Fragrance-free vs fragranced wash: what the label words mean in India
01 November 2026
Your dermatologist said one word on the way out, fragrance-free, and now every bottle on the shelf seems to answer it. Unscented. Fragrance-free. No added perfume. Natural fragrance. Essential oils only. Five phrases, five prices, and you still do not know which one she meant.
All seven of our washes are fragranced, so we have nothing to gain from the confusion. We would rather you read the label correctly and bought the right bottle, even when it is not ours.
The short answer: fragrance-free means no fragrance ingredient was added for any purpose, not even to hide the smell of the base. Unscented means you cannot smell it, which can still mean a masking fragrance was added. Natural fragrance and essential oils are fragrance. The only word that settles it is on the ingredient list: if Parfum, Fragrance, Aroma, or any oil with a scent is there, the wash is fragranced, whatever the front says.
Fragrance-free
Nothing was added to make it smell, and nothing was added to make it not smell. A fragrance-free wash usually smells faintly of what it is made of, which is why some people find it odd the first time. On the list you will find no Parfum and no Fragrance, and no scented oils. This is the word a dermatologist means when they say avoid fragrance.
Unscented
Unscented describes the experience, not the formula. A wash can be unscented because nothing was added, or because a masking fragrance was added to cover the smell of the base. Both are unscented to the nose. Only the second has a fragrance in it, and only the list tells you which you are holding.
Parfum, Fragrance, Aroma
These are the words a fragrance takes on an ingredient list. A fragrance is a blend, sometimes of dozens of materials, and the list does not have to name them individually. It names the blend once, as Parfum. Its place in the list tells you roughly how much of the bottle it is: on a wash it usually sits in the middle, after the surfactants and before the botanicals.
The names with an asterisk
Some materials that occur in fragrances are known to bother some skins. Limonene and Linalool are two: they are in citrus and lavender oils, and in most perfumes. Geraniol, Citronellol, Vanillin and a handful of others are on the same list. In Europe a pack has to name them when they are present above a small amount, and many brands mark them with an asterisk. In India not every pack does. A fragrance can hold dozens of materials and the list names only these, so if your skin reacts, the asterisked names are the only part of the fragrance you can check, and the first to check against your own list.
Natural fragrance, essential oils
A lime oil is natural. It is also fragrance, and it carries Limonene. An essential oil blend can carry more of the asterisked materials than a synthetic one, not fewer. Natural on the front says where the scent came from. It says nothing about how your skin will take it.
Where we fit, and where we do not
Every Only Good wash is fragranced. Parfum is on every list we publish, in its place: seventh on the Sage and Lime Zest hand wash, eighth on the Coconut Milk washes. Under it we name the components with an asterisk. On Sage and Lime Zest they are Limonene, Linalool and Geraniol. On Coconut Milk it is Vanillin. The lists are on each product page, in the order the regulator holds them, so you can check them against your own before you buy.
Three of our washes were patch tested in India, read by a dermatologist, and rated non-irritant on normal and sensitive skin: the Sage and Lime Zest hand wash, the Coconut Milk hand wash and the Coconut Milk body wash. That is a result on fragranced formulas, and it is a result on the people tested, not on you. If your dermatologist said fragrance-free, that word wins. Buy a fragrance-free wash. We do not make one, and we would rather lose that sale than have you guess.
Questions
Is unscented the same as fragrance-free? No. Unscented can contain a masking fragrance. Fragrance-free contains no fragrance ingredient at all. Read the list.
Does natural fragrance mean it is safer for sensitive skin? No. Essential oils carry the same asterisked materials, sometimes more of them. Natural says where the scent came from, not how skin takes it.
Which Only Good wash is fragrance-free? None. All seven are fragranced, and every list says so. If you have been told to avoid fragrance, choose a fragrance-free wash from a brand that makes one.
We are a small company that makes one ordinary thing properly: hand wash and body wash, made in New Zealand, in a bottle designed to be kept. If you have a question this piece did not answer, write to us at support@kiwiyana.com. One of us will reply, not a bot.