Where to Buy Litsea Cubeba Oil, and How to Read the Listing
Where you buy litsea cubeba oil matters less than what you plan to do with it. Someone scenting a room needs a clear identity and a sensible hazard statement. Someone formulating a skin product for sale needs batch-level composition data, because the legal limit sits on citral. This guide starts with that split, then shows how to read any listing, ours included.
Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil
Our own Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $12.99
Shop Now →Start with the job
Scenting for yourself, in a diffuser, a candle or a room spray, needs the botanical name, the part of the plant and method of extraction, a hazard statement and a storage instruction. A citral percentage is nice to have, not essential.
Making skin products to sell or give away adds a batch-specific GC report to the list. The IFRA Standard for Citral caps citral in the finished product by category, from 0.15% in body lotions and creams to 1.2% in soap and household cleaners, and the most oil you can use is the cap divided by the oil's citral fraction. Without a citral figure for your lot, a cosmetic chemist has nothing to calculate from.
Buying in volume adds a sample bottle first. We invite wholesale buyers to order a sample and try it in their own product before committing, and we suggest asking any seller in writing whether the sample and the bulk container are held to the same standard.
Reading a listing
A good listing answers a handful of plain questions.
- What exactly is it? Look for Litsea cubeba, the part used and the method. "May chang" is a common name. EFSA describes the oil as obtained by steam distillation from the fruits of Litsea cubeba, which is the identity a buyer should be able to match on a label.
- Is it one ingredient? A neat oil and a diluted one cannot be compared drop for drop, so the ingredient line should say which you are getting.
- Which batch does the paper cover? A certificate for one batch says nothing about another, so check the batch number on the document against your bottle.
- Is there a composition figure? Published citral runs from about 66% to about 87%, so a bare "typically 70 to 85" is a range, not a result.
- Are the hazards stated? EFSA's panel considered the oil an irritant to skin and eyes and a skin and respiratory sensitiser, so a dilution line, a patch-test instruction and a keep-away-from-children-and-pets statement are signs of a careful listing.
- How is it packed? We bottle ours in amber glass, and we suggest keeping any litsea oil tightly closed in a cool, dark place.
- Can you ask a question in writing? Any answer about composition is worth having in writing.
What you will find with us
We sell one product, Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil, steam-distilled from the fruit and sold neat with no additives or fillers, in sizes from 0.5 oz up to 400 lb. The Certificate of Analysis we publish is for one batch (LICQGCLCCNC003A). It lists a relative density of 0.883, a refractive index of 1.483 and an optical rotation of +10.04 degrees at 20 C, a best-by date of 04/30/2028, and a statement that all tested parameters comply with pharmacopoeia standards for genuine litsea cubeba oil. It does not include a citral figure, a GC-MS profile or an origin, and it covers that batch only.
Our skin guidance is to dilute to 0.5% to 2% in a carrier oil and patch test first. For a product you sell, the IFRA category figure governs, and for leave-on products it is lower than that range, so we start at the low end. If you need a citral figure, GC-MS profile, origin, allergen or IFRA data for a lot, ask us in writing through our contact page before ordering and get the answer in writing. Our bulk page and wholesale page describe sample bottles and private label.
If you sell what you make
Labelling is its own topic and depends on where you sell. In the European Union, the Commission says Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 adds individual labelling for 56 fragrance allergens, with names required in the ingredient list above 0.001% in leave-on and 0.01% in rinse-off products, with a 2026 date for new products and a 2028 date for stock already on the market. In the United States, FDA says fragrance ingredients can be listed simply as "Fragrance" and that it does not have the same legal authority to require allergen labelling for cosmetics as it does for food. Either way, the safety of the finished product remains the maker's responsibility, so ask a regulatory consultant about your own case.
Where to buy everything else
We do not sell carrier oils, butters, waxes, soap or candle bases, preservatives, bottles, droppers, diffusers or wicks. A carrier-oil or cosmetic-ingredient supplier will have carriers and bases, a candle-supply shop wax and wicks, and a soap-supply shop lye and soap bases. Whoever you choose, the listing questions above work as well on their pages as on ours. Our companion pieces on spotting quality and comparing prices go deeper, and the citral comparison helps you tell litsea apart from lemongrass, lemon myrtle and melissa when a listing is vague.
A good seller is happy to be asked questions, so ask them.
Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil
Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil from our own shop, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $12.99
Shop Now →Sources & Further Reading
- IFRA. "IFRA Standard: Citral," 2020 (Amendment 49). ifrafragrance.org/standards/IFRA_STD_021.pdf
- EFSA FEEDAP Panel. "Safety and efficacy of a feed additive consisting of an essential oil from the fruits of Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers. (litsea berry oil) for use in all animal species (FEFANA asbl)." EFSA Journal, 2021. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8193530
- Si L. et al. "Chemical composition of essential oils of Litsea cubeba harvested from its distribution areas in China." Molecules, 2012. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6268156
- European Commission. "Fragrance allergens labelling." Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu
- FDA. "Fragrances in Cosmetics." fda.gov