The short answer: flip the bottle over and read the ingredient list. If there's no "Fragrance", "Parfum" or "Aroma", no essential oils, and none of the fragrance compounds below, it's fragrance-free. The front of the bottle can't tell you that on its own.
Why "fragrance-free" on the front isn't enough
You'd think "fragrance-free" or "unscented" on a label would settle it. In the US, it doesn't. Neither term has a legal definition, so each brand decides what it means.
Two things make it harder. First, the FDA lets brands list an entire fragrance blend as one word, "Fragrance", without saying what's in it. Second, the FDA itself points out that some products labeled "unscented" still contain fragrance ingredients, added to mask the smell of everything else.
So if your skin reacts to fragrance, the front label is a starting point at best. The ingredient list is where the answer is. It's on the box or the bottle, and on any product page that's worth trusting.
Here's how we'd read it, in four quick checks.
1. Look for the fragrance words
Scan the whole list for:
- Fragrance or Parfum. Same thing, different label conventions: an undisclosed scent blend.
- Aroma. Used on EU-style labels for flavor or scent.
If any of these shows up, anywhere, the product has added fragrance. It doesn't matter what the front says.
2. Look for essential oils
This is the one people miss. Essential oils add scent, and they're listed by their Latin plant names, so they don't look like "fragrance" at a glance. Watch for aromatic plants followed by "Oil", for example:
- Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil
- Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil
- Rosa Damascena (Rose) Flower Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens (Geranium) Oil
- Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil
Don't panic at every oil, though. Jojoba, sunflower, argan and almond oil are there to soften skin and barely smell of anything. It's the aromatic ones that count.
Natural brands often add a little footnote too, something like "*from natural essential oils". If you spot that, the formula is scented. (Ours say it too, on the products that have them.)
3. Check the end of the list
In the EU, brands have to name specific fragrance compounds once they pass a small amount: 0.001% in leave-on products like moisturizers, 0.01% in rinse-off products like cleansers. That list used to be 26 substances. A 2023 EU update grows it to 81, for new products from July 31, 2026 and for everything from July 31, 2028. The UK has a similar rule.
US labels don't have to name them, but plenty of brands do anyway. The ones you'll see most, usually near the very end:
- Linalool
- Limonene
- Geraniol
- Citronellol
- Citral
- Coumarin
- Eugenol
If they're there, there's fragrance or essential oil in the formula. One exception worth knowing: Benzyl Alcohol is on the same list, but it's also a very common preservative. On its own, it doesn't mean the product is scented.
4. Read "no added fragrance" carefully
Some plant extracts simply smell of something. So a brand may say "no added fragrance" when it hasn't added any perfume or essential oil, but one of its ingredients still has a faint scent of its own.
That's a fair claim, as long as the brand tells you. Our Nourishing Rich Cream is a good example: no parfum, no essential oils, but it contains natural vanilla fruit extract, so we call it "no added fragrance", not "fragrance-free". If you want no scent at all, go for "fragrance-free" and check the list anyway.
One more thing
Fragrance-free doesn't mean nothing will ever bother your skin. Fragrance is a common trigger, not the only one. If your skin is easily irritated, try anything new on a small patch first, on your inner arm or behind your ear, for a few days before it goes on your face.
The 20-second version
- Find the full ingredient list.
- No "Fragrance", "Parfum" or "Aroma"?
- No aromatic essential oils, and no "*from essential oils" footnote?
- No linalool, limonene, geraniol, citronellol, citral, coumarin or eugenol at the end?
Four clear answers, and it's fragrance-free.
How we label ours
We put the full ingredient list on every product page, and we tell you plainly whether a formula has fragrance in it. Here's where our range stands:
- Fragrance-free, meaning no parfum and no essential oils: Sensitive Skin Moisturizer, Sensitive Skin Overnight Cream and Biphasic Make-up Remover.
- No added fragrance: AHA Peeling Concentrate, and the Nourishing Rich Cream with its vanilla extract.
- Contain fragrance, listed in the ingredients: our serums, the Hydration Gel, the Facial Oil, the Peptide Renewal Cream and the Cleansing Foam.
Our Sensitive Skin Moisturizer was tested on 20 people with sensitive skin, and none had a skin reaction. Don't take our word for the rest: read its full ingredient list and run the four checks yourself.
