Essential oils and fragrance in shaving soap/creams - are they healthy for the skin ?

We often hear the song about the caned goo from Gillette and the other shaving foam and gel products on the market and how they are not that good for your skin, with all the different chemicals they add to the canned goo products.

Then I wonder if anyone know how safe the essential oils and fragrances, that are in most of the shaving soap and cream we use ?

Do the added fragrance and EO in our wonderfull smelling soap and creams cause any kind of risk, as compard to for instance the canned goo products so many of us dislike because of all the unnecessary chemical in them ?

Have anyone made experiments or can you find a test result, that shows if the fragrance in shaving soap and cream can cause any kind of health issues to the user, especially if you use the same same shaving soap for a longer period of time ?

I have a big rotation of soap and creams and rare use the same product twice the same month, but I still wonder how safe the fragrance in my soap and creams really are in the long run ?

Am I the only one, wondering about this issue ?

They may of may not be healthy. Some of the scents are synthetic. I've started making soap and both the fragrance and essential oils have a caution to check with a doctor before using if pregnant or suffering an illness.

Having said that, both the European Union and the US Food & Drug Administration allow them to be sold for this use, which not a guarantee of safety, though makes me more comfortable.

I enjoy scents a lot and am willing to take some risk.

I agree with both of you. And trusting a governmental agency is a scary solution. I do agree I have enough soaps and creams where I do not us any one twice in a month. However gentlemen, this topic or question should have further consideration. I know that there a physicians, pharmacists and scientists on the blog. It would be interesting and helpful if one or several could give their opinion regarding this question.

Thanks for your input, both of you.

I'm also a fragrance head, 500+ unique full bottles of fragrance in my collection. And I do sometimes make sure to avoid spraying the fragrance near my face area, focussing more in my cheat, back head and shoulder area, because I don't trust this juice should be sprayed directly on my facial area.

I also own literally 100's of soaps and cream in different scents, and do enjoy them - but sometimes I'm reminded of the days 12-15 years ago, where I just used a brush and a fragrance free, alcohol free and very mild shaving gel and got pretty good shaves with it.

I do sometimes consider how healthy it is to put scented shaving soap/cream directly into your beard area, and massaging in it with a brush. Actually this has made me want to go back to revisit the bowl lathering method, because I feel you massage most of the soap/cream into the walls of the bowl, and then only mildly paint it on your skin/beard area afterwards, whereas with face lathering, I enjoy to spend at least 3-4-5 minutes to massage and create the lather on my face directly, thus in that face lathering process you actually massage the fragranced soaps/cream further into your skin, than you do when bowl lathring nd just paiting it on your skin.

Well, I may be overthinking things a bit here, not the first time and most certainly not the last time I do that

But we actually don't know the risks with scented soaps/creams, which we use on our body and face daily.

Must admit, that I sometimes think of selling all my scented soaps/creams and just staying with 8-10 great unscented soaps/creams for that very reason. May be boring, but the scent only lingers for a short while during the shave anyway.
I also some times consider using a neutral alcohol free after shave balm, and a fragrance free after shave splash.

But it will soon get boring, but still better be on the safe side or what ?

I used to lean more towards soaps with EOs, as opposed to the unnatural synthetic FOs. When I made mention of this on a thread Will frequented, he mentioned that EOs can be as much of a skin irritant as FOs, depending on the concentration level, or skin sensitivity.

But thats not what you are asking. You are asking if one or the other is safe. I would say yes. But I caveat that with saying that I recommend studying up on your soap maker and the particular EO or FO in question. Then trust you are getting a safe quality product.

No you arent the only one thinking about this but try not to over think it. Enjoy your hobby. Life would be boring if everything were vanilla. (But a vanilla scented soap would be awesome)

Well, I may be overthinking things a bit here, not the first time and most certainly not the last time I do that  

Claus, of course you're overthinking this. Thats what we do here on DFS! I've always said that anything worth thinking about is worth overthinking.

Seriously though you do raise a good point - not only are we applying it to our skin regularly but to freshly shaved skin that may have its protective barrier compromised by dragging a razor over it repeatedly and stripping its natural oils. That being said, have you looked at (or smelled) humans in their natural state without at least some level of grooming!? No thank you, I'll take my chances and continue shaving with wonderful smelling soaps and post shave products. I prefer that the nature boys stay well downwind and out of sight.

I'm mindful of chemicals in my shaving products but not overly concerned about it.
Given the option I chose EO over FO. I don't know if EO's are any better but some synthetic fragrances can contain phthalates, others have chemicals that can be estrogen mimickers or endocrine disruptors. I try to stay away from aftershaves and use generic witch hazel.
I don't think that face lathering vs bowl lather would make much of a difference to how its absorbed into the skin.

I'm mindful of chemicals in my shaving products but not overly concerned about it.
Given the option I chose EO over FO. I don't know if EO's are any better but some synthetic fragrances can contain phthalates, others have chemicals that can be estrogen mimickers or endocrine disruptors. I try to stay away from aftershaves and use generic witch hazel.
I don't think that face lathering vs bowl lather would make much of a difference to how its absorbed into the skin.

What is wrong with generic witch hazel? By generic do you mean the stuff sold in the big bottles under drug store house brands?

I've been using either Thayer's or Dickinson's

Fragrance oils can be synthetic, natural, or a blend of both. There are a lot of 100% natural fragrance compounds that are not essential oils. Guidelines for safe fragrance use are published by the IFRA (http://www.ifraorg.org/). Check it out.

As long as the fragrance is obtained from a reputable source and the concentration adheres to the IFRA recommendation, I don't see any real reason to worry.

What is wrong with generic witch haze?  By generic do you mean the stuff sold in the big bottles under drug store house brands?

I've been using either Thayer's or Dickinson's

Nothing. I phrased it funny I suppose, but what I meant was that I use generic witch hazel almost exclusivity vs scented aftershaves. And I usually get whatever house brand that comes in a bottle for around a $1.