Living Scent-Free

This post is here to give you permission to go scent-free. Scent-free with your laundry detergent, dish soap, deodorant, even hand soap! If you start to think about it, EVERYTHING out there is scented. While doing some house projects recently, I found myself in front of the paint counter at Lowes many times. There was a little stand on the counter with bags of powdered fragrance you could dump into your paint to add a fragrance to your...walls! It made me think, is this really necessary? And my other thought right after that was, that can't be good for you!

If you were to go waaay back, the reason scents started to be introduced in society was to make people smell better. Back in the day when there wasn't any deodorant or Bath and Body Works lotion, so people were used to, well, people stench. This is why brides traditionally carried flowers down the aisle, and why flowers filled the room at a funeral. Over time we have added scents to this and that until our sense of smell and bodies are overwhelmed with all kinds of chemicals and fragrances.

About two years ago I decided the next step in cleaning up my body care products was to use a fragrance-free shampoo. I made sure the shampoo I used was scented with essential oils instead of fragrance oils - you can read more about the difference in my past blog post, "Bar Soap Vs. Body Wash." Just recently I needed more shampoo and decided to just grab the one I used to get at the grocery store because it was faster and easier. I used that shampoo once and was shocked by how smelly it made my hair and how much it bothered me...for the next FOUR days! It took at least four washings using a different shampoo to get the stink out of my hair. I was so surprised that I used to use that very same shampoo all the time! Once you start using cleaner products, whether it is body care products or eating food, and then go back to what was not as "clean," it is surprising how much you notice it and how your body reacts.

When I finally got my shampoo game straightened out I switched to an unscented shampoo and conditioner. And I'm loving it! Ever since I've been on an "unscented" kick. I enjoy scents so much, but when you scale back all the different directions the scents are coming at you, it is so much more enjoyable when something does carry a nice smell. Call it, "scent minimalism" if you will. Being a soapmaker, my sense of smell is bombarded regularly with all kinds of smells, so scaling back all the things in my home that carry a fragrance has been a welcome change.

Did you know that The Sudsy Cow carries three different types of scent-free soap? These bars are Oats and Honey, Unscented (formerly called "Plain Jane"), and Honeycomb. The Unscented bar is my simplest bar of soap if you want something as pure as the wind-driven snow. The oatmeal and local honey in the Oats and Honey bar is very soothing and moisturizing, very protective for the skin and great for sensitive skin. The Honeycomb bar is one of the newest kinds of soap I make; this bar includes turmeric (for a natural color), honey, and blue corn flower petals for a pretty look. I made the Honeycomb bar for folks who want an unscented and very gentle but beautiful-to-look-at bar of soap.

You may be surprised when you start paying attention to all the scented items that are brought into your home. I encourage you to try switching out one of these products for an unscented version and see what you think - your nose, and body in general, may thank you!