With perfumes being the 201st best-traded article worldwide and the trend only improving, it’s high time we shed light on some of the oldest and rifest ambiguities, dare we say myths, about most of these marketed products. Now, it’s equally important to mention that we won’t approach dupes, fakes, imitations, rip-offs, or even custom scents in our quest for the truth about perfumes and moms. While you’re rarely sure what to expect from perfumes, especially if they’re blind buys, those that are industrially manufactured and sold in multinational retailer shops are easier to predict and less likely to result in unexpected, ugly surprises. High-end and -quality products are what worldwide scent fanatics search for most in offline and online shops alike, especially if we talk about expectant, pregnant, or birth mothers, who experience a life stage that heavily impacts their approach to perfumes.
More often than one may believe, many women in similar contexts worry and stress over the scents and fragrances found in their homes. Some woes are justified, while others may be far-fetched. It’s normal and advised to keep track of what smells are exuded in your and your baby’s environment. After all, this is why products labeled as child-friendly in smell make a booming industry. So, wouldn’t it be great if you weren’t a victim of hearsay, rumors, and consumerism’s stratagems and rested well knowing that your used scents are harm-free to your beloved bundle of joy? Let’s skip the pleasantries and cut to the chase to see if you should ditch, change, or stick to your perfume-using habits during one of the most crucial life stages, shall we?
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Wearing perfume as a new mom – yay or nay?
Is it safe to keep wearing your signature perfume during pregnancy and lactation, or could it harm your baby’s health and wellbeing? Questions like this rank high in the top most common inquiries on the internet, not to mention in worldwide mothers’ favorite discussion topics.
Fortunately, numerous studies from reputable institutions answer the bulk of curiosities a mother may have. In short, using perfume during this stage of life can be a possibility if the mother is attentive to a few aspects, such as the ingredients and combinations that can function like endocrine disruptors. These artificial or natural chemicals, namely the mother’s body’s hormones, can affect the endocrine system. Some endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) behave like “hormone mimics” and deceive the organism into relating to them as if they were hormones, while other such elements prevent natural hormones from carrying out their tasks.
There are a few reasons why you may be more sensitive
Assuming you’re a fragrance lover, you can probably recall the few short moments when you feel like the perfume that hit your spot so hard suddenly becomes spiritless and boring. Possibly, you’ve encountered moments when you’ve found your favorite perfume nastier and felt like wearing something from a different olfactive category.
Being sensitive to scents is nothing new, and this tendency strengthens during pregnancy. This is why fragrance lovers know their guidelines for buying perfumes by heart, always buying products confident that they’ve made the best choices. EDCs, EDTs, EDPs, elixirs, and numerous other categories depend on the strength, projection, concentration, and chemical structure found in perfumes – all determining the product’s performance. Some of the products that left a legacy in the fragrance realm align with this unwritten rule ceaselessly, explaining why you see Thierry Mugler perfumes coming in such a wide assortment of concentrations, sizes, and use cases, as well as the brand’s ascension to unshakeable fame.
With your skin’s PH, you’ll find that the product you smelled on your best friend can often smell completely different on you. This variability is why you may want to try perfumes in shops directly on your skin instead of spraying them on cardboard.
Mothers become more delicate and sensitive to chemicals, ingredients, and elements that may have left them reactionless up to their pregnancy. This is when you start giving more attention to your body and your baby’s wellbeing, possibly stopping vices and habits that could harm both of you. Despite this heightened vigilance, some may overlook the fact that some products they use on a daily basis (including perfumes and scents) are no less threatening. With the hormonal system exposed to newfound, severe pressure, you want to remove any aspect and habit that can contribute to the strain.
Understanding endocrine disruptors
Endocrine disruptors, whose plainest explanation exists since 2016, represent constituents that impact the generation, transportation, metabolism, or removal of hormones working as body regulators. In fact, they don’t straightforwardly disturb hormones. Instead, they interfere with the proteins, helping promote hormonal action throughout the body. And since hormones touch each and every organ, endocrine disruptors have a substantial effect on a mother’s whole body.
More routes lead to disruptor exposure in women, including food using pesticides and some ways of cooking and packaging edibles. According to Union Fédérale des Consommateurs, women expose themselves to 16 cosmetics daily, many of which have endocrine disruptors like preservatives. The market also abounds for such products for children, especially for infants with skin issues like eczema. These may break into the organism through a weak skin barrier quite effortlessly and interfere with the baby’s system. This is also the case of perfumes, so if you have any other ways that ensure you smell nice while staying safe, dare to explore them.
You can smell sublimely during pregnancy
Perfumes are some of the world’s most mysterious and bewildering creations, having even the most seasoned buyers wrap their heads around some fragrances and notes, to name a few perplexing elements. Keep track of the elements in the perfumes you use around your baby and during your lactation period and don’t abuse the product.
Suppose you’ve sprayed some and it made you sick. Wash and remove the cologne. High-quality body lotions made with safe ingredients are a great way to freshen yourself up without feeling overloaded with perfume, so you may want to try this practice.
Moreover, for sweat-related problems (which are more than normal in mothers), using squeezed, iced lemon as a deodorant substitute can work wonders. Similarly, you can ditch your niche skin scrub gels and use homemade ones, adding naturally scented ingredients like honey, coconut oil, and so on. The choices are only yours to make!
There are numerous ways to stay on top of your scent game while safeguarding yourself and your baby, so dare to dive into them and feel your best!
