What's your gut feeling on fragrance? One of my dreams was to make beautiful smelling candles that filled my home with a yummy scent and a happy glow. I just put every fragranced candle I own into a box in my garage (for now? or maybe for good?).
My son has eczema and we've spent the last year trying to stop the sweet little guy from feeling itchy. I've gone paleo (he was fully nursing at the time the eczema started), dairy / gluten / egg free in different times and combos, have taken every chemical out of my house and put it in a box in the garage and gone down to only using Branch Basics, have stopped drinking caffeine (and had a week long headache after that which convinced me to steer clear of it for good for now just to avoid that week long headache again, yikes!), have only used Branch Basics soap and then switched to Toups and Co Baby Wash, have tried most every cream on the market (from steroids to tallow), have had him full clothed in Kyte bamboo footies day and night and now are trying organic cotton Colored Organic sleepers all day / night, traded our Newton mattress (that we loved with our daughter and still do!) for a Naturepedic organic mattress as recommended on the Branch Basics site, have seen pediatricians, dermatologists, pediatric dermatologists, holistic doctors, homeopathic doctors all covered in loads and loads of prayers. I started typing this not intending to talk about this laundry list of attempts to stop my sweet son's itch, but reading through this and realizing that the most recent attempt of removing all fragrances has been the hardest to let go of for me personally.
I love fragrances. I love perfume. I love scented candles and body washes and soaps and shampoos and how each one smells different and has a scent story and brings back memories. I've loved reading the back of shampoo bottles since I was a little kid, the stories behind the scents and honestly have always loved 'smelling good' in any way possible.
Fragrance is one more layer that could be causing my sons itchiness, and even though I'm weirdly emotionally attached to my Diptyque mini candles that my grandparents gift me for Christmas every year and I use during my bath every night to my Dae shampoo and conditioner, I've been reading that even those favorite fragrances in our house could be adding to the inflammation in his little body. Branch basics has been a whole new learning for me from synthetic fragrances to natural fragrances and essential oils even causing irritation in people with sensitive systems.
All of this long rant to say I boxed up all of my scented candles, including my very own Otho Cosmetics scented candles (hows that for a sales tactic) and put them in the garage for a time. I'm not sure if they'll stay there or if they'll come back in our house eventually. I accidentally forgot a few as I was collecting them all and my favorite giant Diptyqe and Voluspa candles ended up next to the Round Up in the garage (ironic, but which also needs to go). I am proud to say that our Otho Cosmetics 100% Beeswax candle is staying in the house for now. It's fully chemical and fragrance free and it still brings that happy glow to my home with a warm honey scent from the pure beeswax.
I'm not sure why scent is so tied to emotions or why letting go of it feels so hard. I've started with candles and am now trying to slowly replace my personal care, skincare and makeup products as they run out with fragrance free options. I feel kind of like I'm 'missing out' on the cool stuff by only shopping in what's 'healthy' for me, and that doesn't seem as fun. Even with all of the 'clean' alternatives, are they really clean? What does clean even mean? I do believe someday I'll look back at this blog and be able to say 'hey, God made this path into something beautiful and different than I expected.' I'm not sure if that will be through candles or cosmetics or just through my own story to share with others. I know though that God is good, I think heaven will smell good someday and I think smelling a rose out in my garden will probably smell a little sweeter when it's not competing with my Loveshackfancy floral perfume.
xx
Aubree