PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Farnesol
How much Farnesol can you put in a perfume?
IFRA standard: Farnesol · Category 4, 51st Amendment
1.2%
of the finished perfume, at most
Under the IFRA Standards (51st Amendment, Category 4: fine fragrance on skin), Farnesol may make up at most 1.2% of the finished perfume. In an eau de parfum at 18%, that is at most 6.66% of your concentrate: 6.66% of every 100 g.
Farnesol 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 Farnesol its concentrate can hold. If nothing else in the formula carries it:
| Perfume strength | Most Farnesol in the concentrate |
|---|---|
| Cologne, 5% | 24% |
| Eau de toilette, 10% | 12% |
| 15% | 8% |
| Eau de parfum, 18% | 6.66% |
| 20% | 6% |
| Extrait, 25% | 4.8% |
Which materials contain Farnesol?
Sold as Farnesol 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Australian sandalwood Essential Oilnatural | 8% | 83.3% of the concentrate |
| Linden Blossom Absolutenatural | 8% | 83.3% of the concentrate |
| Ambrette Seed Absolutenatural | 6% | no limit on its own |
| Ambrette Seed Essential Oilnatural | 5% | no limit on its own |
| Dreamwood® (dsm-firmenich) | 4.99% | no limit on its own |
| Sandalwood absolutenatural | 4% | no limit on its own |
| Sandalwood Essential Oil East Indiannatural | 4% | no limit on its own |
| Dreamwood Base™ (dsm-firmenich) | 3.75% | no limit on its own |
75 materials in the catalog carry Farnesol; 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 |
|---|---|
| Farnesol | 3.3 g |
| Australian sandalwood Essential Oil | 50 g |
| Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit | 46.7 g |
Farnesol alone brings 0.594% Farnesol to the finished perfume, and Australian sandalwood Essential Oil adds 0.72%. Each looks modest, but the perfume holds 1.31% against a limit of 1.2%: 1.1 times the limit. To bring it inside on its own, the calculator cuts Farnesol from 3.3 g to 2.742 g and Australian sandalwood Essential Oil from 50 g to 41.548 g. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 16.43%.
Or paste these lines into the calculator:
Farnesol 3.3 g Australian sandalwood Essential Oil 50 g Ethylene Brassylate 46.7 g
Questions
Is Farnesol banned in perfume?
No. IFRA restricts it: at most 1.2% of a fine fragrance (Category 4).
How much Farnesol can I use in an eau de parfum?
At 18%, at most 6.66% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries Farnesol. Every other source counts toward the same total.
Does Farnesol from essential oils count?
Yes. The limit is on the total in the finished perfume, whatever brings it: Australian sandalwood Essential Oil typically carries 8%. 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.