"Fragrance-Free" Is Not a Regulated Term - How to Verify the Claim

Fragrance-free, unscented, hypoallergenic - none of these words are legally defined in the UK. Here is the plain-English way to check the label yourself and know what you are actually buying.

Short answer. “Fragrance-free”, “unscented”, and “hypoallergenic” are marketing terms in the UK, not legally defined. Brands set their own bar. The one place the truth lives is the INCI ingredients list on the back of the pack, and once you know what to look for, you can verify a claim in under thirty seconds.

Why this matters

If your skin reacts to fragrance, the last thing you want is to buy a product labelled fragrance-free and still flare from it. This happens more often than it should for one straightforward reason: none of these words on the front of the pack are legally defined.

Under UK cosmetic law (retained from EU Regulation 1223/2009), the parts of a cosmetic label that carry legal weight are:

• The full ingredients list in INCI format (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients).
• The 26 named fragrance allergens must be declared individually in the INCI list when present above 0.001% in leave-on products or 0.01% in rinse-off products.
• The allergen list has been expanded by an EU/UK amendment adding more named allergens to that must-declare register; the transition period for full compliance runs into 2026 to 2028 depending on product category, so during this window some labels may still be updating.

The words on the front of the pack, by contrast, are marketing copy. Any brand can print “fragrance-free” without meeting any specific standard. The only recourse if a product is misleading is a challenge under general trading and advertising standards - which almost never happens for individual product claims.

What the three words usually mean (in practice, not law)

None of these is legally binding, but there are broad industry conventions.

• Fragrance-free - the brand’s intent is usually that no fragrance was added to give a scent. It may still contain masking fragrance (added to cover the smell of a raw ingredient like an oil or a botanical extract) or ingredients that happen to be scented in their own right (essential oils, some plant extracts).
• Unscented - the brand’s intent is usually that the finished product has no perceptible smell. This can be achieved by using a small amount of masking fragrance to neutralise the natural scent of the base ingredients. So an unscented product is more likely to contain masking fragrance than a fragrance-free one, on average, but again, brand-by-brand variation is real.
• Hypoallergenic - the brand’s intent is that the product is less likely to trigger allergic reactions. No standard testing regime backs this up. It says nothing about the presence or absence of specific allergens.

The scale, from most to least meaningful for reactive skin, tends to run: fragrance-free with a short INCI list > fragrance-free > unscented > hypoallergenic. Only the first one is a claim you can verify by reading the back.

How to verify a fragrance-free claim in under thirty seconds

Turn the product over. Read the INCI list. Look for these:

Any of these words means fragrance is present:

• Parfum or Fragrance (the umbrella term).
• Aroma (used in oral and lip products, but the same category).
• Any of the 26 named fragrance allergens, including the big ones: Limonene, Linalool, Citronellol, Geraniol, Citral, Coumarin, Eugenol, Cinnamal, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Farnesol, Hydroxycitronellal, Amyl Cinnamal, Hexyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Benzyl Cinnamate, Methyl 2-Octynoate, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Amylcinnamyl Alcohol, Anisyl Alcohol, Butylphenyl Methylpropional (also known as lilial - now restricted in the UK/EU), Isoeugenol, Evernia Prunastri (oakmoss), Evernia Furfuracea (treemoss), Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde (also known as HICC - now banned in the UK/EU but may appear on old stock).

Any essential oil, which is fragrance whether or not the brand calls it that. Look for the pattern of a botanical Latin name followed by Oil or Extract: Lavandula Angustifolia Oil (lavender), Rosa Damascena Oil (rose), Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Oil (sweet orange), Mentha Piperita Oil (peppermint), Melaleuca Alternifolia Oil (tea tree), and hundreds more. These are natural, they are also potent sensitisers, and they are the single biggest hidden source of fragrance in products labelled “natural” or “botanical”.

Masking fragrances. Some INCI lists include a very small amount of masking fragrance at the end. If the list is otherwise short and clean, and the brand’s ethos is right, this may be tolerated even by fragrance-sensitive skin. Some fragrance-sensitive people find they cannot tolerate any masking fragrance and need to check for Parfum/Fragrance even in short-list “clean” products.

If none of the above appears in the INCI, the product is genuinely fragrance-free by any working definition and the claim is honest.

The two-step routine

Once you have your list of names above, the routine is:

1. Read the last third of the INCI list first. Fragrance ingredients and the 26 named allergens are almost always listed at the end because they are used at very low percentages.
2. Scan the whole list for essential oils. Anywhere it appears is fair game.

Thirty seconds, in the shop, no phone lookup needed once the names are familiar.

Where scanner apps help and where they do not

A UK scanner app that flags fragrance ingredients from the INCI list is the fastest way to do this at the shelf if you do not want to memorise the names. See our scanner apps compared page for the honest round-up. What no app can do is verify that a “fragrance-free” claim on the front is accurate - the front of the pack has no data behind it. Apps read the INCI. That is the same source of truth as your own eyes.

When “fragrance-free” is worth trusting

Some sub-categories have earned real trust. The fragrance-free ranges from major dermatology-focused brands (the ones you see recommended by GPs and dermatologists for eczema-prone skin) tend to be strict - no parfum, no essential oils, no masking fragrance. Their claim usually holds up to a back-of-pack check. Brands whose marketing leans on “natural” or “botanical” ingredients tend to be less strict, because their raw materials themselves carry natural scent.

If a product is worth using every day on reactive skin, it is worth thirty seconds on the back of the pack to check.

What to ask if the label is unclear

If you cannot tell from the INCI (rare, but happens with imported products or ones with only partial UK compliance), the UK cosmetic law obliges brands to name a Responsible Person somewhere on the pack or website - an EU-established address for the manufacturer, importer, or brand owner. That contact is legally required to respond to specific ingredient queries. Ask.

The habit that keeps this working

Front of pack for the shortlist. Back of pack for the decision. Never buy a “fragrance-free” product for sensitive skin without turning it over. If the last twenty ingredients are all short and none of the fragrance names appear, the claim is honest. If any of them do, the claim is a marketing choice, not a fact.

Written and reviewed by the Sensitive Skin Lab editorial team.