Quite a harsh statement about ingredients that are supposed to make products more sensually appealing, isn’t it? Most people consider fragrance to be a pleasant thing. There are many people who only purchase certain products because they love how it smells.
Many stores, like Bath and Body Works, The Body Shop, and Aveda depend on the scent of their products to help sell them. The Body Shop even burns fragrance oils in their entryways in malls and throughout their stores. I used to work there and trust me, it is very effective at enticing mall walkers and window shoppers to walk through that door and ask “what smells so good?”
There is also an urban mall legend that certain department stores (I won’t name names) even pump the subtle scent of chocolate throughout their stores during holiday season, Mother’s Day, and Valentine’s Day because it apparently makes people spend more money. I don’t have evidence that this is true, but I did spend (too) many holiday seasons behind cash wraps in department stores and I could swear I smelled chocolate for at least some of that time…
Fragrance is a powerful thing.
Why do people love fragrances so much? The sense of smell is one of our most powerful senses. Often, we can actually even taste what we smell. An example of this is when you cook a big delicious dinner for your family, yet by the time you are ready to serve it you’re already full.
Other than the obvious reason that people simply enjoy certain scents, many people also associate certain fragrances with memories of favorite things, people, places, or events in their lives. For example, I purchased a hand cream from a company that’s been around for years. As soon as I put it on, the scent brought me right back to my grandmother’s house when I was a kid. She used to use products from that brand, which clearly still use the same fragrance. It was such a strong reaction for me…I was quite taken aback by it.
So why do they stink?
Unfortunately, the reason has little to do with the actual scent itself. It is all about the many synthetic ingredients that fragrance companies use to manufacture the fragrances. The FDA does not require companies to individually list all of the ingredients that make up a product’s fragrance. They can just say “fragrance”, “perfume/parfum”, “natural fragrance”, and even “unscented.” So if you purchase a mango body wash from a store that is not an all natural store, it is very unlikely that you are actually smelling mango, unless the label specifically says otherwise. Instead, you are smelling a combination of ingredients that make the product smell mango-ish.
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