PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Nutmeg and mace oil
How much Nutmeg and mace oil can you put in a perfume?
0.5%
of the finished perfume, at most
By its typical composition, Mace Essential Oil can make up at most 0.5% of a finished perfume: its Safrole content meets that IFRA limit first. At 18% that is at most 2.77% of your concentrate.
Grades differ, and the table below has each one.
Grade by grade
Each grade in PerfuMate's catalog, read through its typical composition by the calculator's engine:
| Material | Held by | At most, of the perfume | At 18%, of the concentrate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mace Essential Oil | Safrole (trace) 2% | 0.5% | 2.77% |
| Nutmeg CO2 Extract | Safrole (trace) 2% | 0.5% | 2.77% |
| Nutmeg Essential Oil | Safrole (trace) 2% | 0.5% | 2.77% |
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 |
|---|---|
| Mace Essential Oil | 4.2 g |
| Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit | 95.8 g |
Mace Essential Oil brings 0.0151% Safrole to the finished perfume, against a limit of 0.01%: 1.51 times the limit. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 11.9%.
Or paste these lines into the calculator:
Mace Essential Oil 4.2 g Ethylene Brassylate 95.8 g
Questions
Why is Nutmeg and mace oil limited if it is natural?
Because IFRA limits molecules, and a natural is a mixture of them. Mace Essential Oil typically carries 2% Safrole, which has its own Category 4 limit of 0.01%.
How much Nutmeg and mace oil can I use in an eau de parfum?
At 18%, Mace Essential Oil may be at most 2.77% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries Safrole. Every other source of Safrole 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.