How to label a perfume for sale

A perfume sold to the public lists its ingredients in INCI names: the carrier (Alcohol Denat. for an alcohol perfume), then "Parfum (Fragrance)" for the whole blend, then every declarable fragrance allergen present above the threshold in the finished product. In the EU that threshold is 0.001 percent for a leave-on product such as perfume. Around the ingredient list sit the product name, the content, a batch code and, in the EU and the UK, the responsible person. Rules differ by country, and this page is orientation, not legal advice.

What goes on the ingredient list?

The individual perfume materials are not listed one by one; the single word Parfum, written "Parfum (Fragrance)", covers all of them. What is listed beside it:

• The carrier, by its INCI name: Alcohol Denat. for Perfumer's ethanol; for a perfume oil, the oil's own name, such as Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil for Jojoba oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride for fractionated coconut oil, or Isopropyl Myristate.
• Every declarable allergen over the threshold, by its INCI name.

Ingredients at 1 percent or more must be in descending order; below 1 percent any order is allowed. A typical line reads: Alcohol Denat., Parfum (Fragrance), Limonene, Linalool, Coumarin.

Which fragrance allergens must be declared?

In the EU, the list in Annex III of the Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009: the classic 26, such as Linalool, Limonene, Citral, Coumarin and Eugenol, extended by Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 with more single chemicals and a set of named natural extracts and oils. For those naturals the whole oil is the allergen, so a Bergamot Essential Oil line is declared as Citrus Bergamia Peel Oil and a lavender line as Lavandula Angustifolia Oil. The allergen index lists every one with the catalog materials that carry it.

How do I know if an allergen is over the threshold?

Multiply three shares: the allergen inside the material, the material inside the concentrate, the concentrate inside the bottle. The allergens inside naturals count, not only the bottles of pure molecules. Lavender Essential Oil typically carries about 0.3 percent coumarin. At 5 percent of the concentrate, bottled at 18 percent:

1. 0.3 percent of 5 percent is 0.015 percent of the concentrate.
2. 0.015 percent of 18 percent is 0.0027 percent of the finished perfume.
3. That is over 0.001 percent, so Coumarin goes on the label, from a trace inside one oil.

The same arithmetic, summed across every line, applies to each allergen. The finished strength changes the answer: the same concentrate bottled as an extrait can declare an allergen its eau de toilette does not. Compositions of naturals are typical figures; if your supplier gives a declaration for your lot, use it.

Do I need an IFRA certificate?

An IFRA Certificate of Conformity is written by the company that makes a fragrance mixture, for its customer; IFRA itself does not issue certificates. If you buy a finished fragrance oil, ask the supplier for theirs. If you compose your own concentrate, conformity is yours to establish, in-house or through a service provider, and a raw material typically has no certificate of its own. A calculator is not a certificate, but it tells you whether the formula meets the Category 4 limits before anything is written down. The IFRA certificate, explained.

What is a responsible person, and do I need one?

To sell a cosmetic in the EU or the UK, a named responsible person, a person or a company, answers for the product. The name and address go on the label. Before the product is sold it needs a safety assessment by a qualified safety assessor, written up as the Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR), and a notification on the official portal: CPNP in the EU, SCPN in the UK. Other markets have their own rules; in the US, for example, MoCRA asks for a contact for adverse-event reports. Check the rules of each country you sell into, or ask a regulatory consultant.

What else goes on the bottle or box?

Beside the ingredient list, an EU label carries the product name, the nominal content, a batch code that ties the bottle to a batch record, a durability indication such as a period-after-opening mark, any precautions for use and the responsible person. Keep the batch record: which formula version, which lots, which date. When a customer asks a question about a bottle, that record is what answers it.

What if I change the formula?

Redo the allergen calculation and the label, every time. A new supplier lot of a natural, a different strength or a single material swapped can move an allergen over or under the threshold. The label belongs to one version of one formula at one strength.

PerfuMate's IFRA sheet lists every declarable EU allergen in the formula, including the ones inside your naturals, as shares of the finished product at the strength you set, and writes the INCI label text ready to copy. On a paid plan (plans) it prints bottle labels with the name, content, batch code and that line; the responsible person, the safety assessment and the notification stay with you. IFRA for perfumers covers the limits themselves. Start a formula, free.