On 12 June, at a conference on the future of fragrance, Michael Carlos, President of the Fragrance Division at Givaudan, discussed the challenges posed by regulatory requirements. Some ingredients that have been used in perfumery for thousands of years must now be avoided. To illustrate his point, he brought up essential oil of orange, a substance that some people are allergic to. In the simple act of eating an orange, the essential oil contained in the rind rubs off onto the hands. To reach the same concentration of the substance by applying a perfume that contains it, one would have to spray the perfume at least fourteen times to the same area. Who would dream of doing such a thing?

But Carlos was not bitter about it. In fact, he insisted upon the idea that formulators have a responsibility to safeguard those consumers with allergies, who make up 1 to 2% of the population, without making things too complicated for the remaining 98%.

We all want to know what goes into the cosmetics we use every day. But how far will regulations go? Today, the list of allergens that must be labelled is limited to 26 substances. Tomorrow, there may …