Allergy Questions, Allergies and other reactions to oils

[bites_the_sun]

Freak Show is the only BPAL scent so far I've had a true allergic reaction to. I'm atopic, so that's pretty good going, really. Anyway, Freak Show caused a cluster of raised white lumps in the exact circle of skin on my wrist that I applied it to. Shame, as I actually was enjoying the scent. I have no idea which ingredient or combination of ingredients caused it, and I'm inclined to test it one more time before passing it on to see if it was just my body being weird that night.

 

Blends with a lot of vanilla also give me sick headaches. Midway had me practically ready to vomit after a few hours.

Edited June 2, 2006 by bites_the_sun

[Elrianra]

Blends with a lot of vanilla also give me sick headaches. Midway had me practically ready to vomit after a few hours.

 

Neroli does that to me.

[olympia301]

I get a reaction to the (I guess) cinnamon in Eclipse. Once I had an empty bottle and filled it with water and shook it, trying to get all the goodness out of it that I could. I poured the Eclipse water on myself from the neck down. A couple of minutes later I looked in the mirror because where it had touched felt as if it had been scratched. There were red rivulets where the Eclipse water had run down my skin. Very wierd looking. Exactly the same pattern of the water.

 

So, from now on I wear it in a scent locket. I can put it on the palms of my hands without a problem, too. The Palm Trick really scents the air frem the heat and the fact it doesn't seem to absorb as fast as pore laden skin.

[juniperus]

Blends with a lot of vanilla also give me sick headaches. Midway had me practically ready to vomit after a few hours.

 

Neroli does that to me.

 

One of mine is jasmine about 97% of the time. I amp it, too, so that makes the headache even more special.

[midnight_aeval]

Out of 80 or so imps I've tried, I finally found one I'm allergic to; Monster Bait: Underbed. I think I'm allergic to the Cassia in it. Good thing I wasn't particulary fond of the scent!

[sophie-au]

What it does do, however, is make me sleepy. I tend to wear scents sporadically, after years of conditioning against it, but this past December I wore Mistletoe almost daily. Shortly after, I noticed that whenever I wore any scent, I would get sleepy. Eyes would droop, eyes and mind would be foggy. Can I assume this is some kind of allergic reaction?

 

Hi Rinadoll.

 

I have heard of this as an allergy symptom occuring in some people. And it does not necessarily seem to have a scent-based cause. People have reported anything from exposure to molds, pollen or dust mites, food intolerances, mercury fillings, candidiasis, outgassing from building material , drug interactions, encroaching anxiety or vitamin deficiencies as being the cause for them. It's not an easy thing to tackle because of the many possible causes.

 

http://www.drmyhill.co.uk/article.cfm?id=174

 

It's possible that one or more of these things is taxing your body to its limits, and when you wear fragrance it's "tipping you over the edge" into brain fog and drowsiness.

 

Taking nutritional supplements or other dietary changes seems to be the easiest way to tackle it. Interestingly, someone (with CFS, not just fogginess) who had the same problem and used Vitamin D supplements reported that taking Vitamin D derived from fish oil made their fogginess worse, not better.

 

http://www.cfs-recovery.org/vitamin_d_recovery.htm

 

Since you know your own health better than anyone else, I suggest searching with Google to see what other people with your symptoms and history have done. And have a think about the past several months to see if there's any change in your life that may have been a contributing factor.

 

As for BPAL, maybe try one of the simpler scents with only a few notes (but not blends with bouquets like musk) like Delirium, Nocturne, Penitence etc. and see how you go?

 

Hope this helps!

 

Caveat: I am not a doctor. (Yet.) So don't sue me!

[sophie-au]

[snake Oil, O, Enraged Bunny Musk and Dorian]

Anyone have any ideas about commonalities in these scents that may have caused this reaction, so I know what to avoid in the future? It could be musk, but Antique Lace and Morocco don't do this to me.

Hey, sorry to hear about your allergy development! It sucks, doesn't it?

 

As for the common element, perhaps it's a variety of vanilla as the descriptions for Snake Oil, O and Dorian all mention it?

[darklorelei]

It also might be a particular type of musk.

[Honor]

Note: I thought there was a thread similar to this but couldn't find it.. if such a thread does exist, my apologies.

 

 

So I stopped wearing BPAL for a long while because my skin simply ate up the oils and I had to douse myself with oil in the morning to get anything to last more than an hour. I thought of making my own alcohol based sprays (b/c "Regular" alcohol based body sprays last for hours on me) but I really couldn't afford to buy all of the supplies, in addition to the higher amount of oil required to make the sprays.

 

Longer story short: I finally bought a scent locket. The perfect way to prevent my skin from absorbing the oil and smell good all day. Right?

 

Well...wrong, kind of.

 

I smell good now (and my wonky skin chemistry doesn't prevent me from wearing certain scents)

 

but because the scents aren't being diluted by my skin, and the charm is so close to my nose.... my sinus/allergies and nose are going haywire.

 

 

I either sneeze all day, or get a monstrous sinus headache. The latter is dangerous, b/c my sinus' don't drain properly so I'm stuffed up for too long I WILL get an infection which takes weeks to cure.

 

 

So now I'm at a loss.... I thought of making solid perfumes to apply, so I can continually apply them through the day... but again I'd have to buy more then the imps worth of oil I have in addition to the solid base and tins.... and I paid so much for this locket...I can't afford to shell out even more (I = REALLY poor college student....)

 

Even worse, I just ordered oils a month ago....

 

 

I'm at a loss... I DON'T want to sell my BPAL. I love too many scents. What would I do without Embalming Fluid and Dorian??

 

 

So are there ANY ideas anyone has to try so I can still smell good w/out killing my nose?

 

~Honor

[sookster]

how about trying a scent locket on a very long chain???

[Honor]

how about trying a scent locket on a very long chain???

 

*nods* I was thinking about that...I may do that as a last resource...I'm not really fond of long long chains... I'm also very clumsy and tend to catch either myself or furniture/objects/etc into long chains and break them

[themerrybaker]

Compare the cost of placing your scent locket on a stick pin (to be pinned away from your face) to the cost of purchasing the solid perfume/acohol perfume supplies?

[eclecticaurora]

Or maybe you can put the scent locket onto a bracelet? You'll have a bit more space between your nose and the scent and it is still not on your skin! Is the locket small enough?

[portalkat]

What about extending the oils by using them mixed with a bit of unfragranced lotion or cream? I sometimes put a bit of cream in my palm with a few swipes of the oil on the wand, mix and apply. Sometimes the lotion/cream helps to hold the scent longer and that way, you can also cover a bit more area.

[furiana]

Well... how much scent are you using? You can always try putting less oil on the fabric, or using a smaller/less absorbant piece of fabric.

 

ETA: Or you could dilute the oils with a carrier oil. That would make them weaker and longer lasting!

Edited July 7, 2006 by furiana

[Honor]

Well... how much scent are you using? You can always try putting less oil on the fabric, or using a smaller/less absorbant piece of fabric.

 

ETA: Or you could dilute the oils with a carrier oil. That would make them weaker and longer lasting!

 

I'm not using alot of oil.... I press the fabric on the top of the imp and turn it upside down once, but I didn't think of using carrier oil in addition...hmm....

(plus i have jojoba so I wouldn't have to buy anything else.) thanks!

 

 

For reference, this is the locket: http://www.treasuredfinds.com/p.asp?p=8255&i=28

 

not bad for a necklace, pretty heavy for anything else. Plus I'm so harsh on jewelry and lazy when it comes to what I wear so I don't like to mess around with too much to put on.

 

portalkat Posted Today, 01:36 PM

What about extending the oils by using them mixed with a bit of unfragranced lotion or cream? I sometimes put a bit of cream in my palm with a few swipes of the oil on the wand, mix and apply. Sometimes the lotion/cream helps to hold the scent longer and that way, you can also cover a bit more area.

I did think about the lotions...thank you portalkat for reminding me. That sounds like the lowest cost option... do you have a particular brand you buy? I have been trying to notice fragrence free lotions and haven't come across any.

[portalkat]

The brand that I use is not really inexpensive. I use the unscented cream from The Body Shop because I really like the texture of their creams and body butters. There are quite a few unscented lotions that you can pick up at your local drugstore or market, although right now the only one that I can think of off the top of my head is Aveeno. I'm going to the store later so I will try and remember to look when I'm there. I know that there is a thread somewhere on the forum about some less expensive brands and I will try to find that for you too.

 

Here's a topic similar to yours. It also addresses the lotion layering thing.

 

http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=1599&hl=

 

I still haven't located the thread on unscented lotions, nor have I gone out to the store.

[furiana]

Lovely locket!

 

That really *isn't* much oil, though. portalkat's lotion idea is a good one -- it'd be easy to weaken the scent enough, I think -- and hopefully diluting the BPAL will let you keep using the scent locket!

[Torrilin]

So I stopped wearing BPAL for a long while because my skin simply ate up the oils and I had to douse myself with oil in the morning to get anything to last more than an hour. I thought of making my own alcohol based sprays (b/c "Regular" alcohol based body sprays last for hours on me) but I really couldn't afford to buy all of the supplies, in addition to the higher amount of oil required to make the sprays.

 

I'm not sure what you mean about the "higher amount of oil". Most people who are making sprays seem to make an eau de toilette strength, so around 1 part oil to 8 or more parts alcohol. IIRC eau de parfum is a bit more intense, with pure parfum being the most at about 1 part oil to 2 or 3 parts alcohol. So even if you were turning your BPALs into parfum strength alcohol based stuff, you'd end up with 2 or 3 times as much fragranced product for a given amount of oil. If you go as light as an eau de toilette, well... you'd have gobs of the stuff. A single imp turned into eau de toilette would give you 9 or more mL of fragrance .

 

Since the only supplies you need are unflavored ethanol (vodka and everclear work), and bottles to put stuff in, this should be a very budget option. I can get something like 1.5 L of vodka for $10. That's... enough for a *lot* of perfume. Another $10 should get you quite a few plain glass bottles.

 

Kalli

[Honor]

Kalli (I'd quote your post, but that'd make my reply even longer!)

 

Well, as of now I only have imps of things, even my favorites. I only have a few bottles of some LE's...but the scents I'd most want a spray from I have imps that aren't even full.

I did find a perfumers alcohol that's pretty cheap and I found 1oz glass bottles for .50 a piece, and disposible pippettes aren't TOO bad, but right now I shouldn't even spend that. (currently saving up for a car, and deposit on an apartment)

Even though pure alcohol would be cheaper then perfumer's alcohol I'm still not sure how I feel about it...esp since I personally find vodka to have a distinct smell. (I know it's SUPPOSED to be relatively odorless, but I can always detect it.)

 

 

And actually when I get a second job I can probably get the alcohol and bottles ok, it's mostly buying more oil. Because I'd at least have to buy new imps since my current ones are at 1/2 or less....and I still have pending orders that I SHOULDN'T have ordered and a harvest moon I really really shouldn't have ordered. Heh. I sound terrible.

 

It just sucks having to buy the perfume, and then having to buy even MORE to actually be able to wear it.

 

you mentioned "A single imp turned into eau de toilette would give you 9 or more mL of fragrance"... is that 1:9 (oil to alcohol) ratio then, or is my math off?

I was using this reference for ratios http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/form_perfumes.html

and thinking I want to make a perfume, since even Eau de Toilette doesn't last very long on me.... if I'm going to through the effort of doing this, I want it to last all day, so perfume ratios seemed the best path for me.

 

 

I'm not trying to be argumentative, mind you. I appreciate the input..this was just my line of thinking.

 

 

ETA: I just realizing my original post mentioned body sprays, although I really meant perfume sprays. For example, B&BW sprays last... 3 or 4 hours on my skin.... but my old perfume spray I wore would last 8-10 hours.

Edited July 13, 2006 by HonorAlexandria

[Torrilin]

Your math is right.

 

Basically, you're at the point where if money is *that* tight, there's no way to make things work for yourself. If spending $20 to get yourself the supplies so you can make good use of your perfume oils is too much, it's silly to spend money on more perfume oils.

 

Changing the subject a bit... I've already emailed the Lab about this, because I'm stumped. I got my most recent order and am having headachey reactions to a bunch of oils that *should* be problem free: Snake Oil, Silk Road, Bengal, Morocco, and Scherezade. No obvious notes in common with anything on my allergy list. No obvious commonalities with the prior oils that have given me trouble (Queen of Hearts, De Sade and Casanova). Heck, not even any obvious commonalities among the new oils. Anyone have ideas on what might be the problem? The only thing that I can come up with is I might be reacting to patchouli, but that seems somewhat unlikely as an ingredient in *all* of those oils.

 

Kalli

[Honor]

Your math is right.

 

Basically, you're at the point where if money is *that* tight, there's no way to make things work for yourself. If spending $20 to get yourself the supplies so you can make good use of your perfume oils is too much, it's silly to spend money on more perfume oils.

 

Changing the subject a bit... I've already emailed the Lab about this, because I'm stumped. I got my most recent order and am having headachey reactions to a bunch of oils that *should* be problem free: Snake Oil, Silk Road, Bengal, Morocco, and Scherezade. No obvious notes in common with anything on my allergy list. No obvious commonalities with the prior oils that have given me trouble (Queen of Hearts, De Sade and Casanova). Heck, not even any obvious commonalities among the new oils. Anyone have ideas on what might be the problem? The only thing that I can come up with is I might be reacting to patchouli, but that seems somewhat unlikely as an ingredient in *all* of those oils.

 

Kalli

 

Two things come to my mind w/ the oils mentioned:

 

1. all of the oils you mentioned seem "spicey". I haven't smelled Snake Oil, but I know the others to be such. Patchouli very well could be a common ingredient,just in varying amounts? There may also be an ingredient common to all of them, that's similar enough to patchouli(if you are allergic to that) to also cause a reaction. For example, Patchouli oil contains, among other things, the chemical eugenol, which is also found in cloves.

 

I know that people who are allergic to rubber, for example also tend to have allergies to figs, bananas and avocados....so you could be looking at a similar situation.

 

2. Although unlikely, it is still possible that you've developed an allergy to the oils, period. Unlikely, but possible. Of course the only way to know if you start reacting to oils you've never reacted to before AND aren't even remotely close in notes.

 

 

~ETA: and yes, you're right..I AM at that point (financially). All of my pending orders were bought when things weren't so tight (shit happens) and I probably should not have gotten Harvest Moon. Fun. This is what second jobs are for: to support my "habit"

Edited July 16, 2006 by HonorAlexandria

[Torrilin]

I'm ruling out having suddenly developed a spice allergy . I can still eat normal foods, which include lots of cinnamon, clove, allspice etc. Further, I show no signs of reacting to March Hare. The oils I'd normally wear all are perfectly safe, and Incantation and Baku (which I just got) are not causing issues. Weirdly, I didn't have any allergy type problems while wearing Casanova today, and it *has* given me trouble before. (well, ok whatever is giving it the strong moss tone is irritating me because I don't like how moss gets warped on my skin, but that's not an allergy *g*)

 

Mystifying.

 

Kalli

[Honor]

Mystifying.

 

Kalli

 

Indeed.

 

Maybe if you tried them on the same day it was something else that day you encountered. Other then that, I'm stumped.

[ivyandpeony]

I've already emailed the Lab about this, because I'm stumped. I got my most recent order and am having headachey reactions to a bunch of oils that *should* be problem free: Snake Oil, Silk Road, Bengal, Morocco, and Scherezade. No obvious notes in common with anything on my allergy list. No obvious commonalities with the prior oils that have given me trouble (Queen of Hearts, De Sade and Casanova). .....

 

 

I'm ruling out having suddenly developed a spice allergy . I can still eat normal foods, which include lots of cinnamon, clove, allspice etc. Further, I show no signs of reacting to March Hare. .....

 

I wouldn't think you had developed a true allergy to a spice or some spices, since you aren't experiencing skin rashes or welts, but you didn't mention whether you'd tried these on your skin yet. But I do agreee with HonorAlexandria, I think all the oils you mentioned all have spices in them that may be the common element. I remember when I first tried Silk Road, I described it as "Snake Oil Lite." Bengal raises welts on me, and I don't react to much. And I do find Morocco and Scherazade spicy too. I think that the descriptions of all these either list specific spices or the general term "spices" too. (I have suspected cardamom as an itchy-maker for me - Alone, Bengal, Al-Shairain all make me bumpy and red.)

 

Do things that trigger headaches in you come and go, or do they tend to always cause headaches once you've smelled them? Do your common allergens trigger headaches too?

 

Sounds really frustrating - I'm sorry you are having these troubles!