Why Do Phthalates Keep Coming Up in Clean Beauty?

If you've ever had a week where your hormones seemed to be running the show — the mood shifts, the energy dips, the skin changes — you already know how much they influence daily life.

Hormones guide how we feel, how we sleep, how we move through the day. They work in small amounts, but their impact is anything but small. When they're in balance, life feels steadier. When they're not, you feel it.

Lately, conversations about hormone health have made their way into the beauty products we use every day. You've probably seen the phrase "phthalates are endocrine disruptors" somewhere online and wondered what that actually means.

Let me break it down.

Your endocrine (EN-duh-krin) system is your body's hormone system. It produces and releases hormones that help different parts of the body communicate with each other — quietly guiding things like energy, mood, stress response, reproductive health, and sleep.

Hormones work in very small amounts, which means even subtle shifts can have an effect. The system is sensitive by design. And because of that, researchers pay close attention to anything that might interfere with how those signals are sent or received.

Phthalates (THAL-ates) are a group of chemicals used in a wide range of consumer products. In personal care and beauty, certain phthalates have historically been used to help fragrance last longer, blend more evenly, or dissolve scent ingredients more smoothly.

Because they've been so widely used, they've also been widely studied. Some research suggests that certain phthalates may interact with the endocrine system — which is why they keep coming up in clean beauty conversations.

Not all phthalates behave the same way, and research is still ongoing. But the potential connection is enough that scientists and health experts continue to pay attention.

Research suggests a few different ways. Some phthalates may act like hormones in the body, sending signals that don't belong. Others may interfere with normal hormone communication, making it harder for messages to get where they need to go. And some may affect how hormones are produced or broken down in the first place.

This is what researchers mean when they talk about endocrine disruption. It doesn't point to immediate harm — but it does explain why long-term exposure and cumulative effects are still being studied. Since hormones influence so much in the body, even subtle interference may matter over time.

One reason phthalates come up so often is their link to fragrance.

In the U.S., fragrance formulas are considered proprietary. Brands aren't required to list every ingredient inside a fragrance blend — the entire formula can appear on a label as a single word: "fragrance" or "parfum." That one word can represent dozens of ingredients, and without full transparency, it's hard to know what's actually included unless a brand specifically says otherwise.

This doesn't mean fragrance is always harmful. It does mean you often don't have the full picture — which is why fragrance is one of the most talked about topics in clean beauty.

Learning about ingredients like phthalates isn't about fear, and it isn't about trying to do everything perfectly.

It's about understanding what researchers are paying attention to and why. That knowledge gives you more room to make choices — to read labels with a little more confidence, ask better questions, and support brands that are upfront about what's in their products.

The research is still evolving. But knowing what to look for puts you in a better position to make decisions that feel right for your body and your life.

At Ivy & Elder, this is part of why we're fragrance-free. Not to alarm — but because transparency is something we take seriously, and because we think you should know exactly what you're using.