Thoughts on Fragrance & Our Candle Ingredients
Fragrance is a controversial ingredient, because it isn’t actually an ingredient at all. Although all other ingredients in personal care products must be disclosed on the label by their specific name, the “fragrance loophole” in US federal labeling law means that any ingredients added for scent can be listed under the generic term “fragrance.”
The International Fragrance Association publishes a list of over 3,000 ingredients used by perfumers in commercial fragrance, and many of them such as styrene (which is a carcinogen) are problematic.
Fragrance manufacturers in the US aren’t required to disclose every compound in fragrance oils, which makes ingredient transparency extremely difficult for small cosmetic and personal care brands like ours.
Manufacturers are required to disclose ingredients that could be hazardous on Safety Data Sheets, but not all other ingredients.
For our candles, we use ISO (international standard organization) 9235 certified all-natural fragrance oils made by a small manufacturer in California. Below are the full ingredients for our candles:
- Blend of sustainably and ethically sourced beeswax, coconut, palm, and soy waxes (no paraffin whatsoever)
- Untreated wood wicks sourced in the US; FSC certified
- ISO 9235 Certified all natural fragrance and essential oils (which are phthalate, paraben, human toxin, and carcinogen free)
Our fragrance oils are made from naturally derived aromatic plant extracts and essential oils. Unlike most commercially available fragrance oils, ours do not contain synthetic ingredients, environmental toxins, known or suspected carcinogens, known endocrine disrupters, or phthalates.
They are the best quality we’ve found in the US despite limited transparency here due to the fragrance loophole, but they aren’t perfect yet.
One of our big goals for the future is to partner with a fragrance house to develop a fully transparent, EWG certified fragrance oil in the US.
We’d love to know your thoughts on fragrance, so join us in the comments!