Scent is powerful. It's the first thing you notice when you open a bottle of Soak, and — we hope — the last thing you think about as your freshly washed favourites dry. Getting fragrance right matters to us. A lot. So let's talk about how we do it, and why.

The "Natural = Better" Myth

Here's something that might surprise you: most fragrances — even the ones in premium perfumes — are primarily synthetic. And that's not a bad thing. There's a tendency (fragrance experts call it "chemophobia") to assume that natural is automatically safer. But as fragrance expert and perfumery teacher Karen Gilbert puts it, "There is a tendency to believe that natural is safer than synthetic, and as much as I would love this to be true, it's simply not."¹

In fact, many natural fragrance ingredients have been restricted or removed from formulas altogether because of their potential to cause allergic reactions.² And because the chemical makeup of a natural ingredient can vary from plant to plant and farm to farm, their safety profile is genuinely hard to regulate.³

Why Soak Chooses Synthetic

We choose synthetic fragrance ingredients for Soak, Flatter and Handmaid for a few really good reasons.

Hypoallergenic

Contact allergy to fragrance affects an estimated 1–3% of the general population.6 By working with synthetic fragrance, we're able to identify and eliminate the most common allergens that are naturally present in botanical extracts and essential oils.³ The result is a formula that's gentler for sensitive skin.

Creativity

Synthetic molecules make scents possible that simply can't exist otherwise — you can't extract a true fragrance from most fruits (think pineapple and fig), for instance.⁴ They're also what give a fragrance its lift, sparkle and radiance. Without them, natural-only fragrances can end up heavy and flat.

Sustainability

Many plants used in the fragrance industry — like rosewood, Indian sandalwood and frankincense — are being over-harvested to the point of serious concern. "It is generally much better for the environment if we are not harvesting whole populations of plants, flowers and trees to be turned into ingredients for the cosmetics [and household products] industry," says Lorraine Dallmeier, Chartered Environmentalist and CEO of Formula Botanica.⁵

Consistency and safety

Synthetic fragrances are stable, predictable, and can be carefully formulated to avoid the most common allergens. As ingredient regulations across regions (Canada, USA, UK, EU) evolve with new and emerging data, we update our scent formulations to meet these requirements, and keep our products up-to-date and safe for your use.

Light, clean fragrances

Synthetic ingredients give our perfumers precise control over concentration and character. That control is exactly how we achieve the Soak scent standard: never heavy, never masking, never like anything you've smelled in a laundry aisle before. It's the difference between a fragrance that announces itself and one that simply makes you feel good.

The Soak Scent Standard

Every Soak fragrance has to be five things — Clean. Light. Fresh. Beautiful. Distinct. Not a trace of "typical laundry product." Never overpowering. Always original.

Whether you reach for Lacey, Celebration, Yuzu, or any of our 6 fragrances, you can feel good about what's in your bottle and next to your skin.

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References

1.    Karen Gilbert, fragrance expert and perfumery teacher, via The Zoe Report
2.    Pascal Gaurin, VP Perfumer, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), via The Zoe Report
3.    Debi Theis, President, Henry Rose, via The Zoe Report
4.    Dawn Goldworm, co-founder, 12.29 olfactory branding, via The Zoe Report
5.    Lorraine Dallmeier, Chartered Environmentalist, CEO Formula Botanica, via The Zoe Report
6.    Uter W. et al., Contact allergy to fragrances: current clinical and regulatory trends, Allergologie Select, 2017. PubMed PMC6040011