PerfuMate › IFRA limits › alpha-Bisabolol
How much alpha-Bisabolol can you put in a perfume?
IFRA standard: alpha-Bisabolol · Category 4, 51st Amendment
2.4%
of the finished perfume, at most
Under the IFRA Standards (51st Amendment, Category 4: fine fragrance on skin), alpha-Bisabolol may make up at most 2.4% of the finished perfume. In an eau de parfum at 18%, that is at most 13.3% of your concentrate: 13.3% of every 100 g.
What the limit means at your strength
The limit is on the finished perfume, so the stronger the perfume, the less alpha-Bisabolol its concentrate can hold. If nothing else in the formula carries it:
| Perfume strength | Most alpha-Bisabolol in the concentrate |
|---|---|
| Cologne, 5% | 48% |
| Eau de toilette, 10% | 24% |
| 15% | 16% |
| Eau de parfum, 18% | 13.3% |
| 20% | 12% |
| Extrait, 25% | 9.6% |
Which materials contain alpha-Bisabolol?
Sold as alpha-Bisabolol itself, counted in full:
It also arrives inside other materials. The limit is on the total, so the calculator adds every source together. The largest carriers in PerfuMate's catalog, by their typical composition:
| Material | Typical content | Alone at 18%, at most |
|---|---|---|
| Chamomile Essential Oil Germannatural | 23% | 57.9% of the concentrate |
| Australian sandalwood Essential Oilnatural | 4% | no limit on its own |
| New Caledonian sandalwood Essential Oilnatural | 2% | no limit on its own |
| Sandalwood East Africannatural | 2% | no limit on its own |
| Poplar Bud Absolutenatural | 1% | no limit on its own |
| Lavandin Super Essential Oil™ (Payan Bertrand)natural | 0.3% | no limit on its own |
| Blackwood Base 199939 RF17™ (dsm-firmenich) | 0.012% | no limit on its own |
| Arabian Oud (F-TEC) | 0.0031% | no limit on its own |
11 materials in the catalog carry alpha-Bisabolol; the calculator counts every one of them.
Shares are the catalog's typical values. A real batch varies with origin and season, and your supplier's analysis (GC-MS or certificate of analysis) is the real figure.
A worked example
A 100 g concentrate, bottled as an eau de parfum at 18%:
| Material | Weighed |
|---|---|
| alpha-Bisabolol | 6.7 g |
| Chamomile Essential Oil German | 35 g |
| Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit | 58.3 g |
alpha-Bisabolol alone brings 1.21% alpha-Bisabolol to the finished perfume, and Chamomile Essential Oil German adds 1.45%. Each looks modest, but the perfume holds 2.65% against a limit of 2.4%: 1.11 times the limit. To bring it inside on its own, the calculator cuts alpha-Bisabolol from 6.7 g to 5.667 g and Chamomile Essential Oil German from 35 g to 29.605 g. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 16.27%.
Or paste these lines into the calculator:
alpha-Bisabolol 6.7 g Chamomile Essential Oil German 35 g Ethylene Brassylate 58.3 g
Questions
Is alpha-Bisabolol banned in perfume?
No. IFRA restricts it: at most 2.4% of a fine fragrance (Category 4).
How much alpha-Bisabolol can I use in an eau de parfum?
At 18%, at most 13.3% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries alpha-Bisabolol. Every other source counts toward the same total.
Does alpha-Bisabolol from essential oils count?
Yes. The limit is on the total in the finished perfume, whatever brings it: Chamomile Essential Oil German typically carries 23%. The calculator adds every source.
Does this limit apply to candles or soap?
No. This is Category 4, fine fragrance on skin. Other products sit in other IFRA categories with other limits, which these pages and the calculator do not cover.