PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Benzyl cinnamate
How much Benzyl cinnamate can you put in a perfume?
IFRA standard: Benzyl cinnamate · Category 4, 51st Amendment
2%
of the finished perfume, at most
Under the IFRA Standards (51st Amendment, Category 4: fine fragrance on skin), Benzyl cinnamate may make up at most 2% of the finished perfume. In an eau de parfum at 18%, that is at most 11.1% of your concentrate: 11.1% of every 100 g.
Benzyl cinnamate is also one of the EU's declarable fragrance allergens: above 0.001% of a leave-on product it must be named on the label.
What the limit means at your strength
The limit is on the finished perfume, so the stronger the perfume, the less Benzyl cinnamate its concentrate can hold. If nothing else in the formula carries it:
| Perfume strength | Most Benzyl cinnamate in the concentrate |
|---|---|
| Cologne, 5% | 40% |
| Eau de toilette, 10% | 20% |
| 15% | 13.3% |
| Eau de parfum, 18% | 11.1% |
| 20% | 10% |
| Extrait, 25% | 8% |
Which materials contain Benzyl cinnamate?
Sold as Benzyl cinnamate 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Peru balsam Essential Oilnatural | 25% | 44.4% of the concentrate |
| Peru Balsam Oliffac 0912™ (IFF) | 20% | 55.6% of the concentrate |
| Tolu balsam resinoidnatural | 16% | 69.4% of the concentrate |
| Tolu balsamnatural | 15% | 74% of the concentrate |
| Benzoin (F-TEC) | 10% | no limit on its own |
| Oriental (F-TEC) | 6% | no limit on its own |
| Propolis Absolutenatural | 4% | no limit on its own |
| Krishna Musk Givco™ (Givaudan) | 3.1% | no limit on its own |
21 materials in the catalog carry Benzyl cinnamate; 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 |
|---|---|
| Benzyl cinnamate | 5.6 g |
| Peru balsam Essential Oil | 27 g |
| Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit | 67.4 g |
Benzyl cinnamate alone brings 1.01% Benzyl cinnamate to the finished perfume, and Peru balsam Essential Oil adds 1.22%. Each looks modest, but the perfume holds 2.22% against a limit of 2%: 1.11 times the limit. To bring it inside on its own, the calculator cuts Benzyl cinnamate from 5.6 g to 4.805 g and Peru balsam Essential Oil from 27 g to 23.167 g. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 1.51%.
Or paste these lines into the calculator:
Benzyl cinnamate 5.6 g Peru balsam Essential Oil 27 g Ethylene Brassylate 67.4 g
Questions
Is Benzyl cinnamate banned in perfume?
No. IFRA restricts it: at most 2% of a fine fragrance (Category 4).
How much Benzyl cinnamate can I use in an eau de parfum?
At 18%, at most 11.1% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries Benzyl cinnamate. Every other source counts toward the same total.
Does Benzyl cinnamate from essential oils count?
Yes. The limit is on the total in the finished perfume, whatever brings it: Peru balsam Essential Oil typically carries 25%. 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.