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Ingredient on hair labels

Fragrance (Parfum)

TheWashDay editorial · Updated · From the EU ingredient register and the makers’ own labels · How we match names

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Fragrance (Parfum) is on 133 of the 177 hair-product labels we compare, from 27 makers. Its uses in the EU ingredient register are fragrance and perfuming. 7 of these labels name it among the first five ingredients.

See it on each label Products without it

What it is

In the register’s words: “Parfum is a term for ingredient labelling used to identify that a product contains a material or a combination of materials normally added to a cosmetic to produce or to mask a particular odour. According to Article 19 of the Cosmetics Regulation, 'Perfume and aromatic compositions and their raw materials shall be referred to by the terms ‘parfum’ or ‘aroma’. '.”

EU register name (INCI)
PARFUM
Written on these labels as
Fragrance (Parfum); Fragrance; Parfum (Fragrance); Fragrance/Parfum; Parfum; Fragrance (Essential Oil Blend); Parfum/Fragrance; Fragrance (Natural); Fragrance (Partum); Fragrance (Phthalate Free); Fragrance (100% Natural Fragrance); Fragrance (includes essential oils)

US labels use the US name where it differs from the EU one, so a label may say Fragrance (Parfum) where the register says PARFUM. Both are the same ingredient.

What the register lists it for

These are the uses the European Commission’s CosIng register lists for Fragrance (Parfum) in any cosmetic, hair roles first. They say why a maker might add it, not what it does in one formula, and they aren’t a safety rating.

Fragrance

Gives the product its smell or covers an unpleasant one. A label may name each scent ingredient or group them as Fragrance (Parfum).

Register definition: “Imparting an odour or taste. Creating a perceivable pleasant smell and/or masking a bad smell.”

Perfuming

Used as a perfume or scent material. Essential oils and their scent compounds, such as linalool and limonene, carry this role.

Register definition: “Used for perfume and aromatic raw materials.”

Where it sits on each label

US labels list ingredients from most to least, except that those at 1% or less may follow in any order. A name near the top is a large part of the formula. A label doesn’t mark where the 1% point falls, so further down, the order says little about how much is in it.

Every label, product by product (133)

Each line runs from the first name on a label to the last; a dot is where this ingredient sits. Makers change formulas now and then; if the list on your bottle differs, go by your bottle.

Your next step

Find products without Fragrance (Parfum) Check every name on your own label All ingredients on the labels we compare

Other fragrance ingredients on these labels

Updated · The name, numbers and uses come from the European Commission’s CosIng entry (CC BY 4.0); we write the uses in US spelling and put the hair ones first. The labels are each maker’s own. The order rule is the FDA’s Cosmetics Labeling Guide. All our sources are on the Sources page.