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Benzyl Cinnamate

A sweet balsamic fragrance ester found in balsams and resins; one of the EU-declarable fragrance allergens.

What it does

Benzyl cinnamate is an ester with a sweet, balsamic scent, present naturally in balsam of Peru, tolu balsam, and storax, and also made synthetically. It is used as a fragrance component and fixative. It is one of the 26 fragrance ingredients the EU requires to be named on the label above trace levels, because it can cause allergic contact dermatitis. Because it is a balsam-of-Peru constituent, people who patch-test positive to balsam of Peru sometimes react to it too. It has no skin function beyond scent.

The evidence, graded

expert consensusAmylcinnamyl alcohol, benzyl cinnamate, cinnamyl alcohol, farnesol, and methyl 2-octynoate complete the EU's list of 26 fragrance ingredients that must be named on a cosmetic label above trace levels. All five come up positive on patch testing less often than the G13 and G16 names, but a confirmed reaction to one is a real reason to avoid it.SCCS 2012 · European Commission SCCS ↗

Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.

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