PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Lime oil
How much Lime oil can you put in a perfume?
IFRA standard: Lime oil expressed · Category 4, 51st Amendment
0.7%
of the finished perfume, at most
Under the IFRA Standards (51st Amendment, Category 4: fine fragrance on skin), Lime oil may make up at most 0.7% of the finished perfume. In an eau de parfum at 18%, that is at most 3.88% of your concentrate: 3.88% 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 Lime oil its concentrate can hold. If nothing else in the formula carries it:
| Perfume strength | Most Lime oil in the concentrate |
|---|---|
| Cologne, 5% | 14% |
| Eau de toilette, 10% | 7% |
| 15% | 4.66% |
| Eau de parfum, 18% | 3.88% |
| 20% | 3.5% |
| Extrait, 25% | 2.8% |
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.
Lime Essential Oil Distilled and Lime FCF Essential Oil are not capped by this standard: the distilled or furocoumarin-free grade does not carry the phototoxic part.
Which materials contain Lime oil?
Sold as Lime oil itself, counted in full:
A worked example
A 100 g concentrate, bottled as an eau de parfum at 18%:
| Material | Weighed |
|---|---|
| Lime Essential Oil | 5.8 g |
| Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit | 94.2 g |
Lime Essential Oil brings 1.04% Lime oil to the finished perfume, against a limit of 0.7%: 1.49 times the limit. To bring it inside on its own, the calculator cuts Lime Essential Oil from 5.8 g to 3.812 g. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 12.06%.
Or paste these lines into the calculator:
Lime Essential Oil 5.8 g Ethylene Brassylate 94.2 g
Questions
Is Lime oil banned in perfume?
No. IFRA restricts it: at most 0.7% of a fine fragrance (Category 4).
How much Lime oil can I use in an eau de parfum?
At 18%, at most 3.88% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries Lime 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.