Why do scents turn to baby powder on me?!

[stardust]

So, I don't really want to smell like baby powder, which is what these scents have turned into:

 

Seraglio

Horn of Plenty

Snake Oil (sometimes)

The Sun

 

Could it be sweet almond oil? Amber? Both?

I know that I should just experiment until I figure it out, but I'm a poor student, and am trying to reign in my BPAL spending.

 

Any advice? Thanks!

[tart]

Amber turns to baby powder on me. I don't think Seraglio or Snake Oil have amber in them, though, because those were powder-free when I wore them.

[alston78]

If you haven't done this already, try making a spreadsheet with the oils you've tried and which essential oils they include, and similarities might start to pop out at you. That's how I figured out that orange blossom turns to orange baby powder on me. I know, too, that amber doesn't work for a lot of people, and some people have trouble with spicy scents like sandalwood, clove, and frankincense.

 

If you have any non-BPAL favorite perfumes, look around online and see if you can find out what the dominant notes in those are, too- that might help you identify things that you'd like.

 

Good luck!

[diabolique]

snake oil turned straight to babypowder on me. amber, myrrh, and ylang ylang are most often the culprits, as are sandalwood and clove if i'm not lucky.

[minilux]

I think musk is the primary culprit when scents turn to baby powder on me. When I got my first order of imps, I think it was Snake Oil, Black Phoenix and possibly Spellbound that totally turned to baby powder on me. There did not seem to be a common denominator among them, so I PMed Beth, and she said there was musk in all of them and that's probably what was doing it.

[Penance]

I also don't think Snake Oil has amber in it. Amber turns to sour milk on me and I haven't had a problem with it at all.

 

That being said, I have no idea what's causing it for you.

[Miggins]

My advice would be just to keep trying blends. Alice turns to powder on me and I thought it was the carnation. However, in Maiden, the carnation stays true. If it was the honey, Cairo and O would be powdery and so on.

 

Skin is a funny thing. On the whole, I cannot wear myrrh at all - it smells v bad - but Cairo smells wonderful. It's just trial and error.

 

You said you were strapped for cash, but don't forget the swap boards - there are plenty of people out there with who will gladly take your imps that don't work and give you others in return.

[velvet]

i agree with miggins go for the swap boards

if i didnt use it i wouldnt have over 100 imps right now

not that that is a good thing....

what am i saying.. yes it is. hehe

 

i find that certain florals go powder on me... like rose would be the number one to do that

but not in every blend

it just takes time to find which notes work best

[shadow]

Musk does it for me, too. I'm not positive about white musk, but I know for sure that the darker musks do. I think amber sometimes dries down a bit powdery, but musk might also be in the blends that I think of as ambery.

[Eoywin]

Sometimes, everything turns to power on me, depending on time of the month and such... I haven't found one yet that turns to powder all the time.

 

It may be other reasons that the oil itself.

[VelvetSky]

Hmmm, am I the only one who loves the smell of baby powder? If a scent wants to go powdery on me (a la Dublin), that's cool....

[harlequin]

Hmmm, am I the only one who loves the smell of baby powder?  If a scent wants to go powdery on me (a la Dublin), that's cool....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I like it, too.. one of my 2 favorite pre-BPAL scents is Baby Soft.

 

I don't particularly mind if something goes powdery, but i think it might be sad because it doesn't stay what it was supposed to be. like.. It doesn't smell bad, it just doesn't smell like *insert fragrance here*, sort of thing.

[tart]

I don't like how baby powder smells, but I can do "powdery" scents just fine. I was kind of annoyed when my dance teacher told me I smelled like baby powder and I was wearing Alice. Alice is my favorite BPAL, and baby powder is one of my least favorite scents ever! I think I had Old Morocco on too, which smells increasingly of baby powder to my nose.

[stardust]

So, basically, I have to try them all?

There are worse fates...

 

My skin chemistry seems particularly wacky: scents that everyone raves about take a turn for the worse on my skin. Scents smell different depending on whether I put them on my wrists or the crook of my arm.

 

But, yeah, if there's a hint of baby powder, I can't stand it. My favorite pre-BPAL scents are pine essence and a patchouli/orange blend.

[tart]

Ooh, you should try Ravenous.

[Neko]

Milk, honey, amber, some almonds, and some florals turn into baby powder on me... sometimes I enjoy it (Magdalene), sometimes I really don't (O), and sometimes its alright (Dana O'Shee).

 

If you find that a lot of the oils tend to turn to baby powder when they hit your skin, you might want to try finding a powdery scent you enjoy. Not all powders are the same!

[_dark_cello_]

Just off the top of my head....Absinthe, Embalming Fluid, Apothecary, and Zombi turned to pure baby powder on me. I think it's some herbal note that does it, but I can't pinpoint it.

[Tesseljoan]

Le petit mort is going powdery on me as we speak. If a scent does that, it kind of loses it's uniqueness and turns into a generic perfume/powder scent.

 

Stardust, you said Snake oil goes powdery on you sometimes, could it be the time of the month? Hormone levels and such affect skin chemistry and how perfume oils develop on your skin.

[Mistral]

Carnation seems to turn to baby powder on me. Both Alice and Maiden did instantly, though Maiden was at least a rosy baby powder. I'm sad, though, because I like florals and I love spice, and other people seem to find carnation a spicy floral.

 

Oh, well. It's not like there aren't hundreds of other BPAL scents to choose from.

[stardust]

Ooh, you should try Ravenous.

 

Oh, thank you! Somehow I missed that one. I'm making a spreadsheet of all the ones I'm even remotely interested in trying, and I'm up to around 200! I'm not even finished yet! Better look into selling my kidneys.

 

Stardust, you said Snake oil goes powdery on you sometimes, could it be the time of the month?

 

Yeah, that's the strange thing. The first time I tried it, it was that time of the month, and I got no powderiness from it. A week later...all powder. Huh.

[Lit Chick]

Hello all.

I just got my first BPAL imps, and they all went wonky on me:

 

Old Dublin turned into sweet powdery rose. No forest at all.

Catherine and Twilight went soapy

Old Paris was sickly sweet

Dana O'Shee was bakery sweet, then baby-powdery (in a nice way, but still).

 

For those that have similarly troublesome body chemistry - what works on you? Bascially, what smells like it should, instead of warping into a one-note terror?

 

Thanks in advance!

[allamanda]

Quite a few of us have found our hormones affect how the oils smell on our skin. If an oil doesn't work on me I usually wait a few days and then try it again. It seems that (on me anyway) moods as well as the time of the month can affect how an oil behaves.

 

In addition, in the beginning I also found I almost needed to learn to appreciate the oils. How to explain that they sort of grow on you?? Seriously, it is as though though initially they are a big shock to the system, I often change my opinion. For example, I had tried Intrigue several times, found it interesting but wasn't hooked. I tried it again and

 

So, if I might suggest you give them another go.

 

With my skin-chemistry Dublin and Paris are fantastic, Dana O' Shee is nice, Twilight doesn't work. You will win some, lose some

 

What notes do you particularly like or dislike?

[Ishtar]

As Allamanda said, it is all a matter of individual body chemistry. As you try more and more imps, you will be able to better identify the notes that don't work on you and avoid them.

There are no "surefire" oils. My body chemistry did not agree with two of the most popular blends here. On the other hands, several of the less reviewed scents were spectacular on me.

 

I had the same reaction to Old Paris as you and found since that I can't do lotus, even in infinitesimal doses. Amber and white musk turn powdery on me, which is a good thing since I love powdery scents, but you might want to experiment cautiously with them.

 

You might also want to go through the reviews, they are really helpful. You will find that some blends pretty much react the same on everybody's skin (whether one likes them or not is then a matter of personal preferences), whereas others are highly dependent on body chemistry and smell quite different on each reviewer.

 

Have fun experimenting! I hope your next oils will be spectacular on you!

[Lit Chick]

I do plan to try the imps again, and fingers are crossed.

However, this is not a BPAL-only issue. Traditional perfumes go nuts on me as well. I think I pull out the sweetest notes - so they have to be light to be OK, or grounded by something deep.

I have found the reviews very helpful. That's why I was so sad with Dublin - most people had a foresty experience. The rose took over on me (and here I thought I could wear rose!)

I think I will stay away from Lotus... far, far away.

 

My current perfumes are: J'adoretop- mandarin and ivy leaves, champaca flower, jasmine mid - orchids, roses, and violets base- plum, amaranth, blackberry musk

Organza Indecence top - spices mid - jacaranda wood, patchouli base - vanilla, amber, musk

I like both perfumes - primarily because they stay nice on me.

 

Really, the only smells I don't care for are powder, sugar-sweet, and flat-out musk. I'd love feminine forest smells, a light floral, a sexy floral, something spicy, something creamy.

 

I'm off to do some digging!

[stardust]

Aw, that sucks about Dublin.

 

Amber goes powdery on quite a few people (I posed a question recently about powdery scents in this subforum--if you look at it, you'll see how many notes may cause this, and how specific it is to each person). BUT, I learned that I can't even discount amber completely, because I tried Fenris Wolf yesterday, which has some amber, and I completely love it.