My friend Zoe, told me that she sometimes finds my posts “not that applicable to her.” What? When I asked her to clarify, she basically said that I don’t talk enough about fragrance. She is such a fragrance girl. So Zoe, this post is for you.

Fragrance, scent, it has a power to totally transport you back into your memories. Scent is therefore extremely powerful. But did you know that fragrance, conventional fragrance can be quite dangerous and federal regulators allow it to remain this way.

What am I talking about?

Well. Cosmetic companies do not have to disclose what is included in ‘fragrance,’ thus they only have to list ‘fragrance’ in the ingredients without going into detail because ‘fragrance’ is treated as a trade secret. How sneaky. So what is in this elusive ‘fragrance’? Fragrance can contain hundreds of ingredients  most often which include phthalates, which are “known hormone disruptors that might also interfere with neurological function.”(1) A 2009 National Endocrine Society put out a report which indicating that phthalates are known endocrine disruptors.(2)  ” The Endocrine Society — composed of thousands of doctors in the field — issued a powerful warning that endocrine disruptors including phthalates are ‘a significant concern to public health.'”(3)

Moreover, many of these other ingredients are known to be hazardous. “In 1989, a house subcommittee asked the National Institute of Occupational Safety And Heath to analyze 2,938 chemicals used in personal care products,” here is what they found: 884 of the ingredients were found to be toxic, 778 of those can cause acute toxicity, 146 can cause tumors, 218 can cause reproductive complications, 314 can cause biological mutations and 376 can cause skin and eye irritation.”(4)

So, whats a girl to do. This is scary and I love fragrance and so does my friend Zoe. Well, lucky for Zoe I’m on a quest. And this is my current top pick/ fave for the best fragrance out there that is 100% natural and organic, has zero synthetics and is phthalate-free.

Here it is, Honoré Des Prés Vamp A NY $98

This stuff smells A-MA-ZING! Seriously, it has undertones of vanilla, and while usually I do not like smelling like a baked good, this is anything but that. The sweetness is not annoying at all and will not have people mistake you for a 14 year old girl. The sweetness is rather pleasant when contrasted with the the Tuberose and rum, Benjoin Balm, Perou Balm and Tolu Balm (Peruvian Balsams). Whenever I put this on I cannot stop smelling myself. I’ve heard other people say the scent does not last that long, but I disagree, I find this lasts for a quite a while. The best part is that its 100% natural and organic, has zero synthetics and is phthalate-free. So you can feel free to spritz away and annoy everyone else on the subway (only because who can handle someone else’s scent on the subway- even if it is phthalate- free). But if someone asks what your wearing, be sure to share and read them the riot act about phthalates.

(1) & (2)  No More Dirty Looks (3) NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF (4) Beauty Truth