Once in a while, everyone wants to buy cheap perfumes and save some cash. If we get great fragrances at cheap prices, we tend to ask, ‘What’s the catch?’ ‘Are they unsafe, or toxic?’
Cheap perfumes don’t immediately mean toxic and unsafe; similarly, expensive perfumes don’t necessarily mean safe. However, the chances of cheap perfumes being toxic are higher because these are not necessarily created under strict industry regulations, especially if these perfumes are counterfeit.
What Makes Cheap Perfumes Cheap?
The perfumers behind cheap perfumes might know fragrance but are not always educated about the toxicity and ecotoxicity of the compounds they use. Their end product is priced based on only limited factors. Legitimate brands, on the other hand, have to spend costs as they go through regulations to convince that their compounds are indeed safe for consumers, and the environment after use and these costs are later reflected as the consumers buy them, getting the status as ‘expensive perfumes’.
Pros of Cheap Perfume
- Saving money: Cheap perfumes are easy on the pocket, and if you are a fragrance enthusiast who constantly wants to buy perfume and experiment with them, cheap perfumes will help you manage your expenses.
- Don’t have to pay for the branding: Sometimes cheap fragrances are equally great smelling, and some dupes are exact matches of the original. Some cheapies are even long-lasting, equally safe and seemingly of good quality, but they come cheap to you because they are charging you for what they are, and not for their status as a brand. The moment a brand name gets associated with a product, it gets pricey for various reasons, including marketing, research, regulations, etc.
Cons of Cheap Perfume
- Not long-lasting: A lot of cheapies are not long-lasting, and people accept them because ‘you get what you pay for’. While you may get an exact dupe of your favourite perfume at a relatively lower price, you’d be disappointed to learn that this perfume doesn’t even last for 2 hours. What’s the point?
- Could be unsafe: Some cheap perfumes use cheap natural ingredients, which can be unsafe for you. Now you might think, shouldn’t that mean safe instead of unsafe, because they are using natural ingredients?
Not really.
When it comes to toxicology, both natural and synthetic chemicals are counted. So, some synthetic ingredients are created to mimic that natural ingredient but as a safer alternative. Essential oils from fig leaf and sassafras, for example, are banned on safety grounds.
- Everyone’s wearing them: Cheap means it’s incredibly accessible, and you don’t have that sense of wearing something exclusive. It’s only a matter of time before others have found the scent you like, and they start liking and wearing them too.
How Do You Know if a Perfume is Safe?
We cannot be 100% sure that a fragrance is safe, just like any product that we buy, use, eat or wear.
The governments of many countries have legislation on the safe use of chemicals and have strict labelling rules. Any responsible fragrance house will strive to comply with these regulations and bring their products to consumers as safe-to-use products.
This step or compliance can be ethical, as in they truly care for their consumers; it can be legal, as in they don’t care about you but don’t want to get messy with the law; or it can be commercial, as in they want their consumers to know the products are safe to use and it brings them sales.
Here are some of the issues perfumes can cause for you and your:
| Reaction | Fragrance Ingredients (restricted by IFRA) | Natural /Synthetic |
| Skin Sensitisation | Cyclamen alcoholDihydrocoumarin | Synthetic |
| Photo effects | Furocoumarins | Plant-based |
| Neurotoxicity | Musk ambrette, Acetyl ethyl tetramethyltetralin | Natural, plant-based |
| Reproductive Effects | Phenylethyl alcohol | Natural, flower bases(rose, carnations, etc.) |
Takeaway
The modern fragrance industry has established strict systems for testing and evaluating fragrance ingredients so that employees can work safely during the manufacture of fragrances so that we can use them safely, and when we discard them, it doesn’t affect the environment. So as long as we are wearing perfumes without overdoing them, we should be fine.
