Monday, April 18, 2011

Personal Hygiene - Cologne / Perfume

Hello All!  Sorry for being MIA for several days... I am back! Back to personal hygiene.. this time with cologne and perfume.  Cologne and Perfume came from a time when people rarely bathed, and the essential oils that were used help to mask the horrible stench of not only the lack of cleanliness but also from rotting flesh and disease.  These essential oils also helped keep certain bugs and diseases away - we have discussed a couple times different essential oils that are natural bug repellents. 

As the pharmaceutical business grew - and things began to be more and more chemically altered - so did scents.  Some people have very sensitive noses and walking through a perfume section in the mall can trigger migraines.  We should all be so lucky.  This sensitivity typically isn't affected with essential oils - only with chemically modified perfumes / colognes. 

Many of the most common ingredients in our perfumes and colognes are toxic if inhaled or if sprayed on skin... umm... isn't that exactly what we do with perfume and cologne?  And more than 300 of the most popular ingredients in cologne / perfume have been known to cause cancer, and to lead to infertility and other reproductive problems. 

An important thing to remember.  I was told several years ago, when I started getting very serious about Natural Medicine that anything that goes on your skin should be able to be eaten - why?  Because it goes into your bloodstream anyway... and since your skin is your largest and most exposed organ - you need to ensure that you are taking very good care of it - it protects the rest of your body from toxins and organisms.  So, why would you put something on your skin that is toxic??  Because we don't know any better.  Mix some essential oils and create your own signature scent - it isn't hard to do...

Recommended Reading - creating your own signature scents - Naturally - http://www.bio-byte.com/articles/MakePerfume_02.shtml
More recommended reading - creating your own perfume - http://www.squidoo.com/Natural_Perfumery

Now, with both of these - they start out with pure flowers and herbs - you can use the good essential oils and mix them with a clear base oil.. While there are no specific perfume recipes in my favorite herbal recipe book - she does explain about all your different bases, and oils.  If you haven't picked it up yet - it is a great book with lots and lots of good uses and inexpensive.  Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health. 

Recommended Reading - dangers of common elements in perfume / cologne: http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/hrfragrance.htm
Recommended Reading - report on ingredients in cologne / perfume: http://www.ewg.org/notsosexy
Recommended Reading - dangers of perfume / cologne (she has some parts incorrect - but most of her content is good) - http://dherbs.com/articles/dangers-perfume-cologne-165.html

You will see that these dangerous ingredients aren't just limited to perfume they are in shampoos, shaving creams, lotions, detergent, softening sheets, softening rinses, etc... read your labels!  research your ingredients!

Blessings... E

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