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Hexyl Salicylate
Hexyl Salicylate
A scent ingredient. Despite the name, it isn’t an exfoliating acid.
What it does
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
expert consensusUS safety reviewers added hexyl salicylate to their salicylates group in 2025. A study classed it as an infrequent cause of skin allergy. In a repeated patch test on people, 30% hexyl salicylate caused no irritation or allergy, and none of 218 fragrance-sensitive patients reacted to it at 5%. The reviewers judged it safe as used, in products made not to irritate or cause allergy, which makers may check with a risk assessment.Johnson 2025 · International Journal of Toxicology ↗
Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.
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