RUŌOD Lab

Benzyl Salicylate

Aroma chemical · Floral / Powdery

balsamic, floral, faint, sweet — base note.

Aroma illustration for Benzyl Salicylate: drops of golden resin and pink flowers, for its balsamic and floral notes. It illustrates smell associations, not the material or its source.Skeletal formula of Benzyl Salicylate, C14H12O3, drawn from PubChem's 2D record. Stereochemistry is not shown.
Aroma View: an illustration of what Benzyl Salicylate smells like (balsamic, floral), drawn by RUŌOD Lab — not its appearance or its source.Skeletal formula drawn by RUŌOD Lab from PubChem's 2D record (CID 8363). Stereochemistry is not shown; the coloured background is decoration.
Images

By the RUŌOD Lab TeamRevision 1Updated

In short

Benzyl salicylate is a mild salicylate ester with a faint balsamic-floral odour. It is used in large amounts as a fixative and blender, particularly in floral and sun-cream-like fragrances.

What Benzyl Salicylate smells like

Benzyl salicylate has a very faint, sweet-floral odour with a slight balsamic quality; Arctander begins his description by stressing how hard it is to describe. The Good Scents Company lists weak but a very good fixative, sweet-floral, spicy, balsamic, slightly phenolic, azalea, carnation, ylang and narcissus. Many people, perfumers among them, report that they cannot smell it at all, while those who can describe a fresh green floral; it nonetheless has a clear effect on a composition. It is one of the 26 fragrance allergens individually named in EU cosmetics law.

Leading note
No single note leads in the published descriptions
Supporting facets
Sweet floral, balsamic
Faint facets
Slightly phenolic
Character
Faint, soft, sweet, fixative
  • balsamic
  • floral
  • faint
  • sweet

What makes Benzyl Salicylate distinctive

It is used for what it does rather than how it smells: a fixative and blender that rounds and extends florals even for people who cannot smell it on a strip.

Concentration and dilution

Very faint at any concentration; its effect is clearest inside a blend.

Where the descriptions disagree: Many people cannot smell it; those who can describe it differently (sweet-balsamic, or fresh green floral).

How Benzyl Salicylate is used

Used as a fixative and blender in floral compositions — carnation, ylang, narcissus and white florals — and in sunscreens and cosmetics; IFRA restricts it as a sensitiser.

Typical role: fixative (slow to evaporate; helps a blend last and holds lighter notes); blender (smooths the joins between other materials).

How Benzyl Salicylate differs from similar materials

Hexyl Salicylate
Hexyl salicylate is greener and bark-like; benzyl salicylate is sweeter and balsamic-floral. Both are faint fixatives.
Phenylethyl Salicylate
Phenylethyl salicylate is also soft and balsamic, but with clearer rose and hyacinth facets.
Cyclohexyl Salicylate
Cyclohexyl salicylate is far stronger — a sweet, rich floral-balsamic; benzyl salicylate is faint.
Benzyl Benzoate
Perfumery sources note benzyl salicylate has largely replaced benzyl benzoate where a faint odour is wanted.
Sakura Salicylate
Sakura salicylate is sold as a substitute for it: softer, more powdery, with an abstract cherry-blossom character.

An asterisk marks a difference that a cited source states directly. The others compare the published descriptions of each material. Smell varies with grade, supplier and dilution; compare them side by side on blotters before substituting one for another.

Formulation considerations

A declarable allergen with an IFRA Standard.

Identity and classification

Type
Aroma chemical
Origin
Occurs in nature
Odour family
Floral / Powdery
Note position
Base note
Physical form at room temperature
Liquid
CAS number
118-58-1
Molecular formula
C14H12O3
Molecular weight
228.24 g/mol
IUPAC name
benzyl 2-hydroxybenzoate

The CAS number, formula and molecular weight are taken from PubChem compound 8363, whose own record lists this CAS number; checked 19 October 2026.

Safety and compliance

The IFRA Standards Library lists a Standard covering Benzyl Salicylate:

  • "Benzyl salicylate" — Restriction, 49th Amendment, published 2020-01

Limits differ by product category and are set out in the Standard itself; this page does not reproduce them. The list above reflects the library as read on 19 October 2026.

Benzyl Salicylate is one of the 26 fragrance allergens listed individually in Annex III of the EU Cosmetics Regulation (label name: Benzyl salicylate), which must be named on cosmetic labels above 0.001% in leave-on and 0.01% in rinse-off products. Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 extended the list; see the fragrance allergens list.

Hazard classification of the neat substance, as PubChem summarises it, read 26 October 2026. It has a harmonised EU classification (Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, Annex VI): H317 may cause an allergic skin reaction. Companies notifying the ECHA C&L Inventory classify it (2,207 reports): H317 may cause an allergic skin reaction (99% of reports); H319 causes serious eye irritation (76.2% of reports); H412 harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects (68.4% of reports); H411 toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects (24.1% of reports). 9 of the reports find it does not meet the hazard criteria. A skin sensitiser classification concerns handling the neat material and the dose in a finished product; the IFRA Standards, where they apply, set the limits. Unless it is harmonised, this is the notifiers' own classification, not a binding one.

This page is general information, not a safety assessment or a specification. Confirm identity, composition, IFRA status and allergen content from your supplier's documents for the lot you hold.

Materials it works with

Benzyl Salicylate is also suggested as a partner on the pages for Amyl Benzoate, Amyl Salicylate, Ethyl Salicylate, Hexyl Benzoate, Phenylethyl Salicylate and Sakura Salicylate.

Used in formulas and accords

Used in 62 published formulas

Benzyl Salicylate is an ingredient in 40 perfume formulas and 22 accords in the Formula & Accord Library.

Community formulas

RUŌOD House Originals

Original compositions by RUŌOD House.

Further reading

Questions about Benzyl Salicylate

Is Benzyl Salicylate natural or synthetic?

The molecule occurs in nature. Commercial Benzyl Salicylate may be made by synthesis or obtained from natural sources, so check the supplier's specification if the distinction matters to you.

What is the CAS number of Benzyl Salicylate?

118-58-1. It was checked against PubChem on 19 October 2026.

Which published formulas use Benzyl Salicylate?

Benzyl Salicylate is used in 62 published formulas in the RUŌOD Lab Formula & Accord Library, including Amber Accord, Apricot Dust and Bell Glass. Each is listed with a link under "Used in formulas and accords" on this page.

Is Benzyl Salicylate covered by an IFRA Standard?

Yes. The IFRA Standards Library lists a Standard covering it: "Benzyl salicylate" — Restriction, 49th Amendment. The limits depend on the product category; read the Standard itself before formulating.

Sources

Your own records, next to the reference

Keep your own record of Benzyl Salicylate — supplier, cost, stock, dilutions and where it is used — in RUŌOD Lab's material library.

The material library All materials