Fragrance, Allergens and What We Declare

The short version. No synthetic fragrance is used anywhere in this range. One product, Polish, is scented and says so on its own page. Everything else carries only the scent of the botanical oils it is made from. Every fragrance allergen those oils contain is declared in full in the ingredient list.

Why we do not write "fragrance free" across the whole range

Because it would not be true, and because in this category the phrase does more work than most people realise.

Fragrance free is not a defined legal term. It usually means no perfume compound has been added. It does not mean a product contains no fragrance allergens, because plant oils are not inert. Lavender oil is roughly a third linalool. Citrus peel oils are largely limonene. Rose and geranium carry citronellol and geraniol. Those molecules sit on the regulator's list whether they arrived in a perfumer's bottle or in the seed they were pressed from.

So a brand can print fragrance free on a product full of essential oils, and a brand can print natural fragrance on a product with a higher allergen load than a synthetic one. Neither phrase tells you what is in the bottle. The ingredient list does.

Natural does not mean low allergen. Often it means the opposite.

Fragrance materials are among the most common causes of allergic contact dermatitis. The sensitising agents are individual molecules, and the immune system responds to the molecule, not to its provenance. A limonene molecule from cold pressed orange peel and a limonene molecule from a reactor are the same molecule.

Natural extracts also carry two things a single synthetic ingredient does not. Variability, because a harvest is not a specification. And oxidation products, because terpenes such as limonene and linalool oxidise on contact with air and light, and the oxidised forms are more sensitising than the parent molecule.

That last point is a formulation decision, not a marketing one. It is why this range is bottled in violet glass, made in small batches to order, and given a six month period after opening rather than the twelve or twenty four months you will often see.

What the law actually requires

Under Annex III of the cosmetics regulation, named fragrance allergens must be declared individually in the ingredient list once they pass a concentration threshold. The thresholds are 0.001 per cent in a leave on product and 0.01 per cent in a rinse off product. Below that, they sit inside the general ingredient entry and you will not see them named.

Great Britain currently works to the original list of 26 named allergens. The European Union has expanded its list to more than 80 substances and groups under Regulation (EU) 2023/1545, with products placed on the EU market needing to comply from 31 July 2026 and existing stock cleared by 31 July 2028. Great Britain has not adopted the expanded list. The direction of travel is clear, and any brand selling into the EU will have to work to it.

Where each product sits

No fragrance allergens declared

Protect, the mineral day cream. Soothe, the cleansing bar.

No perfume added, allergens declared from the botanical oils

Calm, Restore, Renew, Nourish, Purify, Groom and Shine. No perfume compound goes into any of them. They smell of what they are made of, and the naturally occurring allergens in those oils are named at the end of each ingredient list.

Scented, and labelled as such

Polish, the body scrub and wash. It is the one scented product in the range. It declares Parfum, and its product page tells you so before you buy rather than after.

If your skin reacts to fragrance

Start with Protect or Soothe, or with Calm if a balm is what you need. Read the ingredient list on the product page and look for the allergen line, which sits at the end. Patch test on the inner forearm for several days before putting anything new on your face.

If you have had patch testing done and know which allergens you react to, email the list to hana@bornofnecessity.co.uk and I will tell you honestly which products to avoid, including the ones I would rather sell you.

The science behind the formulations. What is in everything, and why.

Nature provides the idea. I add the science.