PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Cinnamaldehyde
How much Cinnamaldehyde can you put in a perfume?
IFRA standard: Cinnamic aldehyde · Category 4, 51st Amendment
0.25%
of the finished perfume, at most
Under the IFRA Standards (51st Amendment, Category 4: fine fragrance on skin), Cinnamaldehyde may make up at most 0.25% of the finished perfume. In an eau de parfum at 18%, that is at most 1.38% of your concentrate: 1.38% of every 100 g.
Cinnamaldehyde 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 Cinnamaldehyde its concentrate can hold. If nothing else in the formula carries it:
| Perfume strength | Most Cinnamaldehyde in the concentrate |
|---|---|
| Cologne, 5% | 5% |
| Eau de toilette, 10% | 2.5% |
| 15% | 1.66% |
| Eau de parfum, 18% | 1.38% |
| 20% | 1.25% |
| Extrait, 25% | 1% |
Which materials contain Cinnamaldehyde?
Sold as Cinnamaldehyde 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cassia Essential Oilnatural | 85% | 1.63% of the concentrate |
| Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil (Ceylon)natural | 65% | 2.13% of the concentrate |
| Cinnamon Essential Oilnatural | 65% | 2.13% of the concentrate |
| Cinnamon Bark CO2 Extractnatural | 55% | 2.52% of the concentrate |
| Cinnamon (F-TEC) | 40% | 3.47% of the concentrate |
| S-Spice (F-TEC) | 10% | 13.8% of the concentrate |
| Styrax (F-TEC) | 3% | 46.2% of the concentrate |
| Peru balsam Essential Oilnatural | 0.5% | no limit on its own |
19 materials in the catalog carry Cinnamaldehyde; 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 |
|---|---|
| Cinnamal | 0.69 g |
| Cassia Essential Oil | 0.98 g |
| Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit | 98.33 g |
Cinnamal alone brings 0.124% Cinnamaldehyde to the finished perfume, and Cassia Essential Oil adds 0.15%. Each looks modest, but the perfume holds 0.274% against a limit of 0.25%: 1.1 times the limit. To bring it inside on its own, the calculator cuts Cinnamal from 0.69 g to 0.628 g and Cassia Essential Oil from 0.98 g to 0.892 g. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 16.41%.
Or paste these lines into the calculator:
Cinnamal 0.69 g Cassia Essential Oil 0.98 g Ethylene Brassylate 98.33 g
Questions
Is Cinnamaldehyde banned in perfume?
No. IFRA restricts it: at most 0.25% of a fine fragrance (Category 4).
How much Cinnamaldehyde can I use in an eau de parfum?
At 18%, at most 1.38% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries Cinnamaldehyde. Every other source counts toward the same total.
Does Cinnamaldehyde from essential oils count?
Yes. The limit is on the total in the finished perfume, whatever brings it: Cassia Essential Oil typically carries 85%. 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.