I want to start with something important: this is not a post about fear.
Most people who use synthetic fragrance in their skincare and body care live their whole lives without issue. I am not writing this to alarm anyone, or to suggest that every scented product on the shelf is dangerous. That would be dishonest, and it is not how I want to talk about formulation.
This is a post about a decision I made when I started Eartha, why I made it, and what it means for every product we put out.
How I got here
Before Eartha, I was going through a personal shift. Becoming more intentional about what I put on my body. Not from a place of anxiety, but from a growing sense that I wanted to understand what I was using and why.
Fragrance was one of the first things I looked into. And what I found wasn't alarming exactly, but it was interesting enough to make me think.
What synthetic fragrance actually is
Synthetic fragrance is a catch-all term. On an ingredient list, it appears as parfum or fragrance, a single word that can represent anywhere from a handful to hundreds of individual chemical compounds. Brands are not required to disclose what those compounds are, because fragrance formulas are legally protected as trade secrets.
That means when you see parfum on a label, you are looking at one word that could represent an enormous amount of chemistry you have no visibility into.
For most people, most of the time, that is fine. Fragrance compounds go through safety testing. Most are not harmful at the concentrations used in cosmetics.
But some are known skin sensitisers. Some are identified as potential hormone disruptors at higher concentrations. And the research on long-term cumulative exposure is still developing.
None of this is a scandal. It is just the honest picture of what synthetic fragrance is.
Why I chose not to use it
When I was formulating Eartha, I had a choice. I could use synthetic fragrance, which would give me more control over scent stability, more options, and lower cost. Or I could use only essential oils, which would limit my palette, behave differently on skin, and cost more to source well.
I chose essential oils. Not because synthetic fragrance is dangerous, but because I wanted to know exactly what was in every bottle. I wanted to be able to look at an Eartha ingredient list and have a clear answer for every single thing on it.
With essential oils, I have that. Each one is chosen for what it smells like, how it interacts with skin, and where it comes from. There are no umbrella terms. No hidden complexity.
That transparency felt non-negotiable for a brand built on the idea that you should know what you're putting on your body.
What this means in practice
Every Eartha product is scented only with essential oils and CO2 extracts. No synthetic fragrance, no fragrance-derived compounds, no parfum.
This means the scents behave differently from what you might be used to. Essential oils and CO2 extracts have a softer, more skin-close presence than synthetic fragrance. They do not project as far or last as long on fabric. On skin, they interact with your body heat and develop slightly differently on everyone.
That is not a flaw. It is what makes them feel personal rather than perfume-like.
It also means that for people who want no fragrance at all, essential oils are still a consideration. That is why the 0. range exists, for anyone who wants the same formula with no scent of any kind.
What I am still figuring out
I want to be honest that this is not a closed conversation for me.
Essential oil sourcing is complex. Quality varies significantly between suppliers. Some extraction methods are more sustainable than others. The environmental footprint of certain essential oils is real and worth thinking about.
These are things I am still learning and still making decisions on. I do not have perfect answers to all of it. But choosing to use only essential oils means I am at least asking the right questions about what goes into the bottle, rather than deferring to a trade secret.
