PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Which perfume ingredients are banned?
Which perfume ingredients are banned?
IFRA's 51st Amendment prohibits 81 materials in fine fragrance: they may not be added to a perfume at any level. 16 of them are still sold, or carried inside other materials, in PerfuMate's catalog, and the calculator flags each one. Separately, EU law bans some materials in cosmetics that IFRA only restricts, such as Lilial and Lyral.
Prohibited materials you may still find
These reach materials in the catalog, sold under their own name or inside another material:
Prohibited, except as a trace from naturals
For a few, IFRA tolerates a small amount that arrives inside a natural material, as a share of the finished perfume:
Banned in the EU
EU cosmetics law (Regulation 1223/2009, Annex II) bans these catalog materials outright, whatever IFRA says:
| Material | Annex II entry |
|---|---|
| Dihydrocoumarin | 427 |
| Elecampane Absolute | 423 |
| Fig Leaf Absolute | 436 |
| Lilial™ (Givaudan) | 1666 2022-03-01 |
| Lyral™ (IFF) | 1380 2021-08-23 |
| Moskene™ (Givaudan) | 421 |
| Musk Ambrette (nitro) | 414 |
| Musk Tibetene™ (Givaudan) | 422 |
| Verbena Essential Oil | 450 |
| Versalide | 362 |
The full prohibited list
Every material the 51st Amendment prohibits in Category 4, by its IFRA name:
- 2-Pentylidene cyclohexanone
- 2,2-Dichloro-1-methylcyclopropylbenzene
- 2,4-Dienals
- 2,4-Dihydroxy-3-methylbenzaldehyde
- 2,4-Dodecadien-1-ol, (2E, 4E)
- 2,4-Hexadien-1-ol
- 3-Acetyl-2,5-dimethylfuran
- 3-Bromo-1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-one
- 3-Methyl-2(3)-nonenenitrile
- 3,7-Dimethyl-2-octen-1-ol
- 4-Methyl-7-ethoxycoumarin
- 4,6-Dimethyl-8-tert-butylcoumarin
- 6-Isopropyl-2-decalol
- 6-Methylcoumarin
- 7-Methoxycoumarin
- 7-Methylcoumarin
- Acetyl ethyl tetramethyl tetralin (AETT)
- Acetyl isovaleryl
- Alantroot oil
- Allyl heptine carbonate
- Allyl isothiocyanate
- alpha-Methyl anisylidene acetone
- Amylcyclopentenone
- Anisylidene acetone
- Benzene
- Benzyl cyanide
- Benzylidene acetone
- Birch wood pyrolysate
- Boldo oil
- Bromostyrene
- Cade oil
- Carvone oxide
- Chenopodium oil
- Cinnamylidene acetone
- cis-and trans-Asarone
- Colophony
- Costus root oil, absolute and concrete
- Cyclamen alcohol
- Diethyl maleate
- Dimethyl citraconate
- Diphenylamine
- Esters of 2-Nonynoic acid (except Methyl octine carbonate)
- Esters of 2-Octynoic acid (except Methyl heptine carbonate)
- Ethyl acrylate
- Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether and its acetate
- Ethylene glycol monomethyl ether and its acetate
- Fig leaf absolute
- Furfuryl alcohol
- Furfurylidene acetone
- Geranyl nitrile
- Hexahydrocoumarin
- Hydroabietyl alcohol, Dihydroabietyl alcohol
- Hydroquinone monoethyl ether
- Hydroquinone monomethyl ether
- Isophorone
- Massoia bark oil
- Massoia lactone
- Methyl crotonate
- Methyl methacrylate
- Mintlactone
- Musk alpha
- Musk ambrette
- Musk KS
- Musk moskene
- Musk tibetene
- Musk xylene
- Nitrobenzene
- p-Methylhydrocinnamic aldehyde
- p-tert-Butylphenol
- Phenyl acetone
- Phenyl benzoate
- Pseudo methylionones
- Pseudoionone
- Quinoline
- Safrole, Isosafrole and Dihydrosafrole
- Santolina oil
- Savin oil
- Toluene
- trans-2-Heptenal
- trans-2-Hexenal diethyl acetal
- trans-2-Hexenal dimethyl acetal
Questions
Is oakmoss banned in perfume?
No. IFRA restricts oakmoss extracts to 0.1% of the finished perfume, shared with treemoss, and what the limit really controls is atranol and chloroatranol.
Is Lilial banned?
In EU cosmetics, yes, since 2022-03-01. IFRA itself restricts it in Category 4 to 1.4% of the finished perfume.
Are nitro musks banned?
Musk ambrette, musk moskene, musk tibetene and musk xylene are prohibited by IFRA. Musk ketone is not prohibited, but it may hold less than 0.1% musk xylene.