photo credit: miltedflower
I mentioned linalool in my recent post about perfume, but I didn’t really expound upon why it should be avoided because I hadn’t done much research at that point (aside from the articles that I linked to in the post). My curiosity was stirred once again while reading the ingredients to Danielle’s seemingly harmless body oil. Upon seeing the ingredient “linalool” listed, I immediately did some research.
Linalool earns a hazard score of 5 from the Cosmetic Safety Database and is even linked to cancer according to that source. A few articles that I read pointed out that many people are allergic to linalool and also linked it to eczema. Some sites insisted that whether or not linalool is harmful depends on whether or not it is manufactured synthetically, which makes sense since linalool occurs naturally in lavender essential oil (which has a very low hazard score of one). Some articles stated that naturally-occurring linalool may have anti-cancer effects. After reading all of these contradictory things about linalool, I honestly don’t know what to think anymore. The most reasonable conclusion to draw, I guess, is that I should always make sure that the linalool in my products is naturally-occurring rather than synthetic. Synthetic is never really the way to go in my book anyway.
Filed under: health and beauty, natural products, physical well-being, skin care
Tags: allergic, bath and body oil, eczema, lavender essential oil, linalool, perfume, questionable ingredients
