Ingredients · Not for the smell

BHT

Say itbee-aych-TEE

Nearly odorless; faint phenolic.

What it is

There to carry, keep or colour the perfume, not for its smell.

What perfumers do with it

Antioxidant that slows citrus oils and aldehydes from souring in the bottle

Worth knowing

Also a food additive (E321) that keeps fats in snacks from going stale.

Known in

Mon Paris (Yves Saint Laurent, 2016); Euphoria (Calvin Klein, 2005); Twilly d'Hermès (Hermès, 2017)

Rules

Limited. EU caps it at 0.8% in most cosmetics

Also called

butylated hydroxytoluene; E321

On the label of 33 of the 232 perfumes read so far

AngelMugler · printed “Bht”Acqua di GiòArmani · printed “Bht”La Vie Est BelleLancôme · printed “Bht”LaytonParfums de Marly · printed “Bht”Terre d'HermèsHermès · printed “Bht”Side EffectInitio · printed “Bht”

See all 33