The Exact Email to Send a Fragrance Supplier for Allergens

Every fragrance supplier has this data. Almost none of them send it to you unasked. That's not because they're hiding anything, it's because most small orders don't come with a request for it, so it never gets attached. Ask specifically, and you'll usually get it within a few days.

Why the generic SDS isn't enough

A safety data sheet has 16 sections, and section 3 lists composition, but fragrance formulas are frequently protected as trade secrets, so section 3 on a fragrance oil's SDS often just says "fragrance mixture" or lists only the hazardous components above a certain threshold. That's legally fine for the SDS's purpose, which is workplace safety. It's not enough for what you need, which is the percentage of each named allergen so you can calculate whether it clears the leave-on or rinse-off disclosure threshold in your finished product.

What you actually need is a separate document: an allergen declaration (sometimes called an IFRA conformity certificate or an allergen statement) that lists each of the named fragrance allergens present and their percentage in the fragrance compound itself, not in your finished product. You do that last multiplication yourself once you have the number.

The email

Here's wording you can copy and adjust:

---

Subject: Allergen declaration and IFRA certificate request, [Fragrance Name], PO/Order #[xxxx]

Hi [Supplier Contact],

I'm finalizing regulatory documentation for a product using your fragrance compound [Fragrance Name / SKU], and I need two documents to complete my filing:

1. An allergen declaration listing each of the fragrance allergens present in this compound (for example limonene, linalool, citronellol, geraniol, eugenol, coumarin, and any others in the current regulatory lists), with the percentage of each within the compound itself.

2. A current IFRA Certificate of Conformity for this specific compound.

If you have a full ingredient breakdown by INCI name and CAS number available, that would also help, though I understand some components may be withheld as proprietary.

Could you send these over, or point me to where I can access them? Happy to provide our account number or order details if that speeds things up.

Thanks very much, [Your Name] [Company Name]

---

That's it. No need to over-explain the regulatory reasoning, most fragrance houses deal with this request constantly and have the documents on file already.

What to do once you have the numbers

Say the declaration comes back listing linalool at 1.2% of the compound. If you're using that fragrance at 0.8% in a leave-on lotion, the math is:

0.8% (fragrance in formula) × 1.2% (linalool in fragrance) = 0.0096% linalool in the finished product

That's 96 ppm, which clears the 0.001% (10 ppm) leave-on disclosure threshold and needs to be named on the CNF and eventually the label. Run this same multiplication for every allergen listed in the declaration, since a single fragrance compound often contains several of them at different levels.

A few things worth double-checking in the reply

• Is the percentage given as a range or a single figure? If it's a range, use the top of the range for your calculation to stay conservative.
• Does the declaration cover both List 1 and List 2 allergens? Canada's List 2, the expanded set aligned with international lists, becomes mandatory later than List 1, but asking for both now saves you a second email cycle later.
• Is there a batch-specific certificate, or a general one for the product line? General ones are fine for most purposes, but if your formula is sensitive to allergen content near a threshold, a batch-specific figure is more precise.

Keep it on file, not just in your inbox

Once you have the declaration, save it somewhere tied to that specific fragrance SKU and reuse it for every product that fragrance goes into. Suppliers do occasionally update formulations without much fanfare, so it's worth re-requesting every year or two, especially before a filing deadline.

If you're managing this across a full product line with several fragrances, keeping the math straight by hand gets tedious fast. Cosmetic Comply takes the raw declaration numbers, expands them against your actual use levels, and flags which allergens clear the disclosure threshold for each specific product, so the supplier email above becomes the only manual step in the process.