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Syzygium aromaticum

Clove bud oil

Under the IFRA Standards a rinse-off soap may hold up to 1.7 % of this oil, a limit set by its Methyl eugenol.

IFRA maximum for soap

1.7 % at most, of the soap

Restricted constituents, at the typical levels IFRA's annex gives:

Eugenol
82 %
Methyl eugenol
0.1 %

Worked out from typical levels. A supplier's certificate for your lot comes first, and its figure is the one to follow.

Check a blend against its IFRA limits and list its allergens in the fragrance and allergen calculator.

How essential oils behave in soap, and how much to use: Scenting soap.

Identity and labelling

Eugenia Caryophyllus Bud Oil

Botanical name
Syzygium aromaticum
CAS
84961-50-2
EC
284-638-7

The EU names this oil itself as a fragrance allergen (Regulation (EU) 2023/1545, Annex III entry 356): it goes on the label by name above 0.01 % in a rinse-off product.

What it is and how it behaves in soap

Clove bud oil is steam-distilled from the dried flower buds of the clove tree, Syzygium aromaticum (EFSA), grown chiefly in Indonesia, India, Madagascar and Tanzania. It is mostly eugenol with some eugenyl acetate (EMA), and smells rich, sweet and hot, rounder than the leaf oil.

Clove can make soap misbehave: Cavitch warns that it makes fresh soap overreact, so add it by hand at thin trace and keep it a small part of a blend. Fisher uses clove in small amounts for warmth, Grosso starts spice oils at about a teaspoon per pound of oils, roughly 1 %, and Cable uses 0.7 to 1.3 %. Faiola calls clove a skin irritant to be used sparingly. The IFRA figure on this page is the ceiling.

The SCCS counts clove oil among the allergens of special concern. Cats are especially sensitive to phenols such as eugenol (Merck Veterinary Manual), so keep it where pets cannot reach it.

Sources

All essential oils