Survey of Chemical Substances in Consumer Products, 55 – Survey of lip care products with fragrance and flavour

Survey of lip care products with fragrance and flavour

10 Summary and conclusion

According to "Kosmetikdirektivet", the concentration of the 26 allergenic fragrances must be stated on the product's declaration of contents if they are found in concentrations of > 0.001% in leave-on products, i.e. products that are not washed off. The future regulation will enable consumers allergic to fragrances to avoid fragranced products and as a result reduce the number of allergic reactions.

From table 9.2 it appears that the obligation to declare content of fragrances will apply to the fragrances marked with an asterisk*. This means that the obligation to declare applies to 12 of the 16 fragrances found in the analysed lip care products.

As it is not immediately possible to estimate the concentration and content of the individual sensitizing fragrances in a product, nor by smelling the product, the future declaration of contents will enable consumers to obtain information on the content, however, not the concentration in the product.

In a survey of cosmetic products based on natural ingredients, a number of fragrances were identified which are also included in this survey, e.g. geraniol, eugenol and hydroxycitronellal (42). This is in agreement with the fact that the analysed products containing vegetable oils/plant extracts contained a selection of allergenic fragrances. As a result, consumers allergic to fragrances must be careful when using cosmetic products based on natural ingredients as an alternative to "ordinary" cosmetics, including lip care products.

Products with a high content of fragrances may pose a risk of allergy to particularly sensitive persons, including children.