Today we've had an enquiry from a customer about an unscented product that has a smell. As someone who has spent several years with extreme sensitivities to smells, it's a topic close to my heart and one I understand very well. I am always on the lookout for unscented versions of products.

For those of you who read regularly, you will remember my post on unscented fabric softener, and how the only one we could get our hands on (from Seventh Generation) is no longer available in Australia. You may also recall recently where we have talked about unscented natural hair styling products being impossible to find, but we've managed to find a couple of kids ones with a low citrus scent.

In organic skin care, it gets even harder. Most natural and organic skin care products are made using natural ingredients that have their own smell, whether it's coconut oil, almond oil, shea butter, beeswax, honey or any combination of essential oils added for their skin healing properties.

One of the biggest hurdles I had making the switch to natural hair, face & body products as well as natural cleaning products was finding natural products with no smell. It's really very difficult. It's much easier to find products based on chemicals that don't smell.

What does unscented, fragrance free and no scent mean?

It means that the product does not contain any added fragrance to either enhance or mask smells in the product. Our products will only ever contain natural fragrances, but even still, there are plenty of natural smells and scents that can drive people crazy, send allergies spiralling out of control and trigger other reactions in the body.

Everything has a smell

All unscented, fragrance free and no scent products still have a smell. They will ALWAYS smell like their raw ingredients. One ingredient I encountered in my early days that was in many unscented products that I didn't like was calendula. In some formulas it was ok. In others, it drove me batty.

Some products in store have a rather curious smell in their unscented version. The unscented products from the Olive Oil Skin Care Company for example, are based on saponified olive oil. In the liquid body wash and the balm, which are both amazing products, they have quite a noticable scent, that of the olive oil. For some people, having this masked with a natural essential oil is a better solution. For others, it's bothersome.

If you have a sensitive nose, please ask us for some help choosing products, but always be mindful that it's a process of trial and error until you find the types of products that agree with your sensitivities.