Our Grandmas’ Scented Dusting Powders Are Making a Comeback

Rising up with a Black mother and grandma, I used to be conditioned to affiliate various key factors with femininity: a very lotioned and glistening physique, gold jewellery, and frequently smelling excellent. As an grownup, I stick with it the legacy of smelling good by sustaining a strong arsenal of perfumes, scented physique oils, and lotions. Nonetheless irrespective of my efforts, I can in no way fairly replicate that candy, long-lasting scent my elders achieved. It wasn’t till I used to be scrolling on TikTok not too long ago that I acquired proper right here all by means of the difficulty I didn’t uncover I’d been lacking: dusting powder.

In case you’re unfamiliar, dusting powder is a finely milled scented powder used on the physique to maintain up moisture at bay, soften the pores and pores and pores and skin, and make you scent good—or clear, on the very least. Dusting powders had been significantly stylish as soon as extra all through the ‘80s and ‘90s (considerably amongst Black women) however physique powders first hit America all through the Eighteen Nineties when Johnson & Johnson started to market their now-famous child powder.

Dusting powders have been quiet all through the mainstream for various a really very long time—additional on why in a minute—however, this yr, Black women have been basic a revival of the product by sharing their DIY dusting powder concoctions on TikTok beneath #dustingpowder, which, on the time I’m scripting this, has over 1,100 movement footage tagged to it. “Let’s ship as soon as extra fragrance dusting powders for magnetism and glamour magic,” one shopper writes all through the caption of her video.

If the booming perfume enterprise is any indication, individuals haven’t misplaced the need to scent good. So why did dusting powders exit of favor? One perpetrator would possibly most likely be most people’s wariness about talc, a basic ingredient in a variety of those powders that had been stylish 30+ years so far. “Talc is a naturally occurring mineral that was [commonly] used as a sensory modifier and absorbent in powder merchandise,” says magnificence chemist Amanda Lam. Talc is just not dangerous by nature, however some talc-based merchandise have examined optimistic for asbestos contamination, giving talc a nasty standing entire.

The beginnings of widespread concern about talc started all through the Nineteen Seventies after most cancers researchers examined 20 powder merchandise made with talc and positioned 10 of them had asbestos. In 1997, a declare was made in opposition to Johnson & Johnson by a girl alleging that the utilization of the corporate’s child powder led to her creating most cancers. That case was lastly dropped, however completely totally different lawsuits arose all through the next years, additional inflicting the standing of physique powders to drop—with prospects and producers. “Ever provided that ongoing Johnson & Johnson lawsuits, corporations have been cautious of utilizing talc,” says Lam.