Let’s talk about something most of us spray on our skin every single morning without a second thought… Fragrance. The product that makes us smell incredible, feel put together, and honestly… feel like ourselves. I get it. I love a good scent but here’s the thing nobody in the beauty industry wants you to know: conventional fragrance is one of the most chemically complex, least regulated and most toxic products in your entire routine that we know can and does disrupt our body! And the word fragrance on a label? That’s not an ingredient. That’s simply a legal way to hide toxins that you should know about, especially if you have pets in the home as their noses are up to 100,000 times more sensitive to it than we are! Summer Fridays, a brand known for their “wellness forward” marketing also just launched their first fragrance and sadly, it was just as I suspected. Toxic. So, let’s get into it!

What “Fragrance” Hides

Did you know that in the United States, the FDA does NOT require companies to disclose individual fragrance ingredients because they’re considered trade secrets? That single word, “fragrance” can legally conceal anywhere from 50 to over 300 separate chemical compounds in one product. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has flagged this as one of the biggest transparency gaps in the entire personal care industry and I very much agree.

So what’s actually hiding in fragrances? Let’s explore.

Phthalates

Phthalates are chemical plasticizers used to help fragrance last longer on the skin. You know how you put on perfume and then smell it literally everywhere for weeks!? That’s usually thanks to Phthalates. The most commonly found in perfume is diethyl phthalate (DEP). Here’s why that matters: phthalates are classified as endocrine disruptors… meaning they interfere with your hormonal system! A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found measurable levels of DEP in the urine of nearly 75% of Americans tested. Research has linked phthalate exposure to reproductive issues, thyroid disruption, and developmental problems in children. And we’re spraying this on our necks every morning? And around our developing children, teens and pets?

Synthetic Musks

Two of the most common synthetic musks used in mainstream fragrance are galaxolide and tonalide and both have been found to accumulate in human fat tissue and breast milk. A study published in Chemosphere detected these compounds in nearly all human tissue samples tested. They’re also highly resistant to breaking down in the environment, making them a persistent pollutant. The EU has already restricted or banned several synthetic musks that are still being used freely in American products.

Benzene Derivatives & Aldehydes

Many conventional fragrances contain benzene derivatives, which are linked to carcinogenic activity with long-term exposure. Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives are also commonly found in fragrance blends. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics identified these compounds in multiple bestselling mainstream perfumes that most of us have probably owned at some point. Again, you will NOT see this on a label which is what makes this so alarming.

Allergens & Sensitizers

The European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has identified over 80 fragrance ingredients as known or suspected allergens. Fragrance is consistently ranked as one of the top causes of contact dermatitis and because these ingredients don’t have to be disclosed, consumers have almost no way of knowing what triggered a reaction. Ever wonder why when you are in an Uber or around someone wearing perfume, you feel sick or start sneezing!? This is why.

It’s Not Just Skin Deep

Here’s where it gets even more real. Your skin is not a barrier… it’s an absorption organ. Studies show that fragrance chemicals can be detected in the bloodstream within minutes of skin application. A report from the Environmental Working Group found that women are exposed to an average of 168 unique chemicals per day through personal care products alone and fragrance is one of the biggest contributors.

For people with asthma, hormonal conditions, pregnancy, or skin sensitivities, this isn’t a minor inconvenience. It’s a real health consideration that the industry has been slow to acknowledge and even slower to fix.

Summer Fridays’ Sunlit Vanilla

Summer Fridays just entered the fragrance world with their debut Eau de Parfum, Sunlit Vanilla, and the internet absolutely lost it. It launched at Sephora in March 2026 for $82, sold out almost immediately, and has been all over every For You Page since. And I get the appeal! The bottle is cute, the marketing is immaculate, and vanilla is universally loved but here’s what nobody is talking about while they’re gushing over it.

Flip the bottle over and read the ingredient list.

Alcohol Denat., Fragrance/Parfum, Water, Vanillin, Coumarin, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Peel Oil, Tetramethyl Acetyloctahydronaphthalenes, Linalyl Acetate, Limonene, Cinnamomum Zeylanicum Bark Oil, Linalool, Benzyl Benzoate, Pinene, Cinnamal…

Let’s break down what’s actually in that “clean” skincare brand’s first fragrance.

Fragrance/Parfum is legally allowed to represent hundreds of individual chemicals under a single term, with zero requirement to disclose what’s actually inside. Independent testing found hidden chemicals linked to cancer, reproductive toxicity, and endocrine disruption hiding behind this word across 32 personal care products tested.

Alcohol Denat is a real nasty one I try to avoid as it stands for denatured, meaning the alcohol has been chemically altered with additive agents to make it undrinkable. Here’s the problem: those denaturing agents don’t have to be disclosed on the label. We’re talking potential additives like diethyl phthalate, methanol, acetone, and benzene, none of which you’ll find listed anywhere on the bottle. EWG flags Alcohol Denat. as a mixture of ethanol with a denaturing agent, broadly linked to toxicity concerns and that’s before we even get into what’s used to denature it. Eek!

Coumarin has been flagged by the EU’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety as a known allergen and sensitizer, and is restricted in leave-on products across Europe for that exact reason. Sensitization builds over time, meaning your skin can tolerate it for months before suddenly reacting. In the U.S. it can hide inside the word Fragrance with zero accountability.

Tetramethyl Acetyloctahydronaphthalenes (OTNE) is a synthetic musk, also known as Iso E Super, used as a fixative in perfumery to give fragrance its long-lasting woody, amber quality. The U.S. EPA flagged all four of its isomers as priority chemicals of concern based on aquatic toxicity and human exposure potential. EWG flags concerns around enhanced skin absorption, organ system toxicity, and skin and respiratory irritation.

Cinnamal is the primary aromatic compound found in cinnamon, used in perfumery for its warm spicy scent. The SCCS has specifically identified it as a skin sensitizer, which is why it requires individual disclosure on European labels above a certain concentration. It sits on the EU’s original List A of the most frequently reported and well-recognised consumer allergens.

Limonene and Linalool are both classified as known allergens by the EU. They appear naturally in citrus and floral ingredients but become sensitizing when oxidized on skin… which happens with regular wear. This, alone, is not a deal breaker for me, but when layered with so many other toxic ingredients, it should be noted.

Benzyl Benzoate is an aromatic ester used in fragrance as both a fixative and a solvent, found naturally in some balsams and resins. It is on the EU’s regulated allergen list and consistently appears in patch test results among patients presenting with fragrance-related contact dermatitis. Layered alongside the other sensitizers already in this formula, the cumulative skin burden is the real concern.

To be fair, Summer Fridays did disclose more than the bare minimum here. Listing individual allergens like cinnamal, linalool, and benzyl benzoate goes beyond what U.S. law requires, and that counts for something. But here’s the thing: this is a brand that consumers trust as a cleaner, more intentional option. People are reaching for it specifically because Summer Fridays has that wellness-forward reputation but for me, this brand is anything but clean. The marketing positions it as a sensorial, elevated experience… not as a conventional fragrance loaded with synthetic musks and EU-restricted allergens. That gap between perception and reality? That’s the problem.

I am sure it smells good but at $82 a bottle, with a brand identity built on conscious formulation, the bar should be higher than “better than the worst offenders.” You deserve to know exactly what you’re spraying on your pulse points every morning and right now, Sunlit Vanilla isn’t giving us that full picture.

Cleaner Swap: Meet ESAS

One of my favorite perfume brands right now is Those and they just so happen to have launched their brand new Summer ’95 perfume which is everything a scent should be. Warm, golden, nostalgic… it smells like the best summer of your life, the kind where you didn’t have a care in the world and everything just felt easy. The bottle alone is an aesthetic moment: that pale celadon liquid, the retro striped sun label, the oversized gold orb cap. It looks like a piece of art sitting on your vanity and it performs like one too!

But what actually makes ESAS worth talking about beyond the vibe is what they’re not putting in the bottle. ESAS was built on the premise that fragrance should be a sensory experience, not a chemical experiment. Their formulations are intentionally developed to move away from the hidden nasties that conventional houses rely on… no unnecessary fillers, no vague ingredient dumping, no hiding behind the fragrance loophole.

The scent itself? Think sun-warmed skin, a little citrus, soft florals, and a dry-down that genuinely stays with you without needing to be reapplied every hour. It’s the kind of fragrance that people will ask you about because it smells THAT good. The perfect Summer scent, minus the toxins found in most conventional fragrances. Try it and let me know what you think! We carry 3 sizes.

Mini samplesa medium size and the big daddy full size you can see all options here.