Neroli oil
Under the IFRA Standards a rinse-off soap may hold up to 6.25 % of this oil, a limit set by its Benzyl cyanide.
IFRA maximum for soap
Restricted constituents, at the typical levels IFRA's annex gives:
- Geraniol
- 2.66 %
- trans-trans-Farnesol
- 2.18 %
- Benzyl cyanide
- 0.16 %
- Geranial
- 0.1 %
- dl-Citronellol
- 0.04 %
- Neral
- 0.04 %
- Methyl N-formylanthranilate
- 0.03 %
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
Citrus Aurantium Amara Flower Oil
- Botanical name
- Citrus aurantium
- CAS
- 68916-04-1, 72968-50-4
- EC
- 277-143-2
The EU names this oil itself as a fragrance allergen (Regulation (EU) 2023/1545, Annex III entry 350): it goes on the label by name above 0.01 % in a rinse-off product.
What it is and how it behaves in soap
Neroli oil is distilled from the fresh blossom of the bitter orange tree. Tunisia and Morocco make more than nine-tenths of the world's supply, only about a tonne and a half a year (Bonaccorsi and colleagues, 2011). It smells of honeyed orange blossom, fresh and floral with a green, bitter edge.
It is among the most expensive oils a soapmaker meets: Cavitch puts it beyond most budgets and Grosso saves it for very special soap. Delicate oils suffer in raw soap, so Faiola suggests adding exotic ones to rebatched soap instead. One economy is a touch of neroli over petitgrain, which comes from the same tree. The IFRA figure on this page is the ceiling.
Buy it only from a supplier who tests each lot. Eight of nine neroli oils bought online failed the ISO standard, some cut with glycols or extra linalyl acetate (Pierson and colleagues).
Sources
- CosIng, the cosmetic ingredient database: CITRUS AURANTIUM AMARA FLOWER OIL, European Commission
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 amending Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 as regards labelling of fragrance allergens in cosmetic products, European Commission. Annex, entry 350
- Bonaccorsi and colleagues, Composition of Egyptian nerolì oil, Natural Product Communications 6, SAGE (2011). Distilled from bitter orange flowers; Tunisia and Morocco make about 1,500 kg a year, more than 90 % of world production
- Susan Miller Cavitch, The Natural Soap Book, Storey Publishing (1995). Rose, neroli and jasmine are out of most soapmakers' price range
- Alicia Grosso, The Everything Soapmaking Book, 3rd edition, Adams Media (2013). Neroli is very costly; save it for very special soap
- Anne-Marie Faiola, Pure Soapmaking, Storey Publishing (2016). Add exotic essential oils to rebatch soap to preserve them
- Pierson, Fernandez and Antoniotti, Type and magnitude of non-compliance and adulteration in neroli, mandarin and bergamot essential oils purchased on-line, Scientific Reports 11, Springer Nature (2021). Eight of nine neroli oils bought online did not conform to ISO standards; some held excess linalyl acetate or glycols