PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Methyl eugenol

How much Methyl eugenol can you put in a perfume?

IFRA standard: Methyl eugenol · Category 4, 51st Amendment

0.011%

of the finished perfume, at most

Under the IFRA Standards (51st Amendment, Category 4: fine fragrance on skin), Methyl eugenol may make up at most 0.011% of the finished perfume. In an eau de parfum at 18%, that is at most 0.0611% of your concentrate: 0.0611% of every 100 g.

Check your own formula in the free IFRA calculator

What the limit means at your strength

The limit is on the finished perfume, so the stronger the perfume, the less Methyl eugenol its concentrate can hold. If nothing else in the formula carries it:

Perfume strength	Most Methyl eugenol in the concentrate
Cologne, 5%	0.22%
Eau de toilette, 10%	0.11%
15%	0.0733%
Eau de parfum, 18%	0.0611%
20%	0.055%
Extrait, 25%	0.044%

Which materials contain Methyl eugenol?

Sold as Methyl eugenol itself, counted in full:

Methyl Eugenol

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
Holy Basil Essential Oilnatural	10%	0.611% of the concentrate
Betel Leaf Essential Oilnatural	6%	1.01% of the concentrate
Champaca Absolutenatural	6%	1.01% of the concentrate
Pimento Leaf Essential Oilnatural	5%	1.22% of the concentrate
Pimento Berry Essential Oilnatural	3%	2.03% of the concentrate
Basil (F-TEC)	2%	3.05% of the concentrate
Bay Laurel Absolutenatural	2%	3.05% of the concentrate
Champaca Leaf Essential Oilnatural	2%	3.05% of the concentrate

47 materials in the catalog carry Methyl eugenol; 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
Methyl Eugenol	0.031 g
Holy Basil Essential Oil	0.37 g
Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit	99.599 g

Methyl Eugenol alone brings 0.00558% Methyl eugenol to the finished perfume, and Holy Basil Essential Oil adds 0.00666%. Each looks modest, but the perfume holds 0.0122% against a limit of 0.011%: 1.11 times the limit. To bring it inside on its own, the calculator cuts Methyl Eugenol from 0.031 g to 0.028 g and Holy Basil Essential Oil from 0.37 g to 0.332 g. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 16.17%.

Open this example in the IFRA calculator

Or paste these lines into the calculator:

Methyl Eugenol  0.031 g
Holy Basil Essential Oil  0.37 g
Ethylene Brassylate  99.599 g

Questions

Is Methyl eugenol banned in perfume?

No. IFRA restricts it: at most 0.011% of a fine fragrance (Category 4).

How much Methyl eugenol can I use in an eau de parfum?

At 18%, at most 0.0611% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries Methyl eugenol. Every other source counts toward the same total.

Does Methyl eugenol from essential oils count?

Yes. The limit is on the total in the finished perfume, whatever brings it: Holy Basil Essential Oil typically carries 10%. 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.