All you need to know about substances classified as CMR

CMR stands for (Carcinogenic, Mutagenic and Reprotoxic Substances), the indication of the presence of CMR in products is regulated and its display is mandatory depending on the thresholds and its category.

What is a CMR certificate?

It is a document issued by the perfume manufacturer attesting to the presence or absence of substances classified as CMR (Carcinogenic, Mutagenic, Reprotoxic) 1A, 1B or 2 according to Annex VI of EC Regulation 1272/2008. Since April 2020, for the sake of total transparency, you will find the CMR certificate of all our perfumes for free download on each product sheet.

How to read it?

The wording of the said document is confusing, as it certifies the presence of the CMR raw materials specified in the table below. The absence of any raw material indicated in the table therefore attests to the "non-presence" of CMR. It may seem capillotracté, but it is its legal form! Here is an example to better understand. On the left, the tropical Anti-tobacco perfume before we study it (with CMR). On the right, the tropical Anti-tobacco perfume reworked by us and currently available online.

In this example, methyl salicylate entered the CMR list in early 2019, as for lemons and gamma terpinene, it is brand new from February 2020.

What is its validity?

This is a very sensitive point. The CMR regulations change several times a year (4 times in 2019, and already once in 2020). We make it a point of honor to regularly check our formulas to offer you fragrances that are always CMR-free, in accordance with the regulations in force.

But we must be very clear: if you have a "CMR-free" perfume that was created a year, two years (or more) ago and your supplier does not have the means to continuously check the CMRs, there is there is a good chance that the formula will now contain it. How to know? Impossible (even if the date of issue of the SDS is already a good indicator...). If you don't deal directly with a manufacturer, you can never be sure that your fragrances are always CMR-free. In the example above, a "tropical anti-tobacco" formula created in 2018 could therefore have been without CMR when it was created, but would no longer be so today, without the retailer even being able to know it. On the other hand, it is a European regulation. If your perfumes are of non-EU origin (USA for example), the regulations are not the same.

What does it change?

Honestly, most of the time not much. The percentages of these raw materials are so low that they are easily replaced without changing their smell. But you have to be aware that this drastically reduces the perfumer's color palette. Imagine being asked to bake a cake, but finally being told that the butter has become CMR. You will substitute it with margarine for example, but it may not be as good. Another very telling example: the clove. To make a good "clove" perfume, you need Eugenol. In Eugenol, there is obligatorily Methyl Eugenol, which is a CMR. Why will you never see clove scent at Candle to the moon? Because it is simply impossible to make a clove without CMR! So if you come across a supplier who certifies a CMR-free clove, take your two legs around your neck...