Why Fragrance-Free Skin Care Products are Best

In this article:
How skin reacts to fragrance
Is fragrance free better?
Is fragrance free better for sensitive skin?
Is fragrance bad for blemish-prone skin?
Why do skin care products contain fragrance?
What does fragrance free mean?
What to look for on a label
Is there a difference between unscented and fragrance free?
How to tell if fragrance is in your skin care products

It’s well known from extensive research that fragrance, whether natural or synthetic, is a common sensitising ingredient for all skin types. Despite this information, fragrance components are present in more skin care products than you can imagine. Fragrance is such a draw for most consumers, making it difficult to understand exactly why it’s a problem for skin. We'll take a deeper dive and explain what the concern is all about.

How skin reacts to fragrance

The way most fragrance ingredients impart scent is through a volatile reaction. Unfortunately, this natural reaction almost always causes a sensitised response on skin (1). In fact, research has established that fragranced skin care products are among the most common causes of sensitising, negative skin reactions. This is true for all skin colours and types, not just those with sensitive or redness-prone skin.

Is fragrance free better?

Fragrance-free products are better for skin’s health overall (2). As board-certified dermatologist Dr. Corey L. Hartman explains, “Fragrance has taken center stage in the skin care conversation lately because of its link to inflammation and its effect on premature skin ageing. Like exposure to ultraviolet light, chronic inflammation through exposure to sun, heat or fragrance can increase oxidative stress, free radical formation and degradation of collagen and promote a skin texture that is not as firm or even as it should be.”

You might think that because your skin isn’t showing signs of being irritated by the fragranced products you’re using, then it must not be a problem. We wish that were true, but it’s still a serious concern because skin is very good at hiding when it’s being irritated. You might not see the damage on skin’s surface, but it can silently occur every day, causing minor problems for your skin in the short term and more serious problems in the long term.

Think about it like sun damage from not wearing sunscreen. Research shows that sun damage begins within the first minute your unprotected skin sees the sun. Sun damage is cumulative and potentially deadly, yet separate from a sunburn or tan, you don’t see the full repercussions right away. The visible signs of that damage don’t show up on skin until years later.

Is fragrance free better for sensitive skin?

Without a doubt, fragrance-free products are better for sensitive skin. As mentioned above, fragrance can cause problems even for skin that is considered “normal” – but this is doubly true for sensitive skin. In fact, repeated use of fragrance can cause skin that wasn’t sensitive beforehand to become compromised. If you’ve noticed your skin becoming more sensitive recently, it’s worth checking out the ingredients in the makeup and skin care products you use to see if they contain fragrance (3).

Is fragrance bad for blemish-prone skin?

Absolutely. Blemishes are considered an inflammatory skin condition, which means that irritation is one of its hallmarks (4). Any irritation that skin experiences has the potential to trigger the conditions that make blemish flare up – which is why the best anti-blemish skin care routines are always fragrance free (5)!

Why do skin care products contain fragrance?

That’s a great question, and the answer is simple: It’s because most people like it when their skin care and hair care products smell nice. Cosmetic companies understand the power of a pleasingly fragranced product. They realise how fragrance impacts a consumer’s purchase decisions and their experience of using the product at home.

Another reason fragrances make their way into the products you use is that lots of cosmetic products naturally don't smell very good without the help of fragrance. Some ingredients have a distinctive scent some might find off-putting (retinol and glutathione come to mind). A beautiful, wafting scent helps cover up the product’s less-than-pleasing normal smell. But there are ingredients and formulary steps to take that result in a neutral-smelling or non-objectionable fragrance-free product. In other words, adding what’s referred to as a “masking fragrance” to products isn’t a necessity.

Added fragrance also helps hide the unpleasant aroma of a jar-packaged skin care product you’ve kept too long, especially if the ingredients are all natural. Jar packaging causes such ingredients to degrade faster because once you open it, the delicate ingredients are exposed to air and bacteria from your finger repeatedly dipping in. Fragrance can “cover up” when a product starts going bad, which is also not good news for skin.

What does fragrance free mean?

For a skin care product to be truly fragrance free the formula must not contain any volatile fragrance ingredients, including those of the synthetic or natural variety (6). Essential oils are no exception to this rule. While many essential oils and fragrant plant extracts can offer benefits in some capacity for skin, their volatility as they release their aroma also has a negative effect in other ways on skin (7).

What to look for on a label

While you'll most commonly see fragrance, perfume (parfum) or aroma on ingredient lists, here's a list of some of the other more typical fragrant ingredients that show up in personal care products with research showing they are problematic for skin (1). (There are many more, but this is a helpful starting point to familiarise yourself with.)
 

To help identify other fragrances in your skin care products, use our Beautypedia Skin Care Ingredient Checker. This research-based tool helps you quickly identify and rank the ingredients in your skin care products, from best to worst.

Is there a difference between unscented and fragrance free?

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Fragrance-free means that fragrance materials or masking scents are not used in the product. Unscented generally means that the product may contain chemicals that neutralise or mask the odours of other ingredients (8).”

However, it’s not so clear-cut for consumers. Because the terms “unscented” and “fragrance free” aren’t regulated in the U.S., the difference between the two really comes down to how each brand chooses to define and use those terms. This is where things get tricky. A brand could decide to label their product as fragrance free because it does not contain synthetic fragrance ingredients, yet it may still contain natural fragrance ingredients, like essential oils that are harmful to skin. Or a brand could claim a product is unscented because it does not carry a strong wafting odour... yet sensitising forms of fragrance may still be present in the formula.

How to tell if fragrance is in your skin care products

Unfortunately, you can't just rely on your nose to tell if harmful fragrance ingredients are in your skin care. Some natural ingredients have a pleasant fragrance but cause no irritation and are great for skin. Examples include melon, vanilla, cucumber, aloe vera, almond, mango, coconut, cocoa butter and shea butter.

Other times, a product may have no aroma because the fragrance is included to mask the disagreeable odour of other skin care ingredients in the formula. Ironically, the fragrance is added so the product has no discernable scent!

This type of information isn’t easy to decipher just by looking at an ingredient label, which is why we suggest using our Beautypedia Skin Care Ingredient Dictionary to look up any ingredients you’re uncertain about. If the ingredient contains fragrance components that irritate skin it will be clearly noted, along with other helpful information about the potential benefits and/or cons.

We want to assure you that here at Paula’s Choice Skincare, we never add volatile or masking fragrances of any kind to our products and never have. There are too many amazing ingredients that impart brilliant results for skin that are completely non-irritating to ever bother with the problematic ones.

It’s part of our mission to rely on what scientific research has shown to be true so you can take the best possible care of your skin—and that means avoiding or at the very least minimising your skin’s exposure to fragrance.

Learn more about skin care ingredients.

References for this information:

1. Allergologie Select, August 2017, pages 190–199
2. Air Quality, Atmosphere, and Health, June 2019, pages 891-897
3. Contact Dermatitis, June 2021, pages 385-394
4. Experimental Dermatology, October 2009, pages 821-832
5. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, January 2023, pages 45-54
6. American Journal of Clinical Dermatology, 2003, issue 11, pages 789-798
7. Medicines, December 2016, pages 1–16
8. Environmental Protection Agency, October 2016, ePublication