Alcohol in Perfume: What It Is, Why It Is Used, and the Alternatives

In short: The alcohol in perfume is ethanol, and perfume is dissolved in it because it dissolves the scent materials that do not dissolve in water. Alcohol Denat. on an ingredient list is ethanol to which a substance has been added to make it unfit for drinking, and national regulations set which substances are permitted for this. Not every name containing alcohol is ethanol: the list may include fatty alcohols with other functions, and scent materials that are alcohols in their chemical structure. The phrase "alcohol free" is used for products that contain no ethanol, and they may contain other alcohols. When a perfume has no alcohol, something else carries it, such as oil or water; water needs a substance that brings the scent materials into it and a preservative. The substance that carries the perfume, whether alcohol or something else, affects how its scent is released.

Table of contents

• What is the alcohol in perfume?
• Why is perfume dissolved in alcohol?
• What does Alcohol Denat. mean?
• Why is alcohol denatured?
• What is it denatured with, and who decides?
• Other alcohols on the ingredient list
• Does "alcohol free" mean anything specific?
• Alternatives to alcohol: oil and water
• Oil
• Water
• What changes when the base changes?
• What the safety review says about denatured alcohol on the skin
• Read also
• References

You read Alcohol Denat. on the ingredient list of a perfume spray, then read "alcohol free" on another pack and find cetearyl alcohol in its list. These are two different substances that share the word alcohol. In what follows, "alcohol" on its own means ethanol, and anything else is called by its name. As for its religious ruling, that is a question for scholars and recognised religious authorities, such as the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta in Saudi Arabia.

What is the alcohol in perfume?

It is ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol. The word alcohol on its own on a cosmetic label means this alcohol, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration states [1].

Ethanol is made by fermenting starch, sugar, and other carbohydrates, and it is also made chemically from ethylene and other sources [3]. The EU cosmetic ingredients database (CosIng) has two names for it: Alcohol, which is undenatured ethanol, and Alcohol Denat., which is denatured ethanol, meaning another substance has been added to it [4].

Why is perfume dissolved in alcohol?

Because ethanol dissolves scent materials, most of which do not dissolve in water. That is why it is the base of the usual perfume spray [5]. It mixes with water in any proportion [2], so water may be present with it in the perfume solution [6], and it is the ethanol that carries the materials that do not dissolve in water.

When perfume is sprayed, its scent reaches the nose only after it evaporates and spreads through the air [6]. How each scent material is released from an ethanol solution depends on how it binds to the ethanol and on its vapour pressure, that is, its tendency to evaporate [6]. Some perfume materials react with the alcohol in the bottle over time, as covered in the guide to storing perfume.

What does Alcohol Denat. mean?

Alcohol Denat. on a perfume ingredient list is denatured ethanol, that is, ethanol to which one or more denaturants have been added, as CosIng defines it [4]. Denaturing makes the alcohol unfit for drinking [7]. On U.S. labels, denatured alcohol may be written SD Alcohol followed by its formula number, such as SD Alcohol 40-B, or written Alcohol Denat., a general name for denatured alcohol introduced in Europe [1].

Why is alcohol denatured?

Because regulation treats denatured alcohol differently from alcohol for drinking. In the United Kingdom, denatured alcohol is exempt from duty only when it is denatured to specific standards and used correctly [7]. In the United States, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) defines Specially Denatured Alcohol as alcohol to which denaturing materials have been added, and notes that it is generally used in cosmetics, and beyond them in medicines and other products [8].

What is it denatured with, and who decides?

The U.S. and UK formulas authorised for perfumes denature the alcohol with substances including denatonium benzoate, tert-butyl alcohol, and benzyl benzoate. National regulations set the denaturants and their amounts, and authorise specific formulas for each industry. In the United States, the federal regulations list the formulas authorised for perfumes, toilet waters, and colognes, among them formulas 39-C and 40-B [9], and in formula 40-B denatonium benzoate and tert-butyl alcohol are added to the alcohol [10]. The United Kingdom has two formulas authorised for making perfumes: one with these two substances, and the other with benzyl benzoate [7]. In the European Union, denaturing is left to the national legislation of each state [4].

Denatonium benzoate is an intensely bitter substance, effective as a denaturant in a very small proportion [11]. CosIng groups the U.S. SD Alcohol formulas, including 39-C and 40-B, under a single name, Alcohol Denat. [4], so this name does not tell you which substance the alcohol was denatured with.

Other alcohols on the ingredient list

Not every name containing alcohol is ethanol. Alcohols are a chemical family, and ethanol is one of them [1].

Among them are fatty alcohols, such as cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, and cetearyl alcohol, whose effects on the skin are quite different from those of ethanol, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [1]. The functions CosIng lists for cetearyl alcohol are emollient, emulsifying, and emulsion stabilising; perfuming and solvent are not among them [4].

Among them too are scent materials that are alcohols in their chemical structure. Linalool, geraniol, and 2-phenylethanol, listed as phenethyl alcohol, are all alcohols in chemical classification [12], and perfuming is among their functions in CosIng [4]. Benzyl alcohol is an aromatic alcohol, meaning its structure contains a benzene ring [12], and CosIng records functions for it including preservative, solvent, and perfuming [4]. Some of these materials are named on the perfume label: a 2018 news release from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority states that linalool and geraniol are among the sensitizing substances that must be listed on the label of a leave-on product, perfume included, when the concentration of either exceeds 0.001% [16].

Among them also is methanol (methyl alcohol), an alcohol other than ethanol. On 7 October 2020, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority warned against five perfumes in which methanol exceeded the limit permitted in the technical regulation on safety requirements for cosmetic and personal care products (SFDA.CO/GSO 1943:2016) [13]. In its warning, the Authority said that exposure to high levels of methanol may pose health risks, as it is “one of the highly toxic substances”, that it affects the nervous system, including headache and dizziness, and that it irritates the respiratory tract, skin and eyes [13]. In the European Union, methanol may be used in cosmetics only as a denaturant for ethanol and isopropyl alcohol, at no more than 5% of their amount [17].

Does "alcohol free" mean anything specific?

It does not mean the product is free of every alcohol. The phrase is used for products that contain no ethanol, and a product labelled with it may contain other alcohols, such as fatty alcohols, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration points out [1]. What alcohols a product contains you learn from its ingredient list.

Alternatives to alcohol: oil and water

If perfume is not dissolved in alcohol, it is carried by oil or water. The substance that carries the perfume is called the base, whether it is alcohol or something else, and the scent of a fragrance mixture is affected by the base it is in [6].

Oil

In a perfume oil, the scent materials are dissolved in an oil instead of alcohol. Its concentration, longevity, and safe use are covered in the guide to perfume oils.

Water

Water does not dissolve most scent materials, so bringing oily scent materials into it without a co-solvent such as ethanol is very difficult. A water-based perfume therefore needs substances that help dissolve them, either glycols and glycerin, or substances that bring oily materials into water, called surfactants [5]. Using a surfactant derived from castor oil, researchers made a clear, stable water-based perfume [5].

Water raises a second matter: preservation. A cosmetic can become contaminated with microorganisms from contaminated raw materials, from water, or from a preservation system that does not work [14]. Preservatives are added to prevent the growth of these microorganisms [14], and the researchers added a preservative to their water-based perfume [5].

What changes when the base changes?

In experiments that measured the effect of cosmetic bases on a single fragrant extract, marjoram extract rather than a finished perfume, how readily the base mixes with water strongly affected the release of the scent materials [15]. Dipropylene glycol retained the scent materials more than the other bases, so their odour intensity was lower [15]. From glycerin, by contrast, the scent materials were released quickly, because these materials do not mix with water [6].

These experiments do not compare how long an alcohol-based perfume lasts on the skin with an oil or water-based one, since the scent was measured in the air above the sample, not on the skin [15], so no conclusion can be drawn from them about which lasts longer or projects more.

What the safety review says about denatured alcohol on the skin

The U.S. Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel reviewed the safety of Alcohol Denat. in a report published in 2008. It found that applying products containing it to the skin, or inhaling them, does not produce significant systemic exposure to ethanol, that is, exposure reaching the body as a whole, and so it based its judgement on the safety of these ingredients on the safety of the denaturant [11]. It found alcohol denatured with substances including tert-butyl alcohol safe as used in cosmetics, considered the data sufficient for denatonium benzoate, and insufficient to reach a conclusion on three denaturants: quassin, brucine, and brucine sulfate [11]. The review concerns denatured alcohol and its denaturants, not the whole perfume formula. This does not mean alcohol has no effect on the skin itself: a review published in 2008 states that applying ethanol to the skin may cause irritation or contact dermatitis, especially in people with a deficiency of the enzyme ALDH, which takes part in breaking down alcohol in the body [18].

Ethanol is highly flammable [2], which is why an alcohol-based perfume is not put on charcoal, as explained in the guide to bakhoor perfume oils. Do not spray it near a flame, embers, or a lit cigarette [2].

Read also

• Perfume Oils: Concentration, Longevity and Safe Use
• Reading a Perfume Label: Ingredients, Allergens, and Pack Symbols
• Perfume Ingredients: From Raw Material to Note
• Glossary of Perfume and Bakhoor Terms in English and Arabic

References

1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Alcohol Free”. Content current as of 25 February 2022. fda.gov. Accessed 14 October 2026.
2. International Labour Organization and World Health Organization. International Chemical Safety Card 0044: Ethanol (anhydrous). May 2018. chemicalsafety.ilo.org. Accessed 14 October 2026.
3. PubChem. Ethanol (CID 702): Methods of Manufacturing, from the Hazardous Substances Data Bank, citing The Merck Index, 2013, p. 696. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed 14 October 2026.
4. European Commission. CosIng, Cosmetic Ingredients database: ALCOHOL DENAT. (74174), ALCOHOL (31401), CETEARYL ALCOHOL (75132), BENZYL ALCOHOL (32153), PHENETHYL ALCOHOL (36519), LINALOOL (35016), and GERANIOL (33991). ec.europa.eu. Accessed 14 October 2026.
5. Miastkowska M, Lasoń E, Sikora E, Wolińska-Kennard K. Preparation and Characterization of Water-Based Nano-Perfumes. Nanomaterials. 2018;8(12):981. doi:10.3390/nano8120981. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed 14 October 2026.
6. Rodrigues AE, Nogueira I, Faria RPV. Perfume and Flavor Engineering: A Chemical Engineering Perspective. Molecules. 2021;26(11):3095. doi:10.3390/molecules26113095. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed 14 October 2026.
7. HM Revenue & Customs. Production, distribution and use of denatured alcohol (Excise Notice 473). Last updated 18 November 2025: sections 1.1, 14.1, and 18. gov.uk. Accessed 14 October 2026.
8. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Industrial Alcohol: Denatured Alcohol. Last updated 5 November 2025. ttb.gov. Accessed 14 October 2026.
9. U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27, § 21.141: List of products and processes using specially denatured alcohol and rum, and formulas authorized therefor (codes 121 and 122). law.cornell.edu. Accessed 14 October 2026.
10. U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27, § 21.76: Formula No. 40-B. law.cornell.edu. Accessed 14 October 2026.
11. Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel. Final report of the safety assessment of Alcohol Denat., including SD Alcohol 3-A, SD Alcohol 30, SD Alcohol 39, SD Alcohol 39-B, SD Alcohol 39-C, SD Alcohol 40, SD Alcohol 40-B, and SD Alcohol 40-C, and the denaturants, Quassin, Brucine Sulfate/Brucine, and Denatonium Benzoate. International Journal of Toxicology. 2008;27 Suppl 1:1–43. doi:10.1080/10915810802032388. PMID 18569160. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed 14 October 2026.
12. PubChem. Linalool (CID 6549), Geraniol (CID 637566), 2-Phenylethanol (CID 6054), and Benzyl Alcohol (CID 244): descriptions from ChEBI. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed 14 October 2026.
13. Saudi Food and Drug Authority. Warning against five perfumes containing a high level of methanol (in Arabic). 7 October 2020. sfda.gov.sa. Accessed 14 October 2026.
14. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Microbiological Safety and Cosmetics. Content current as of 15 October 2024. fda.gov. Accessed 14 October 2026.
15. Costa P, Velasco CV, Loureiro JM, Rodrigues AE. Effect of cosmetic matrices on the release and odour profiles of the supercritical CO2 extract of Origanum majorana L. International Journal of Cosmetic Science. 2016;38(4):364–374. doi:10.1111/ics.12297. PMID 26611174. doi.org. Accessed 14 October 2026.
16. Saudi Food and Drug Authority. “SFDA launches an awareness campaign on the optimal use of cosmetic products” (in Arabic). 24 June 2018. sfda.gov.sa/ar/news/715. Accessed 17 October 2026.
17. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on cosmetic products. Annex III, entry 52 (Methanol). Consolidated text, 24 April 2024. eur-lex.europa.eu. Accessed 17 October 2026.
18. Lachenmeier DW. Safety evaluation of topical applications of ethanol on the skin and inside the oral cavity. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology. 2008;3:26. doi:10.1186/1745-6673-3-26. Accessed 17 October 2026.

Prepared and edited by: Sedr Al-Khaleej Perfumes team

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026