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Sodium Anisate

Well toleratedPreservativeantimicrobialmaskingskin conditioning

No meaningful concern for most people; irritation is possible but rare.

Also written as: Sodium 4-methoxybenzoate · Sodium p-anisate · p-Anisic acid sodium salt

What it is

Sodium anisate is p-anisic acid, or 4-methoxybenzoic acid, neutralised with sodium hydroxide. The acid occurs naturally in anise, Pimpinella anisum, which is where the ingredient's natural-cosmetics reputation comes from, though the material used in formulation is manufactured rather than extracted. It is antiseptic, and that is what it is there for. The complication is legal rather than chemical, and it is set out under EU status below.

How it shows up on a label

Seven of the eight masks here that print it also print sodium levulinate, and that pairing is the tell: two unlisted antimicrobials working together, on masks from brands that market themselves on natural formulation. Six of the eight place it below the point where ingredient order stops indicating quantity.

What it does well

  • Helps hold back microbial growth in a formula

    p-Anisic acid is described in the published literature as a proven antiseptic with antibacterial and antifungal effects, which is the basis for its use in cosmetics. Published work identifying which organisms and at what concentrations is thinner than the ingredient's popularity suggests.

    Moderate evidence

Worth knowing

  • It is not one of the preservatives the EU permits, which changes what it can legally be for

    Annex V is a positive list: under Article 14 a cosmetic product may not contain "preservatives other than those listed in Annex V", and Article 2 defines a preservative as a substance "exclusively or mainly intended to inhibit the development of micro-organisms in the cosmetic product". Sodium anisate is not on Annex V. So it cannot lawfully be the thing mainly keeping a product fresh; it has to be there for another declared purpose, with the antimicrobial effect as a secondary property. In practice it works as a booster beside something else. That is a real distinction, not a technicality - a product relying on it as its main preservative would be relying on an ingredient the Regulation does not authorise for that job.

    Matters most toAnyone choosing a mask on the strength of it being preservative-free or naturally preserved.

  • No completed cosmetic safety assessment

    Neither sodium anisate nor anisic acid appears in the Cosmetic Ingredient Review's quick reference table of panel conclusions, so there is no expert-panel verdict to cite either way. The available evidence is the published chemistry and pharmacology rather than a cosmetic-use review.

    Matters most toAnyone who treats a published safety assessment as the bar an ingredient should clear.

Where the EU stands

No specific restriction

Sodium anisate appears in no annex - including Annex V, the positive list of preservatives allowed in cosmetic products. That absence is the substantive fact about it. Article 14 prohibits preservatives other than those on Annex V, and Article 2 defines a preservative by intent: a substance exclusively or mainly intended to inhibit micro-organisms. An unlisted antimicrobial can therefore only be present for some other main purpose, which is why it is declared for masking or skin conditioning and used to support a preservative system rather than to be one. One near neighbour is worth separating out: Annex III entry 80 restricts 4-Methoxybenzyl alcohol, printed as Anise alcohol, and requires it to be declared above 0.001% in leave-on and 0.01% in rinse-off products. That is an alcohol and a named fragrance allergen; sodium anisate is the sodium salt of the corresponding acid, and neither the entry nor its labelling duty reaches it.

Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Article 2(1)(l) and Article 14(1)(d)(i); not listed in Annex V · source ↗

Sources (2)

Every link goes to the original: a journal, a PubMed record or an EU document.

  1. [1]
    Bioactive (co)oligoesters as potential delivery systems of p-anisic acid for cosmetic purposes

    Materials (Basel) 13(18):4153 · 2020 · doi:10.3390/ma13184153

    The paper describes p-anisic acid (4-methoxybenzoic acid) as revealing "antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties" and as "a proven antiseptic, which makes it suitable as a preservative in cosmetic products", with anti-bacterial and anti-fungal effects. It records the acid as occurring in herbs including Pimpinella anisum and as a by-product of diosgenin preparation from wild yam. No organism-specific data or cosmetic use concentrations are given. Checked 26 September 2026.

  2. [2]
    Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, consolidated text of 18 May 2026

    Official Journal of the European Union · 2026

    Article 2(1)(l) defines preservatives as "substances which are exclusively or mainly intended to inhibit the development of micro-organisms in the cosmetic product", and Article 14(1)(d)(i) prohibits "preservatives other than those listed in Annex V and preservatives which are listed there but not used in accordance with the conditions laid down in that Annex". A word-boundary sweep of the full consolidated text returns no occurrence of anisate or anisic anywhere, Annex V included. The one word-boundary match for anise is a different substance: 4-Methoxybenzyl alcohol, listed as Anise alcohol at Annex III entry 80, whose presence must be declared once it exceeds 0.001% in leave-on and 0.01% in rinse-off products. Of the nineteen places the letters anise appear, the other eighteen are petroleum fractionating-column names (depropaniser, deethaniser, debutaniser, dehexaniser, depentaniser, deisobutaniser). Checked 26 September 2026.

Masks that contain Sodium Anisate