What is it?
An extract of the ambrette plant, or musk mallow, Abelmoschus moschatus, listed on labels under its older name Hibiscus abelmoschus. It belongs to the mallow family, along with hibiscus and okra. Its seeds have a musky scent, which comes partly from a natural compound called ambrettolide, and ambrette seed is also used as a food flavoring. The cosmetic ingredient is described as an extract of the whole plant and is used for its fragrance.
Key information
- The FDA lists ambrette seed among spices and natural seasonings generally recognized as safe (GRAS) in food.
- The SCCS found only limited human evidence that ambrettolide, one source of ambrette's musky scent, causes skin allergy.
- Musk ambrette is a different, synthetic chemical that is banned in EU cosmetics and prohibited by IFRA.
- We found no cosmetic safety review or skin testing of the whole-plant extract.
More information
The FDA lists ambrette seed, under the name Hibiscus abelmoschus, among spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings generally recognized as safe (GRAS) in food. Ambrette seed oil is also a fragrance material: the EU’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) names ambrettolide, a large ring-shaped lactone, as one of two components responsible for its musk odor.
Safety data on the extract itself are thin: we found no review by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review or the SCCS and no published skin tests of it. For ambrettolide, the SCCS found only limited human evidence of allergy: 3.4 percent of 178 patients already known to be allergic to fragrance ingredients reacted to it in patch tests at 5 percent. Combining that with its chemical structure, the SCCS classed it as a likely, rather than established, contact allergen.
The name is easily confused with musk ambrette, a synthetic nitro compound once widely used in fragrances. According to the SCCS, musk ambrette caused a considerable number of photoallergic reactions, allergy triggered by sunlight, in the 1970s and was later banned from cosmetics in the EU; IFRA standards also prohibit it. Musk ambrette is not made from the ambrette plant. On labels, look for Hibiscus Abelmoschus Extract.
Sources: Legal Information Institute: 21 CFR 182.10, Spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings; SCCS: Opinion on fragrance allergens in cosmetic products (2012); IFRA: Index of IFRA Standards, 51st Amendment (2023); PubChem: Musk ambrette
