a middleman. If and when a company uses these the bottom line is the profit margin, not the quality of the oil. Quantity is prioritized over quality. This causes many problems in the effectiveness and safety of the essential oil that goes to consumers. There are many other things to consider which I can’t get into now. Stay tuned for the blog post on this. Be sure you are subscribed so you will get notified.
I love everything scented. Its a daily thing for me. I mean from the house, to the car, myself! Its an addiction. I don’t consider myself fully dressed until I’ve sprayed myself with one of my favorite perfumes. I am painfully aware of the toxins a lot of scented things have in them and since I can’t seem to do without them I’ve been trying my best to make better choices which led me to your post. I have been trying to stick to essential oils for the home, I look for 100%, but I’m so glad of your advise to make sure its certified organic.
Again I’m trying to make better choices. I’ve tried beeswax melts but don’t like the smell. I’m going to try adding some essential oil to see if it makes a difference. I also use from time to time the better homes & gardens essential oil infused wax(lemongrass and ginger – aromatherapy), but as you stated they never put the actual ingredients on their labels. Smells really good and knowone in my home seems to have any negative reactions that we know of. I recently tried Tuscany candle premium satin wax with essential oils – soy blend. Have you heard of them before? I’m not sure if it caused it, but I got a stomach ache as soon as it started burning. I tried the lemon sugar cookie which smells so good, But its very loud. With my addiction to scents and tolerance I always tell people if it makes me sick, you know something’s wrong with it. Lol. Just curious on your thoughts on this so called essential soy blend?
Hi Teresa,
I haven’t heard of this candle company. However, after looking them up after you mentioned them, I personally would not use them. They say nothing about their wicks not having lead in them or anything about their “fragrance.” I would say this company falls in line with all the other candle companies and are just as toxic. Get away from candles and switch to diffusing 100% pure doTERRA essential oils. They are the only oils on the market where every lot is tested multiple times by several certified third party labs to be found not to have heavy metals, molds, fungi, contaminants like pesticides and herbicides or adulteration. I have researched all the top well-known EO companies and found none that compare when it comes to quality, purity and testing. You can see this post to learn more. If you need the ambiance of the candle, then get battery powered ones or make your own with lead-free wicks and beeswax.
This is excellent and hits on so many issues with fragrance toxicity. Too many people believe its not doing them harm because they are having no immediate adverse event. Instead of thinking about that high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid disease they suffer from.
So true Sherrie!
Yes, I hate when people say things like “Well I’ve used it all my life and it hasn’t hurt me”
I’m just thinking, “How do you know you don’t have cancer or something manifesting in your body?! Just because they are fine right now, they think it’s fine forever. ?
Thank you for writing this. I developed a chronic blood cancer that causes high blood histamine among other things causing me to be allergic to the modern world. Chemicals and fragrances cause reactions that impact me for days afterwards. Migraines, brain fog, swelling of body allover causing horrible muscle and joint pains, extreme fatigue, asthma and hay fever like symptoms. I am due to fragrances and chemicals quite limited where I can go. Wearing a carbon filter mask helps some but many chemicals can be absorbed through our skin too.
I am blessed by family and a few friends that get it and have gone to extra measures to make their homes safer for me and have quit using fragrances and chemical cleaning products and switching to natural products. I would love that to become the norm in our world!
Hi Deb, I am so sorry about your blood cancer and your intense sensitivities to fragrance. It truly is a toxin. Have you looked into Dr. Pompa’s or Dr. Todd Watt’s work? They dive deep into repairing a person’s cells. I wonder if repairing your cells would help with the high blood histamine and chronic blood cancer? What a blessing that your family is supportive and understanding! That makes all the difference in the world. I would also love it to become the norm is our society! Maybe someday!
I so agree with you. I wish our world would stop all the chemcials, except for what has to be used. All this other stuff needs to stop. From smells in shoes now, oils, perfume, in our cars, house, jobs, offices, banks, gee it’s hard for me to get a check cash because of the lotions and perfumes on the tellers hands. I keep a ziplock bag in my car and put my money in it until I can get home for it to air out because everyone has to wear everything. Help us Jesus!
So very true – it is great to see a well written article about this. And the added trouble with fragrance and the chemicals is it affects those around you. Those sprays don’t stay in your house, they are on you and can harm the people you come in contact with every day. People with allergies, breathing troubles and MCS all suffer from contact with fragrance on others – standing in line, in waiting rooms, on public transportation, etc. You, your family and your pets are healthier without them. Clean has no smell and can’t be reproduced in a candle or spray.
Yes! Clean has no smell. You are so right Raya! Hopefully someday more and more people will understand the problem with synthetic fragrance and the chemicals in our world and we can move to a cleaner, safer existence.
I wonder if anyone else has noticed Febreeze and ozium make their lips tingle? I can spray the smallest amount, keeping my mouth closed, walk out of the room without breathing, and within seconds my lips are tingling. This is a BAD sign.
what about soy candles??
Hi Joe, Great question! Soy is not my first choice for a candle either. Soy candles (even 100% pure) still have to be manufactured with some parrafin. Some soy candles have more than others. Plus, soy is a genetically modified crop. My motto is that we vote with our dollars and if we purchase a GMO product we are only encouraging the manufacturers to make more. Plus, since it is GMO, it will be getting in your air and in turn into your lungs. It’s really not a good choice. My number one choice is a beeswax candle.
Personally, I have had to give up on candles altogether since burning them gives me respiratory problems. I always wondered if melting wax (like the Scentsy products) would give me a less harmful experience but I hadn’t considered the toxins in the fragrance itself. Guess I will stick with baking to give my home the apple pie smell in the fall 😉
Kim, you can bake or diffuse grade 1 essential oils (doTERRA)! MMMMM…. apple pie smell sounds amazing right now. Here’s an essential oil diffuser blend recipe if you can’t get around to making a real apple pie: 3 drops Douglas Fir, 2 drops Cinnamon, 3 drops Citrus Bliss. Enjoy!
I’m looking into healthier options for a public space and am learning a lot from your site and the comments here – so thanks! But I’m confused about this comment about GMO’s. How does the modification of genes affect air quality?
Hi Maria, It’s great to hear from you! Kudos to you for looking into healthier options. I am glad you are learning a lot here! As far as GMO’s specifically, there is nothing about the modified organism that will affect air quality. It WILL affect physical health though. Where the problems lie with GMO’s and the air is that Genetically Modified plants have an abundance of herbicides and pesticides sprayed on them (higher than other plants). That was why they were developed – to be able to withstand pests and all the chemicals without dying. With that, those herbicides and pesticides (including glyphosate) get distilled down into concentrated amounts when an essential oil is manufactured from them. Similarly, when was contains GMO soy, it will contain higher levels of these harmful, disease-causing chemicals which will get into the air. I hope that clarifies it for you! Blessings.
This is super informative.
Thanks for posting.
Our world today is so polluted by fragrance chemicals!!
Everywhere!!
It’s hard to find a safe bathroom to use with out risking getting sprayed by a fragrance emitting device on the wall.
And the toxic mix of super strong irritant chemicals that exude from neighbors home dryers vents is overwhelming!!
As cigarette consumption has decreased so has the production and marketing of these fragrance products.
Companies must have venues to push their fragrant chemicals onto the unsuspecting consumer.
How they get away with such false advertising ….using termed like Freshness, and removes odors is criminal!
Cancer rates, Autismn, Asthma, all on the rise in the last decades…
We are not powerless.
We need to stop buying the hyped educate, and inform and lobby for truth in labeling.
Essential Oils are not he answer either. They contain terpenes, and also create formaldehyde in the air.
Thanks for this great article!
Hi Liz, You’re welcome! I remember recently when I was in a dressing room at a store and they were literally pumping perfume through the vents right above me. It was awful! I got out of there quickly. The sad part is that I got home and the clothing I purchased still smelled like the nasty fragrance. I wrote the company. Hopefully, they stop! I would like to comment on what you said about essential oils too. The change I would make to your statement is “LOW Quality” essential oils are not the answer. They are just as harmful as chemicals because they are filled with synthetics which cause damage in our bodies. However, high quality, wild-crafted, filler free, chemical free, contaminant free essential oils can be amazing for scents and for healing benefits. Indeed, essential oils DO contain terpenes but they are God-made not man made and there is a HUGE difference in how our body processes them. In an extremely high ozonated area, like where a factory is present and there’s extremely high heat or a lot of vehicular traffic, limonene can produce some formaldehyde. However, these highly ozonated areas are not the norm at all so there is really not an alarm. It’s also good to know that the more house plants you have the more they can process things like formaldehyde out of your home air as well. Personally, I’d be more concerned about the paint, furniture, carpet, etc in my house off-gassing formaldehyde than an essential oil. Thanks for your comment. I love to hear from my readers!
I attended a talk in Jasper, Alberta about 20 years ago about the dangers of toxic chemicals in our households and it was eye opening. According to the presentation Tide is one of the worst! Since then I’ve been so careful about scents/fragrances but I’m shocked at the lack of knowledge out there considering knowledge is so accessible nowadays! So many people have air fresheners in their cars, Scentsy candles in their homes (and most of them reek) and most disturbing of all is the amount of people who use those toxic Bounce sheets. I smell them very frequently when out on walks and bike rides. Why are so many people still clueless about these dangers? I’ve known for 20 years!
Hi Jenny,
Sadly, there is a blindness going on. It happens for several reasons I believe. One is that people don’t want to know because they think it’s too hard to change. Another is denial and mistrust. They don’t necessarily believe that these toxins are as bad for them as they really are. And, lastly, which is a combination of the first two, people know the truth but they sweep it under the rug because they think nothing will happen to them. This reality is sad because the generations to come will show through disease rise that turning a blind eye wasn’t really helpful. Another thing is that the toxins are so much more prevalent than 20 years ago when you learned about them and so the danger is even higher. If changes were truly made 20 years ago, the population would be so much better off!