PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Carvone
How much Carvone can you put in a perfume?
IFRA standard: Carvone · Category 4, 51st Amendment
0.59%
of the finished perfume, at most
Under the IFRA Standards (51st Amendment, Category 4: fine fragrance on skin), Carvone may make up at most 0.59% of the finished perfume. In an eau de parfum at 18%, that is at most 3.27% of your concentrate: 3.27% of every 100 g.
Carvone 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 Carvone its concentrate can hold. If nothing else in the formula carries it:
| Perfume strength | Most Carvone in the concentrate |
|---|---|
| Cologne, 5% | 11.8% |
| Eau de toilette, 10% | 5.9% |
| 15% | 3.93% |
| Eau de parfum, 18% | 3.27% |
| 20% | 2.95% |
| Extrait, 25% | 2.36% |
Which materials contain Carvone?
Sold as Carvone 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Spearmint Essential Oilnatural | 60% | 5.46% of the concentrate |
| Caraway Seed Essential Oilnatural | 55% | 5.95% of the concentrate |
| Dill Seed Essential Oilnatural | 45% | 7.28% of the concentrate |
| Spearmint (F-TEC) | 40% | 8.19% of the concentrate |
| Dill weed Essential Oilnatural | 35% | 9.36% of the concentrate |
| Gingergrass Essential Oilnatural | 5% | 65.5% of the concentrate |
| Palo santo Essential Oilnatural | 2.5% | no limit on its own |
| Bois d'Encens, Natural™ (Robertet)natural | 0.55% | no limit on its own |
22 materials in the catalog carry Carvone; 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 |
|---|---|
| l-Carvone | 1.6 g |
| Spearmint Essential Oil | 3.3 g |
| Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit | 95.1 g |
l-Carvone alone brings 0.288% Carvone to the finished perfume, and Spearmint Essential Oil adds 0.356%. Each looks modest, but the perfume holds 0.644% against a limit of 0.59%: 1.09 times the limit. To bring it inside on its own, the calculator cuts l-Carvone from 1.6 g to 1.459 g and Spearmint Essential Oil from 3.3 g to 3.008 g. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 16.48%.
Or paste these lines into the calculator:
l-Carvone 1.6 g Spearmint Essential Oil 3.3 g Ethylene Brassylate 95.1 g
Questions
Is Carvone banned in perfume?
No. IFRA restricts it: at most 0.59% of a fine fragrance (Category 4).
How much Carvone can I use in an eau de parfum?
At 18%, at most 3.27% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries Carvone. Every other source counts toward the same total.
Does Carvone from essential oils count?
Yes. The limit is on the total in the finished perfume, whatever brings it: Spearmint Essential Oil typically carries 60%. 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.