When you start selling candles, soap, or body products, you quickly run into three documents: the IFRA certificate, the SDS, and the spec sheet. Knowing how to read them protects your customers, answers wholesale buyers' questions, and keeps your products within accepted safety limits.
Here is what each one is and what to look for.
What Is IFRA?
IFRA, the International Fragrance Association, is the global body that sets safety standards for fragrance materials. Its Standards restrict or prohibit certain ingredients based on safety research, and they set maximum levels for how much of a fragrance can be used in different kinds of products. An IFRA certificate, issued for a specific fragrance, translates those Standards into practical numbers you can use.
How to Read the Certificate
An IFRA certificate usually includes:
- The fragrance name and product code, so you can match it to what you bought.
- The IFRA amendment the certificate follows, since the Standards are updated over time.
- A table of product categories with the maximum percentage of the fragrance allowed in each finished product.
The maximum is a percentage of your finished product. If the certificate says 3.0% for your category, a 100 g bar may contain up to 3 g of that fragrance.
Which Category Is Your Product?
IFRA groups products by how they are used and how much contact they have with skin. Some of the categories makers use most:
- Category 4: fine fragrance, such as perfume oils and body sprays.
- Category 5A: body lotions and creams applied with the hands.
- Category 9: rinse-off products such as bar soap and body wash.
- Category 10A: household cleaning products.
- Category 12: products not intended for skin contact, such as candles, wax melts, and reed diffusers.
Leave-on skin products usually have the lowest limits, and candles and air care usually have the highest. If you are unsure which category fits, choose the more conservative one or ask your supplier.
The SDS (Safety Data Sheet)
The SDS describes how to handle a material safely. It has 16 standard sections. The ones makers use most:
- Section 2: hazards and warning statements, useful for your own labels.
- Section 7: safe handling and storage.
- Section 8: protective equipment such as gloves.
- Section 9: physical properties, including flash point.
- Section 14: transport information, important if you ship.
The Spec Sheet
The specification sheet lists the physical properties of the material, such as appearance, color, specific gravity, refractive index, and flash point. Specific gravity is especially useful: it lets you convert between weight and volume. It is also what lets you calculate an accurate fragrance load by weight.
Where to Find Our Documents
Document packets for our fragrance oils and most of our natural flavors are available to download on the product page. For essential oil documents, email info@escentialgroup.com and we will send them over.
Build a Simple Document File
- One folder per fragrance with its IFRA certificate, SDS, and spec sheet.
- A note of which IFRA category each of your products falls into and the load you use.
- Lot numbers and dates received for each purchase.
- A yearly check for updated certificates, since the Standards change over time.
Wholesale buyers and retail partners often ask for these documents, and having them ready makes you look like the professional you are.
A Note on Safety
Always use fragrance within the maximum level on its IFRA certificate for your product category. Follow the handling guidance on the SDS, and label your finished products with the appropriate warnings. Regulations for cosmetics, household products, and candles vary by country and product type, so check the rules where you sell. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Documents Make Better Products
An IFRA certificate is not paperwork for its own sake. It is the recipe card that tells you how to use a fragrance safely in every product you make. Download the documents for your favorite fragrances and keep them close.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an IFRA certificate?
It is a document for a specific fragrance that shows the maximum percentage you can use in each type of finished product under the IFRA Standards.
Which IFRA category are candles?
Candles, wax melts, and reed diffusers generally fall under Category 12, for products not intended for skin contact.
Which IFRA category is bar soap?
Rinse-off products like bar soap and body wash generally fall under Category 9.
What is the difference between an SDS and an IFRA certificate?
The SDS covers safe handling, hazards, storage, and transport. The IFRA certificate covers how much of the fragrance you can use in each product type.
Where can I find the documents for your products?
Document packets for our fragrances and most flavors are on the product page. For essential oils, or anything you cannot find, email info@escentialgroup.com.