As of April 2026, Health Canada is requiring all cosmetics manufacturers to disclose any fragrance allergens in their products. These allergens can often be found in many natural essential oils.
As a skincare formulator and perfumer, I'm not afraid of chemicals. It drives me crazy when I see a skincare or fragrance company say they are "chemical free"..... you know that water and air are both chemicals right?
Below is the list of fragrance allergens that will be required to be listed on your product labels if you create any products with fragrance by August 2026.
To folks that are not versed in chemistry this may look like an intimidating list, but many of these allergens are compounds that are commonly found within an array of natural fragrances.
For example, lavender essential contains at least 19 of the fragrance allergen compounds (although some are in very trace quantities).
Here is a list of what we can find in a lavender essential oil, you may be surprised!
Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone
Benzyl Alcohol
Benzyl Benzoate
Benzyl Cinnamate
Benzyl Salicylate
Beta-Caryophyllene
Citronellol
Coumarin
Eugenol
Farnesol
Geraniol
Hydroxycitronellal
Isoeugenol
Limonene
Linalool
Linalyl Acetate
Pinene
Terpineol
Terpinolene
However, for the sake of fragrance allergen labelling, only the compounds that are present at 0.001% (leave-on) or 0.01% (rinse-off) need to be listed. Likely this will be Linalool, Limonene, Geraniol, Citronellol, Coumarin, Farnesol, Eugenol, Isoeugenol and the Benzyl derivatives.
This does add an extra layer of complexity to labeling but I believe this will also create a lot more awareness of the actual chemistry of many of the essential oils and fragrance compounds that formulators use, and in my view that is a positive!
Anyho, I may add onto this blog post in the future but for now I wanted to create a quick reference to the list of fragrance allergens that you will soon be seeing on product lables in Canada!
Scented Greetings
~ Lutska
INCI Name of Fragrance Allergen:
- Acetyl Cedrene
- Amyl Cinnamal
- Amylcinnamyl Alcohol
- Amyl Salicylate
- Anethole
- Anise Alcohol
- Benzaldehyde
- Benzyl Alcohol
- Benzyl Benzoate
- Benzyl Cinnamate
- Benzyl Salicylate
- Camphor
- Beta-Caryophyllene
- Carvone
- Cinnamal
- Cinnamyl Alcohol
- Citral*; Geranial; Neral (“Citral” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Citronellol
- Coumarin
- Alpha-Damascone; cis-Rose Ketone 1; trans-Rose Ketone 4; Rose Ketone 4 (Damascenone); Rose Ketone 3 (delta-Damascone ); trans-Rose Ketone 3; cis-Rose Ketone 2 (cis-beta- Damascone); trans-Rose Ketone 2 (trans-beta- Damascone) (“Rose Ketones” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Dimethyl Phenethyl Acetate
- Eugenol
- Eugenyl Acetate
- Farnesol
- Geraniol
- Geranyl Acetate
- Hexadecanolactone
- Hexamethylindanopyran
- Hexyl Cinnamal
- Hydroxycitronellal
- Isoeugenol
- Isoeugenyl Acetate
- Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone
- Limonene
- Linalool
- Linalyl Acetate
- Menthol
- 6-Methyl Coumarin
- Methyl 2-Octynoate
- Methyl Salicylate
- Pinene
- 3-Propylidenephthalide
- Salicylaldehyde
- Santalol
- Sclareol
- Terpineol
- Alpha-Terpinene
- Terpinolene
- Tetramethyl Acetyloctahydronaphthalenes
- Trimethylbenzenepropanol
- Trimethylcyclopentenyl Methylisopentenol
- Vanillin
- Cananga Odorata Flower Extract; Cananga Odorata Flower Oil (“Cananga Odorata Oil/Extract” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Cedrus Atlantica Bark Extract; Cedrus Atlantica Bark Oil; Cedrus Atlantica Bark Water; Cedrus Atlantica Leaf Extract; Cedrus Atlantica Wood Extract; Cedrus Atlantica Wood Oil (“Cedrus Atlantica Oil/Extract” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Cinnamomum Cassia Leaf Oil
- Cinnamomum Zeylanicum Bark Oil
- Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Oil; Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Flower Oil (“Citrus Aurantium Flower Oil” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Peel Oil; Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil; Citrus Sinensis (Orange) Peel Oil (“Citrus Aurantium Peel Oil” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Peel Oil
- Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil
- Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Oil; Cymbopogon Flexuosus Oil; Cymbopogon Citratus Leaf Oil (“Lemongrass Oil” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil; Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf/Twig Oil (“Eucalyptus Globulus Oil” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Leaf Oil; Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Flower Oil; Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Stem Oil; Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Bud Oil (“Eugenia Caryophyllus Oil” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Evernia Furfuracea (Treemoss) Extract
- Evernia Prunastri (Oakmoss) Extract
- Jasminum Grandiflorum (Jasmine) Flower Extract; Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Oil; Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Flower Extract (“Jasmine Oil/Extract” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Juniperus Virginiana Oil; Juniperus Virginiana Wood Oil (“Juniperus Virginiana Oil” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Laurus Nobilis Leaf Oil
- Lavandula Hybrida Oil; Lavandula Hybrida Extract; Lavandula Hybrida Flower Extract; Lavandula Intermedia Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract; Lavandula Intermedia Flower/Leaf/Stem Oil; Lavandula Intermedia Oil; Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil; Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract (“Lavandula Oil/Extract” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil
- Mentha Viridis (Spearmint) Leaf Oil
- Myroxylon Balsamum Pereirae Balsam Extract; Myroxylon Balsamum Pereirae Balsam Oil; Myroxylon Pereirae (Balsam Peru) Oil; Myroxylon Pereirae (Balsam Peru) Resin Extract; Myroxylon Pereirae (Balsam Peru) Resin (“Myroxylon Pereirae Oil/Extract” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Narcissus Poeticus Extract; Narcissus Pseudonarcissus (Daffodil) Flower Extract; Narcissus Jonquilla Extract; Narcissus Tazetta Extract (“Narcissus Extract” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil
- Pinus Mugo Leaf Oil; Pinus Mugo Leaf/Twig Extract; Pinus Mugo Twig Oil (“Pinus Mugo” shall be indicate in the list of ingredients)
- Pinus Pumila Needle Extract; Pinus Pumila Leaf/Twig Extract; Pinus Pumila Leaf/Twig Oil (“Pinus Pumila” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Pogostemon Cablin Oil
- Rosa Damascena Flower Oil; Rosa Damascena Flower Extract; Rosa Alba Flower Oil; Rosa Alba Flower Extract; Rosa Canina Flower Oil; Rosa Centifolia Flower Oil; Rosa Centifolia Flower Extract; Rosa Gallica Flower Oil; Rosa Moschata Flower Oil; Rosa Rugosa Flower Oil (“Rose Flower Oil/Extract” shall be indicated in the list of ingredients)
- Santalum Album (Sandalwood) Oil
- Turpentine
- Lippia Citriodora Absolute
