A Post Praising the Unperfumed
While you might think that as a perfume freak I’d be consumed with all things scented, the fact is that I prefer to be judicious in what scents my world. As a consequence, I gravitate towards certain products that, while not without smell, are without a distinct fragrance. I thought I might list some of my favorites:
Hair
Philosopy’s Curly Head hair serum is a nice medium-weight silcone hair serum. Despite the name, the ingredients don’t really do anything special for curly hair, and are completely appropriate for any hair types needing shine or manageability. Two ounces don’t sound like a lot, but one bottle lasts me nearly a year, and I use it every single day. Their Memory hair gel holds nicely without stiffness, and for my below shoulder length hair I only use a pea sized amount to preserve the natural waves in my hair. Beauty Without Cruelty’s Leave-In Conditioner actually does carry a fragrance, but it fades off within a couple minutes, providing me with a nice option for detangling while moisturizing my long hair. It is a silicone free product, so I can use it in conjunction with a serum. However, I know this is also a product of choice for hair product junkies who deliberately try to avoid silicone additives.
Kitchen
Seventh Generation Free & Clear Dish Liquid doesn’t produce as many suds as a regular dishwashing liquid, but it cleans just as well. Moreover, it thankfully doesn’t dry out my hands as much as those regular liquids, and rinses much more easily. Trader Joe’s Automatic Dishwashing Detergent costs me all of three bucks, and works better than the heavily scented and dye-bearing detergents you normally encounter at the grocery for the dishwashing machine. Unfortunately there is no way to obtain it online, and can only be purchased through brick and mortar stores. But if I’m unable to make the trip all the way down to my Trader Joe’s, I go to Fred Meyer and pick up Seventh Generation’s Dishwashing Powder, which costs a bit more, and doesn’t work quite as well as the Trader Joe’s brand, but still gets the job done. I’ve found that despite my chronic perfume use I rarely cause my husband to sneeze, but running the dishwasher with things like Cascade brand detergent does, and how. Neither the Trader Joe’s nor the Seventh Generation induces this reaction in him, and as a consequence, we use them at our house exclusively now. He got sick of sneezing, and I got sick of saying Gesundheit a million times in a row. For cleaning countertops and my table I use plain old white vinegar and water. I know it sounds like it won’t work as well as the more impressive sounding commercial sprays available, but really, it works just fine. Commercial sprays contain surfactants that do aid in wiping away messes, but I don’t mind putting some rather minimal efforts into cleaning up these smooth surfaces. On the rare occasion I do want scent, I like to add a couple drops of Sunshine Spa’s Omar oil, which lends a floral-pine like scent to the spray.
Body
Unrefined shea butter works wonders on dry skin. It’s not precisely scentless, bearing a faint odor reminiscent of pale anise and cardboard, but it’s nothing that interferes in the least with a daily perfume, and the scent is nothing anyone else will pick up. I strongly recommend this eBay seller’s product. Her product arrives in a simple baggie, but it is easily transfered to a Tupperware or disposable Ziploc container. And it’s emminently more affordable than the more popular refined versions sold at much higher prices in far lesser quantity. It’s lovely stuff to use, and spreads just as nicely as the more expensive stuff loaded into overpriced tins. However, I do like carrying around a small tin of shea butter to use on my lips, and for that I turn to Pre de Provence. Their wee 7 ounce tins of refined shea butter moisturize nicely, make a fairly good treatment to put under lipstick/gloss to keep it from slipping off, and never come unscrewed or pop open in my purse. L’Occitane Hand Cream has a cult following, and for good reason. It is awesome. It mostly just smells pleasantly soapy to me, and as long as you’re not slathering it on everywhere, the scent fades soon enough. For lighter lotions, Lubriderm doesn’t have the sexy glam edge of high end brands, but it does the job, and that’s what counts. If you get really desperate, and have nothing else on hand, I’d also suggest Crisco for sore, chapped skin - feel free to laugh at me if you must. I can honestly say it protects and relieves really icky dry skin surprisingly nicely. It does cause some greasiness, however, which shocks exactly no one. Pre de Provence’s Milk soap bar is not precisely unscented either, but I find that the smell is minimal and washes thouroughly from my skin. Escential Lotion and Oils also makes an excellent shower gel, which they do sell unscented (for online shoppers, select “none” in the drop down menu.)
Laundry
My hands down favorite is All Free and Clear. I won’t even bother mention others I’ve tried that are nice enough, but not nearly as good. The powder works well, but we generally choose the liquid. I’m not sure one can buy this online at all, but it’s easily found at most stores here in the US. My skin is impossibly sensitive to clothing detergents for some reason, and this is one of the very very few that has never caused a rash on me. And it blessedly doesn’t impart a scent to my clothing to interfere with my perfume habit. I refuse to use fabric softener or dryer sheets: These products contain chemicals that can yellow your clothing and break down fabrics much quicker than if you simply do without them. So if anyone here does use them and has suggestions, please take a moment to share your recommendations for ones that are not scented, as I’m sure that not everyone feels the same as I do and others will appreciate hearing your ideas. For stain remover, nothing beats using plain old Ivory soap or Dreft baby detergent. Specifically, it’s awesome with organically based stains. I’ve even gotten PRUNE JUICE out of white baby onesies with those. I rinse the item in water, rub a bar of Ivory or use water with Dreft to make a paste to apply to the affected area, let the item set overnight, and then toss it into a load of wash the next day. I’ve yet to find a stain-remover that erradicates discolorations as efficiently.
Have any of your own personal favorites you choose for unscented products? Please share them!
Philosophy and Seventh Generation products can be purchased online at drugstore.com, and the other items hyperlinked are already tied to an etailing shopping source.
December 2nd, 2005 at 7:08 am
Wow, that is a great post. When I saw “unperfumed”, at first I wanted to shout “herecy!” :-), but then I thought that yes, unperfumed or gently perfumed things have their uses.
My example only from yesterday - also shea butter, this one by Fruits & Passion, sent to me by dear V. Nothing works at killing off disagreeable perfumes like that butter. Yesterday I was battling with Mugler’s Alien and it just would not be scrubbed with soap and water. So in the end I slapped on some shea butter and - viola- the monster was gone. Ha!
December 2nd, 2005 at 9:53 am
Great post, K — I too am more & more careful to look for unscented products, since I’m already wearing enough perfume without compounding the problem with the scent of my laundry detergent.
December 2nd, 2005 at 3:42 pm
Marina, no, no heresy here. For the most part, anyhow. I can see the shea butter working to remove fragrance (I use olive oil.) I would presume it’s the fats - alcohol is fat soluble, so it makes sense that a thick lotion or oil would break it down much faster than just washing with water. It cracks me up just how much you disliked Alien. I haven’t tried the F&P shea butter, yet, just their Carrot hand cream.
Robin, the laudry detergent one is the most important one for me, too. I’d rather have my own daily perfume cling to the cloth than the same old same old from my washing machine. Well, that the aforementioned tendancy to break out in rashes from so many of them, too, of course.
December 3rd, 2005 at 12:34 am
So you have found my dear dear friend M’s unrefined shea butter. It’s simply awsome, isn’t it? After finding the unrefined, I will never ever go back to the refined one.
December 3rd, 2005 at 6:13 am
The need to have an unscented backdrop in our perfumed lives is very true, K. I rarely diffuse a scent, and I never use scented candles. My body products are, for the most part, unscented, and like you, I swear by All Free and Clear liquid. I have just purchased some Costco Kirkland brand free/clear liquid for the laundry, because I have found their products to be outstanding.
This need for a free/clear backdrop reminds me of the need for designers to sometimes live in all-white, or monochrome homes. In my career as a designer, and visiting the homes of many of my friends and colleagues, this was very noticable. After a day of dealing with colors, patterns and such, our eyes needed a “rest”. It is the same with the nose ;-)
December 3rd, 2005 at 7:59 am
Thank you, Katie, for your post, which indirectly refers to our society’s deodorization and scenting attempts covering our days from morning till dawn with scents and odors that interfer with the real thing! Therefore, I do not use heavy scented washing aids and stuff. Sometimes, however, it is hard to find something else….
For my skin, I use Jojoba oil. Sometimes directly on the skin, sometimes in the water of bath tube. And if I really need some luxury: I add some oils such as patchouli or vetiver. The oils mix and blend into the skin and the whole evening I am covered with a layer of my preferred natural scent.
December 3rd, 2005 at 12:57 pm
Ylva, I do thank you for helping me find that. Really, thank you. I’d gone back and left a comment on the Soap Blog about it, but as I feared, you didn’t see it. So thanks for helping me get ahold of the unrefined shea butter!
Anya, oh that is a great comparison. Yes, a rest of sorts. I also think it’s a bit like the difference between trying to talk to a friend at a busy loud chattering mall versus having a conversation in the quiet of home around cups of coffee. Either way, you get your messages across to one another, but the expereience is much more pleasurable when each other’s words are the only ones you hear.
Andy, it’s funny you should mention all those deodorizing products. One of the more peculiar, in my opinion, directions some perfumeries have taken is to focus soley upon the “clean” smells like those in household products, especially clean laundry. I wonder about all this detatchment from our natural selves, too. Perhaps I am biased on the subject however, as I can never quite bring myself to trust anyone who is excessively hygienic.
December 4th, 2005 at 12:01 am
This is a good topic - I always try to keep my other products from interfering with my fragrance!
For hair, I recently discovered Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Styling Wax - it’s in a BIG tube and very easy to apply. It has a very clean, light tea tree (melaleuca) scent that is very unobtrusive. I believe it is actually made for men but it works great on my short hair.
For laundry & dishes I use Trader Joe’s house brand detergent & dish soap scented with natural lavender. The clothes smell fresh and it’s almost fun to do dishes! The dish soap also comes in a nice orange scent. If I have to get something else for laundry I use Seventh Generation all natural detergent - virtually unscented and works great.
I also avoid “nose pollution” from cheap stuff like air freshener, candles and plug-in fragrance dispensers. I prefer to have the house smell like natural citrus cleaner or lavender. That way when I wear fragrance around the house I can fully enjoy it.
December 4th, 2005 at 11:08 am
Tihi - well at times I’m absolutely clueless, but finaly I got it; who you are beyond the Scentzilla disguise ;-)
December 4th, 2005 at 4:07 pm
Flora, I really like the Seventh Generation products in general, not just the cleaning stuff either. And love the quality of the Trader Joe’s house brand products as well - and they’re not terribly expensive at all. I avoid those plug-in thingies, too - it’s just too much. But I love a nice scented candle to use every so often. I will have to look into the hair wax you mention - I have two little boys who like to have their hair choppped off and wear it short sometimes, and we’re always looking for products that are easy/quick for them in the morning.
Ylva, you must have found me out: behind the Scenzilla disguise is a mild-mannered goofball.
December 13th, 2005 at 10:26 pm
Oh, I am all in favor of candles - just not the run-of-the-mill ones that are found everywhere, that make my eyes water from the synthetic miasma of “fragrance” emanating from them! If I light one, it will be a REAL fragrance candle. No use wasting my olfactory/sensory time on earth - that’s why I only drink microbrew when I have a beer, not Bud Light. :-)
December 14th, 2005 at 4:49 pm
Oh god, I know exactly what you mean, though I am so coddled by all the variety of microbreweries here in Portland and the Pac NW in general.
I tend to buy my candles at local shops/boutiques more often than not - the atmosphere lends itself better to being able to sniff and choose carefully. But I did find some rather nice handmade ones by a local lady at my Wild Oats the other day, which surprised me. I don’t think some of the more commercial candles, like say the Glade ones, are really so bad at all, it’s just I snub them since there’s so much out there to choose from, and the Glades and those type are not as pretty to look at as others usually.