Natural, fragrant and not automatically gentle.

Spend enough time on social media and you may begin to believe that botanical ingredients are inherently gentle, synthetic ingredients are inherently suspicious and anything described as “chemical” is waiting patiently to disrupt your hormones.

The natural world is extraordinary. It has given us food, medicines, useful cosmetic ingredients—and poison ivy.

“Natural” tells us where something came from. It does not tell us whether it will irritate the skin, cause an allergy or remain stable inside a cosmetic formula.

This is one of the reasons we created UNEXTRA. We do not want to replace enthusiasm for nature with fear of nature. We want to examine each ingredient according to its function, concentration, purity, formulation and evidence.

Irritation is not the same as allergy

Irritant contact dermatitis occurs when something directly damages or disturbs the skin. It can happen to anyone if the exposure is strong or frequent enough.

Allergic contact dermatitis involves the immune system. A person first becomes sensitised to an ingredient and may then react when exposed again. Symptoms can include itching, redness, scaling, swelling or eczema. Patch testing performed by a dermatologist is the standard method used to investigate suspected fragrance allergy.

A systematic review involving more than 20,000 patch-tested people estimated that 3.5% of the general population reacted to fragrance mix I. Among patients already being patch-tested for dermatitis, the percentages are understandably higher: a 2024 systematic review of European dermatitis patients found sensitisation rates of 6.81% for fragrance mix I and 3.64% for fragrance mix II.

Essential oils are still fragrance

Essential oils are frequently presented as a gentler alternative to synthetic fragrance. Chemically, however, they contain many of the same types of volatile fragrance compounds that can cause contact allergy.

Lavender, citrus, peppermint, tea tree and ylang-ylang oils may contain compounds such as limonene and linalool. When some of these compounds are exposed to oxygen, they can form oxidation products that are more allergenic to susceptible people.

This does not make every essential oil poisonous. It means “plant-derived” and “non-allergenic” are not synonyms. An essential oil does not receive diplomatic immunity from dermatology because it once belonged to a plant.

At the same time, not every botanical is an essential oil, and not every plant-derived ingredient behaves as a fragrance. Aloe, shea butter, oat derivatives and purified plant oils must be assessed according to their own composition and evidence.

Fragrance-free does not always mean odour-free

A genuinely fragrance-free product may retain the natural smell of its raw materials. “Unscented,” meanwhile, describes the sensory result: the finished product is not intended to have a noticeable smell. Depending on the market and formulation, masking ingredients may still be present.

For sensitive-skin products, “no added fragrance” accompanied by a clear ingredient list is often more informative than promising that the product smells like absolutely nothing.

“Natural is a source. It is not a safety certificate.”

Where UNEXTRA stands

We do not describe fragrance as inherently toxic. Most people can use fragranced products without developing an obvious reaction. We simply do not believe facial skincare needs perfume to perform its function.

For products intended for sensitive or barrier-impaired skin, leaving out added fragrance and fragrant essential oils reduces unnecessary complexity. The product may not smell like a forest after rain. Fortunately, the skin did not request that.

This article provides general educational information and is not personal medical advice.