Juniper berry oil
None of the restricted materials in IFRA's annex limits this oil in rinse-off soap.
IFRA maximum for soap
no IFRA limit in soap
Restricted constituents, at the typical levels IFRA's annex gives:
- alpha-Cedrene
- 0.4 %
- Citronellyl acetate
- 0.19 %
- Geraniol
- 0.1 %
- Longifolene
- 0.1 %
- beta-Thujone
- 0.05 %
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
Juniperus Communis Fruit Oil
- Botanical name
- Juniperus communis
- CAS
- 8002-68-4, 73049-62-4, 84603-69-0
- EC
- 283-268-3
The EU does not name this oil itself as an allergen to label, but some of its constituents may be: the fragrance allergen tool works them out for a recipe.
What it is and how it behaves in soap
Juniper berry oil is steam-distilled from the ripe berries of the common juniper, Juniperus communis (ISO 8897), the berry that flavours gin. Supply still relies on wild shrubs rather than crops (Esteban and colleagues). It smells clean, peppery and piney, mostly from α-pinene.
Faiola uses it freely, at 2 to 5 % of the oils with clary sage or litsea; Cable puts juniper berry among the middle notes, and Cavitch among both the woody and the herbal scents. The IFRA figure on this page is the ceiling.
Like other pinene-rich oils it oxidises in air into stronger skin sensitisers (SCCS), so keep it cool and closed. Do not confuse it with savin, Juniperus sabina, whose oil is banned in EU cosmetics and is on Faiola's list of oils not for soaping.
Recipes that use it
Sources
- CosIng, the cosmetic ingredient database: JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS FRUIT OIL, European Commission
- Esteban and colleagues, Yield, chemical composition and bioactivity of essential oils from common juniper (Juniperus communis L.) from different Spanish provenances, Molecules 28, MDPI (2023). ISO 8897 covers oil from the mature berries, mostly α-pinene; steam distillation; supply relies on wild plants
- Anne-Marie Faiola, Pure Soapmaking, Storey Publishing (2016). Juniper berry with clary sage or litsea, at 2 to 5 % of the oils; savin on her list of essential oils not for soaping
- Kelly Cable, The Natural Soap Making Book for Beginners, Althea Press (2017). Juniper berry among the middle notes
- Susan Miller Cavitch, The Natural Soap Book, Storey Publishing (1995). Juniper berry among the woody and the herbal scents
- Opinion on fragrance allergens in cosmetic products (SCCS/1459/11), Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety, European Commission (2012). Oxidation products of fragrance terpenes are potent sensitisers
- Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, Annexes II and III, via CosIng, European Commission. Annex II, entry 294: Juniperus sabina leaves, essential oil and preparations are prohibited