Synthetic fragrance is the most common ingredient in cosmetics that shouldn't be. It's cheap to source, easy to use, and almost completely unregulated — a single word on a label that can legally mean anything.
When a product lists “fragrance” or “parfum” in its ingredient list, that word is covering for up to a hundred individual chemicals. Manufacturers aren't required to disclose them — they're protected as trade secrets. Some of those chemicals are harmless. Some are known skin sensitisers. A few are potential carcinogens at repeated exposure. You have no way to know which.
Why it dries your lips specifically
Lip skin is thinner than facial skin and has no sebaceous glands — it can't produce its own moisture. It depends entirely on what you put on it. Most synthetic fragrance compounds are alcohols or aldehyde derivatives, which strip the lip surface as they evaporate. The product feels fresh for an hour, then your lips feel drier than before you applied it.
What we use instead
We scent our products with absolutes — actual botanical extracts. Vanilla absolute from Madagascar. Rose absolute from Morocco. Coconut and mint from Nigerian suppliers we've used since the beginning. Each one is listed by its real INCI name on the label.
Absolutes cost more than synthetic fragrance. Significantly more. We absorb that cost because the alternative is putting something on people's lips that we can't fully account for. That's not a trade-off we're willing to make.
How to check your own products
Scan the ingredient list for “Fragrance”, “Parfum”, or “Aroma”. If you see any of these without a specific botanical name next to them, the product is using synthetic fragrance. That's your call to make — but you should be making it knowingly.
— D