Hi all, I just bought some New Directions Aromatics Lavender 40/42 and on their website in the pdf it says for category 9 soap the usage is .30 percent. I wanted to see if I have it correct that .30% would mean that if I made one pound of soap, so 16 ounces of oils, I should use 1.3 grams (.048 ounces) of NDA's Lavender (seems like a very small amount)? Am I interpreting that correctly? It's much different than say, Brambleberry's Lavender guidelines suggest. Just wanted to get your input. If someone takes a look at the pdf on their site it's in the quality and regulatory info pdf, page 3.
NDA Lavender 40/42 IFRA info guidance
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That seems really odd. Especially since the same chart categories put it at 2.5% for toothpaste.
Dr.J
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An interesting finding! Made me do some digging out of uncontrollable curiosity.
The NDA regulatory document for the Lav 40/42 specifically points to the compound 1-octen-3-yl acetate as the IFRA restricted material in the mixture, and notes that by itself this compound has an IFRA limit of 0.3%. So I would think that the max level for the overall Lav 40/42 should be adjusted for the content of 1-octen-3-yl acetate in the mixture.
I could find no mention of 1-octen-3-yl acetate as an ingredient in any of the Lavender EOs described in "Essential Oil Safety", 2nd edition, by Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young, but, Wikipedia shows it is present in Lavender EO at ~0.65%.
However, I believe that none of the "natural" lavender EOs have IFRA restrictions (the composition of 40/42 is "not so natural" because it is adjusted by man to yield fairly consistent linalyl acetate and linalool content batch after batch). The 1-octen-3-yl acetate may be added as a fragrance chemical to NDA 40/42 to tweak the scent, and hence it may be present at a higher level than ~0.65%. Despite that, since its certainly way less than 100% of the 40/42, the IFRA max of the NDA Lav 40/42 in soap should be well higher than 0.3%.
Curious to hear NDA's reply.
The NDA regulatory document for the Lav 40/42 specifically points to the compound 1-octen-3-yl acetate as the IFRA restricted material in the mixture, and notes that by itself this compound has an IFRA limit of 0.3%. So I would think that the max level for the overall Lav 40/42 should be adjusted for the content of 1-octen-3-yl acetate in the mixture.
I could find no mention of 1-octen-3-yl acetate as an ingredient in any of the Lavender EOs described in "Essential Oil Safety", 2nd edition, by Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young, but, Wikipedia shows it is present in Lavender EO at ~0.65%.
However, I believe that none of the "natural" lavender EOs have IFRA restrictions (the composition of 40/42 is "not so natural" because it is adjusted by man to yield fairly consistent linalyl acetate and linalool content batch after batch). The 1-octen-3-yl acetate may be added as a fragrance chemical to NDA 40/42 to tweak the scent, and hence it may be present at a higher level than ~0.65%. Despite that, since its certainly way less than 100% of the 40/42, the IFRA max of the NDA Lav 40/42 in soap should be well higher than 0.3%.
Curious to hear NDA's reply.
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Very interesting Dr. J, thank you so much for this information and digging! So fascinating. Unfortunately I have not received a reply from NDA yet. I will reach out to them again. If I do get a reply, I will definitely follow up. Thank you again!
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This really bothers me. I don't think I'll use their 40/42 any more.
SplendorSoaps
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I think it must be an oversight. Nature's Garden and WSP both list Lavender 40/42 at 5% usage rate for Category 9 bar soaps.
I have used NDA 40/42 at 7% which is my normal for any lavenders, without ever having a customer come back and complain or my very sensitive skin grumbling. I simply do not take the percentages from the IFRA as set in stone especially since I was making soap before IFRA came into the picture without problems. When FDA tells me I cannot use the percentages I do, I will.
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Good point.
Just wanted to give a little update on the latest information I saw on NDA's site regarding this essential oil. Looks like they have updated the IFRA certificate and now it's 100%. I just wanted to tell you in case anyone had seen this previous/older thread I thought I would provide this update.
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Wow, thank you for the update! I was just getting ready to order a new NDA order too. I'm happy to hear they updated it.
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I just looked again and it said 0.30% still.
Don't know if this will work but here is the link to the Lavender 40/42 that is 100%:
https://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/msds/QR_Lavender4042NatureIdenticalEssentialOil.pdf
There is also another Lavender 40/42 that is .30% - just make sure if you want the 100% it's the one that says "Lavender 40/42 Nature Identical Essential Oil (Phthalate Free)" - I just realized there are two 40/42's. Thanks for pointing that out.
https://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/msds/QR_Lavender4042NatureIdenticalEssentialOil.pdf
There is also another Lavender 40/42 that is .30% - just make sure if you want the 100% it's the one that says "Lavender 40/42 Nature Identical Essential Oil (Phthalate Free)" - I just realized there are two 40/42's. Thanks for pointing that out.
