Fragrance allergen checker

What counts as a labelled fragrance allergen

On an EU cosmetic, a perfume is listed as one word, “Parfum” (or “Aroma” for a flavour), however many ingredients it contains. Article 19 of the Cosmetics Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 makes one exception: the substances in Annex III that carry a labelling condition must also be named “in addition to the terms parfum or aroma”. That condition reads the same for every one of them: name it when its concentration exceeds 0.001% in a leave-on product, such as a cream, deodorant or perfume, or 0.01% in a rinse-off product, such as a shampoo or shower gel.

The limits are concentrations in the finished product. For a maker, that means working from the supplier's allergen declaration, which gives each allergen as a percentage of the fragrance oil; our fragrance allergen calculator does that sum. For a shopper, it means that a name missing from the list is not proof the substance is absent: it may simply be below the limit.

The 2023 update: what changed and when

Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 of 26 July 2023 rewrote the fragrance entries of Annex III. It came into force on 16 August 2023 and did four things:

• More names. 57 entries became subject to labelling: 45 new entries (327 to 371) and 12 existing entries, such as 6-methyl coumarin, Balsam of Peru and methyl salicylate, that until then carried other restrictions but no duty to be named.
• Natural extracts by name. Many of the new entries are plant materials: lavender, peppermint, lemon peel, orange peel, bergamot, clove, ylang-ylang, rose, jasmine, sandalwood and others. Several are labelled under a group name such as “Lavandula Oil/Extract” or “Rose Flower Oil/Extract”.
• Isomers and groups. Existing entries gained their isomers (geranial and neral under Citral, d- and l-limonene under Limonene), and related substances share one label name, such as “Rose Ketones” or “Pinene”.
• A transition. Products that do not meet the new rules may be placed on the EU market until 31 July 2026 and made available until 31 July 2028. So since 1 August 2026, newly placed products must use the new list, while older stock can stay on shelves until 31 July 2028.

Two of the original 26, HICC (hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde) and lilial (butylphenyl methylpropional), are no longer labelled because they are now banned in EU cosmetics (Annex II, entries 1380 and 1666). The checker flags them if they turn up.

Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the US (as of 3 November 2026)

Great Britain has its own copy of the Cosmetics Regulation, and its Annex III on legislation.gov.uk (revised 19 August 2026) still has only the original list. We found no GB legislation or consultation adopting the 2023 additions. In February 2026 the Department for Business and Trade restated that the EU Cosmetic Regulation “does not apply to products placed on the GB market”. A GB label therefore only has to name the entries marked “Original list” in the results.

Northern Ireland follows the EU Cosmetics Regulation under the Windsor Framework, as the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) guidance says, so the 2023 list and its dates apply there.

In the United States, cosmetics may still list a perfume simply as “Fragrance”. The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA) told the FDA to propose a fragrance allergen labelling rule within 18 months, by 29 June 2024. As of 3 November 2026 the FDA has published neither a proposed nor a final rule; the latest Unified Agenda lists the proposal for November 2026. A US label may name allergens voluntarily, but nothing requires it yet.

How to read the result

Each match comes as a small vial tag with the name used on EU labels, the Annex III entry number and CAS numbers, a badge saying whether it is on the original list or was added in 2023, and a note on what it is and, where the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) recorded it, where it occurs naturally. A likely match means the label used an everyday name (“Peppermint Oil”) or a plant name written differently from Annex III; the INCI name settles it. Lookalikes, such as ethyl vanillin next to vanillin, are named so you can rule them out.

A worked example

The hand cream in the box above lists 16 ingredients. The checker finds eight labelled allergens: five from the original list (linalool, limonene, geraniol, coumarin and citral) and three added in 2023: the lavender oil and lemon peel oil themselves, and linalyl acetate, which the SCCS records as about 30% of lavender oil. Sold in Great Britain, the same cream would only have to name the five originals; placed on the EU market since 1 August 2026, it must name all eight when each is above 0.001%.

Common mistakes

• Linalyl acetate is not linalool. They are separate entries, and both are now on the EU list. The checker matches whole names, so one is never counted as the other.
• “Only essential oils” is not allergen-free. Lavender, citrus, clove, rose and other oils are now labelled allergens themselves, and each carries several listed substances.
• An absent name is not an absent allergen. It can be below the threshold, on stock placed on the market before 1 August 2026, or on a US product that names nothing.
• Benzyl alcohol is often a preservative. Annex III covers it only when it is used for other purposes, such as in a fragrance.
• “Hypoallergenic” is not a standard. In the US there is no federal definition; the FDA says it means whatever a company wants it to mean.

If you have reacted to a product, a dermatologist can patch test you to find which allergens you react to. This page is general information, not medical advice.