Question from Jane
Hi Debra,
You are one of our “household gods” and have been for many years. It is such a relief to find a source of information about chemical sensitivities and allergies that is non-judgmental and so widely and wonderfully informative!
My specific concern right now is Mrs. Meyer’s products, especially her laundry products. I have only moderate MCS, but I cannot use Mrs. Meyers at all. Several years ago, I actually had to get up in the middle of the night and change our sheets because they had been washed with her detergent.
The company makes so many claims to be fresh and natural, and yet their scents do not smell at all natural to me! For example, I know real live honeysuckle and its beautiful scent. Mrs. Meyer’s version of “honeysuckle” is not what I recognize as the real thing!
Yet I read and hear, on YouTube especially, people I would think of as intelligent just rhapsodizing about Mrs. Meyers products and, worse, convincing other people to buy and use them! What are the long-term effects of exposure, especially to children, of these highly fragranced, super-hyped items?
I know you share a longstanding concern about fragranced personal care and household items. But this line of products is marketed with such sweet promises that they make me think of the scene in the Disney film Snow White, when the witch looks at the beautiful apple she has prepared for Snow White, and we see a skull and crossbones take shape over that lovely red surface. Isn’t this what is happening here?
Thank you for any comments you can make!
Debra’s Answer
It’s not a secret that Mrs. Meye’s products contain synthetic fragrances. They disclose this right on their Ingredient Glossary.
Note they are not organic, so whatever pesticide is in the natural material gets concentrated into the essential oil. My standard is ONLY certified organic essential oil (and if you see anything otherwise on my website please let me know so I can remove it).
I agree with you that this is exactly like the poison apple from Snow White.
There has been a period of time where our product purchases have been influenced by how well advertising appeals to us, rather than what we need and rather than evaluating the product. I think we’ve all be there. I know I personally have made an enormous shift from buying things because advertising convinced me to buy, to buying based on my real needs to sustain my own life and health and planet.
It’s a whole different mindset to consider how to sustain a life, but that is the question Larry and I discuss every day. Will making a particular choice contribute to sustain ourselves, our health, our relationship, our ecosystems, or will it contribute to their destruction. This is the basis of our life together.
A reader asked me the other day with so much information available, that often conflicts, who do we listen to? For me, it’s not WHO, it’s WHAT is the result of using that information in my life.
Larry and I sometimes talk about using toxic chemicals for glamour, fun, and profit. A face covered with toxic cosmetics is no longer beautiful to me, bright blue food doesn’t make me want to eat it. Give me a farmer’s market and linen sheets and essential oils and water fresh from a spring and I will be very happy and deeply satisfied.
Now, about Mrs, Meyers. I think the biggest problem here is that their message and their ingredients are not aligned. And that is a problem of Truth in Advertising. They are making you believe that the product is natural and pleasurable when it’s not. There are laws about this.
Here’s a website where you can report companies making bad claims, take legal action, and more (or so they say, I have no experience with them): TruthIn Advertising.org
I could spend all day reporting false claims but I would rather spend my time educating consumers and making more known companies that are making true claims and using toxic-free materials.
There! I did have a few comments on this.
