Allergens in serums: 380 products analyzed
Serums are the most "active-forward" category — and mostly a good-news story for allergen exposure, with one catch.
Based on 4,442 products with parsed ingredient labels in the AllerNote catalog, as of 2026-07-16.
What stands out
Serums post some of the lowest fragrance-allergen rates in our catalog. The category's science-first positioning means fragrance is often left out deliberately, and minimalist ingredient lists give allergens fewer places to hide.
The catch is botanical serums: "clean" positioning often swaps synthetic fragrance for essential oils — and essential oils are exactly where EU-declarable allergens like limonene, linalool, citronellol and geraniol come from naturally. A serum scented with "natural lavender" can carry more declarable allergens than a conventionally perfumed one.
The allergens to know in this category
| Allergen | Type | Products |
|---|---|---|
| Fragrance Mix | fragrance | 119 |
| Fragrance Mix II | fragrance | 104 |
| Fragrance Mix I | fragrance | 104 |
| Propylene Glycol | solvent | 49 |
| Retinol | retinoid | 31 |
| Benzyl Alcohol | preservative | 22 |
| Limonene | fragrance | 21 |
| Linalool | fragrance | 20 |
| Geraniol | fragrance | 18 |
| Sodium Metabisulfite | preservative | 18 |
The EU labelling change hits this category too
12.1% of serums contain at least one fragrance allergen that Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 makes individually declarable from July 31, 2026. Full analysis in the EU fragrance-allergen report.
Presence on a label ≠ risk for you: concentrations aren't disclosed and most people react to specific allergens only. Methodology on the research hub.