the Clean, the Dirty, and the Beautiful Side of Fragrance
If you are unsure what “fragrance”, listed on a product ingredient list, actually is, you're not alone. No one does, except the brands creating the scent. While all ingredients need to be, by law, listed on the label “fragrance” gets a pass because it’s considered a trade secret of the company. Leaving a long list of potentially harmful ingredients free to invade just about anything, from your cosmetics to your cleaning ingredients and yes, your beloved perfumes.
According to the EWG (environmental working group: a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization committed to protecting consumers by tracking the chemical safety in products and food):
“The word "fragrance" or "parfum" on the product label represents an undisclosed mixture of various scent chemicals and ingredients used as fragrance dispersants such as diethyl phthalate. Fragrance mixes have been associated with allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress and potential effects on the reproductive system.”
This is why we here at Wren and Wild do what we do. We have long understood that fumbling through ingredient lists and getting lost wondering if you’re choosing products that are beneficial rather than harmful is a pain. Trust us, we get it and we want to take the difficulty out of it for you.
Our commitment to sourcing skincare, body care & makeup without all the fillers means you’re getting only what you need, and nothing you don’t. With our carefully chosen 70+ brands, high-quality ingredients, planet-forward standards and years of expertise, we are here to support you in pursuit of the pure.
When it comes to “fragrance”, studies have shown that this ingredient in products can contain neurotoxins and hormone disruptors that don’t belong anywhere on your body or in your home. The good news is, we can love a signature scent and spray it too now that some incredible companies are stepping up and disrupting the status quo rather than our hormones. A few of our favorites; some are old obsessions, others, brand new to the Wren and Wild shelves are Lake and Skye, Heretic, The Nue Co. and Sana Jardin.
So, what exactly is a perfume without “fragrance”? Sans chemicals, companies call their beautifully scented creations, clean, natural and/or functional fragrances. Our friends at Heretic Parfum say for a fragrance to be ‘clean’ means: the company “discloses their ingredients and the product is typically created with safe synthetic materials. Most “clean” fragrances only have a few natural ingredients, or sometimes none at all.” For a scent to be ‘natural’ means: “Each ingredient is derived from a natural source. A rare practice in the fragrance industry due to high cost and lack of availability.”
“Through traditional extraction methods, like distillation, expression, and extraction, we (at Heretic) obtain essential oils, isolates, absolutes and resins from plants and flowers that we then blend into our fragrances at high concentrations to bring you the aromatherapy benefits of nature, like the calming effects of CBD and jasmine or the uplifting properties of real citrus oils, thereby making them a functional fragrance.”
We say, “Way to go, Heretic!” and “Thank you for making Dirty Hinoki”, it’s Mandy’s favorite.
The Nue Co. is new to our shelves but not new to the science of scent. They have created ‘functional’ fragrances, “developed using data insight and research into the connection between cognitive function (the brain) and the olfactory system (sense of smell)”. Designed to alter your mood depending on what you need at any given time of the day.
Be it clean, natural, functional or an intoxicating fragrance with a social conscience like our most recent addition to the Wren and Wild collection, Sana Jardin, we promise to have your back when shopping for products that are beneficial to your well-being. And we don’t think you have to sacrifice a beautiful fragrance to do so. Come by and find your signature scent today!
XO,
Team W&W