PerfuMate › IFRA limits › Spearmint oil

How much Spearmint oil can you put in a perfume?

0.983%

of the finished perfume, at most

By its typical composition, Spearmint Essential Oil can make up at most 0.983% of a finished perfume: its Carvone content meets that IFRA limit first. At 18% that is at most 5.46% of your concentrate.

Check your own formula in the free IFRA calculator

Grade by grade

Each grade in PerfuMate's catalog, read through its typical composition by the calculator's engine:

MaterialHeld byAt most, of the perfumeAt 18%, of the concentrate
Spearmint Essential OilCarvone 60%0.983%5.46%

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%:

MaterialWeighed
Spearmint Essential Oil8.2 g
Ethylene Brassylate no IFRA limit91.8 g

Spearmint Essential Oil brings 0.886% Carvone to the finished perfume, against a limit of 0.59%: 1.5 times the limit. To bring it inside on its own, the calculator cuts Spearmint Essential Oil from 8.2 g to 5.305 g. Or keep the formula and bottle it weaker: the highest strength inside every limit is 11.99%.

Or paste these lines into the calculator:

Spearmint Essential Oil  8.2 g
Ethylene Brassylate  91.8 g

Questions

Why is Spearmint oil limited if it is natural?

Because IFRA limits molecules, and a natural is a mixture of them. Spearmint Essential Oil typically carries 60% Carvone, which has its own Category 4 limit of 0.59%.

How much Spearmint oil can I use in an eau de parfum?

At 18%, Spearmint Essential Oil may be at most 5.46% of the concentrate, if nothing else in the formula carries Carvone. Every other source of Carvone 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.

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