PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Grapefruit oil
How much Grapefruit oil can you put in a perfume?
IFRA standard: Grapefruit oil expressed · Category 4, 51st Amendment
4%
of the finished perfume, at most
Under the IFRA Standards (51st Amendment, Category 4: fine fragrance on skin), Grapefruit oil may make up at most 4% of the finished perfume. In an eau de parfum at 18%, that is at most 22.2% of your concentrate: 22.2% of every 100 g.
What the limit means at your strength
The limit is on the finished perfume, so the stronger the perfume, the less Grapefruit oil its concentrate can hold. If nothing else in the formula carries it:
| Perfume strength | Most Grapefruit oil in the concentrate |
|---|---|
| Cologne, 5% | 80% |
| Eau de toilette, 10% | 40% |
| 15% | 26.6% |
| Eau de parfum, 18% | 22.2% |
| 20% | 20% |
| Extrait, 25% | 16% |
What the standard says
It is capped because it is phototoxic: on skin it can react with sunlight, so this limit is about sun exposure rather than allergy.
Grapefruit FCF Essential Oil is not capped by this standard: the distilled or furocoumarin-free grade does not carry the phototoxic part.
Which materials contain Grapefruit oil?
Sold as Grapefruit oil itself, counted in full:
- Grapefruit Essential Oil
- Grapefruit Pink Essential Oil
- Grapefruit White Essential Oil
- Pomelo Essential Oil
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pineapple Essence (Natural)™ (Robertet) | 16.1% | no limit on its own |
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 |
|---|---|
| Grapefruit Essential Oil | 33 g |
| Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit | 67 g |
Grapefruit Essential Oil brings 5.94% Grapefruit oil to the finished perfume, against a limit of 4%: 1.49 times the limit. To bring it inside on its own, the calculator cuts Grapefruit Essential Oil from 33 g to 19.143 g. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 12.12%.
Or paste these lines into the calculator:
Grapefruit Essential Oil 33 g Ethylene Brassylate 67 g
Questions
Is Grapefruit oil banned in perfume?
No. IFRA restricts it: at most 4% of a fine fragrance (Category 4).
How much Grapefruit oil can I use in an eau de parfum?
At 18%, at most 22.2% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries Grapefruit oil. Every other source counts toward the same total.
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.