Fr
Fragrance
Fragrance · Parfum · Fragrance (Parfum)
One label word for many scent chemicals, added for smell, not for skin. Some are known allergens.
What it does
'Fragrance' or 'parfum' covers many scent chemicals that needn’t be listed one by one. Some, like linalool and limonene, are known allergens that EU labels must name. Sensitive, eczema-prone or rosacea-prone skin usually does better without it.
The EU’s ingredient database lists it as a fragrance (adds scent).European Commission, CosIng (© European Union, CC BY 4.0) · uses put in plain words by Drop ↗
The evidence, graded
moderateFragrance, essential oils, denatured alcohol and certain preservatives (methylisothiazolinone, the formaldehyde-releasers) are the usual suspects on sensitive skin. In the patch-test data read here — patients whose dermatitis was linked to a cleanser — the preservative quaternium-15 topped the list at 11.2% and fragrance mix I came fifth at 7.7%. Test a new product on a small patch of skin before you use it on your face.Warshaw 2018 · Dermatitis ↗
expert consensusLinalool, limonene, geraniol, citral, eugenol, cinnamal, isoeugenol and hydroxycitronellal are among the 12 fragrance chemicals the EU's scientific committee singled out in 2012 for their number of reported allergy cases. For linalool and limonene, that is their air-oxidized form. Coumarin, cinnamyl alcohol, farnesol and HICC are in the same top group. All are on the EU's original list of 26 fragrance allergens labels must name.SCCS 2012 · European Commission SCCS ↗
expert consensusHexyl cinnamal, anise alcohol, alpha-isomethyl ionone, citronellol, coumarin, benzyl benzoate and amyl cinnamal are also on the EU's 26-name fragrance label list. The EU's scientific committee counts all seven as established contact allergens. Coumarin is in its top group, with more than 100 reported cases. Anise alcohol has 10 or fewer; the other five have 11 to 100.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.
Also known as
perfume, aroma
Read more
Browse all 1238 ingredients — grouped by what they do, each with whatever evidence we can cite.
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