NEW YEAR, NEW THINKING

I mentioned buying real perfume and trying it out, right? I mentioned that it's different than commercially produced perfume, right? Did I mention that I love it? I picked a favorite out of the ten tiny samples I bought from Ayala Moriel. It's called Rebellius.
It is so incredible to put a drop on my wrist and then experience the layers of scent. There's the initial layer -- a burst of luscious fruit in a tropical jungle. That settles into "greenness" and finally, just as that fades, comes leather, cumin, and something else, very masculine. And this last deep scent doesn't cling to clothes or the air or the furniture. It slowly, but completely, dissipates. That is the BIG difference between real perfume and the other stuff. The other stuff has synthetic (and sometimes natural) ingredients added to it to keep it going. That's a large part of what makes that other perfume toxic: the fixatives used to prolong the evaporation process. Often coal tar is used and that's a known carcinogen. These unnecessary ingredients make the perfume linger in the air, but they also make the scent into fine particles that embed themselves into fabric and travel long distances in the air. Haven't you ever smelled someone's scent on their clothes? Or the perfume worn by someone on the other side of the room? Sure you have. (I can smell my neighbor when she walks from her front door to her car. Yuck.) I noticed that my new perfume doesn't do that and I really, really, really like that it doesn't do that. I like that the fragrance is so subtle only someone standing right beside me would notice it. I like that it doesn't bond to my clothes, my pillow, my favorite chair. I don't want to smell it when I've stopped wearing it.

Note: I've also been trying other products from that list (the one on the right with better-for-you products) -- soap and deodorant from FragranceFree Body Products; shower gel and shampoo from Terressentials; household cleaning goods from Seventh Generation. So far I like and will continue to use these new items. It's a different world -- one without harsh, harmful, toxic chemicals. And it's easy to think about making more and more changes. I invite you to join me.