Allergy Questions, Allergies and other reactions to oils

[Gwydion]

I can eat almonds, but sometimes my skin reacts to it in blends.

[distracts]

I'm allergic to anything with citrus in it. This includes the obvious things, like lemon, grapefruit, mandarin, bergamot, petitgrain, neroli, but also things like amber and verbena. While I dislike lemon and petitgrain, I LOVE other citrus notes, so this is very sad. But my wrists break out in itchy red bumps, and then any other perfume I put there just irritates it MORE, so I have to stay away altogether. And often, citrus notes aren't well-marked in the blends, so there's a lot I have to stay away from. It's very sad, especially since this didn't happen until about two years ago.

 

And for those of you who were discussing this - skin allergies and food allergies can be completely different.

 

For my own reference, a partial list of the things I have had allergic reactions to:

 

CRAZY reactions:

Hua Mulan (painful red itchiness EVERYWHERE IT TOUCHED)

Alice (painful red itchiness EVERYWHERE IT TOUCHED)

Ville-Marie (painful red itchiness EVERYWHERE IT TOUCHED)

 

Little reactions:

Diabolical Offspring (widespread little red bumps, itchiness)

The Hesperides (maybe tiny bumps? maybe not?)

 

Hopefully I'll be keeping it up to try to figure out if I'm allergic to anything OTHER than citrus.

Edited August 12, 2011 by distracts

[Corvidchaser]

I'm yet to have and awful reactions on my skin to any BPAL but headaches have happened.

"The Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil" gave me chronic sinus headaches. I came to conclude it was the pomegranate as it was the only note I'd not tried before and I avoid those notes at all costs now.

[Antoinette]

So, I experienced some sad weirdness this morning. I may have had an allergic reaction to my L'Estate bath oil.

 

This is the weird part, I've used it three times before with no problems. Twice in the bath and once as a moisturizer on my upper arms. This morning I used a quarter size dollop of it as an after shower moisturizer on my upper arms and a bit on my chest. About ten minutes later I felt my chest tighten up and my throat go all wonky. Like, tightness and tingling. I washed it off and went to an immediate care place where they checked me out and said I was ok. They could not say whether I had a reaction to it or not, but advised me to take anti-histamines and not use it anymore. I hasz a sad now.

 

The doctor read the ingredients list and said everything was okie dokie, nothing exotic to be concerned with, so it could just be that my chest skin is too sensitive for oils and the very thought of an allergic reaction made me panic. I don't know, but it was scary.

 

Anyone else have trouble when applying oils, perfume or bath, to your chest area? Like I said, I used this on my arms before, bathed in it twice with no trouble. Maybe I just over did it in a sensitive spot?

 

I suppose my almost full bottle will now be going up for swaps because I'm too scaredy cat to use it again.

[Monday]

The paint on my table has had a reaction to Brisingamen . It turned out my imp leaked a bit on it and now the paint just peels off... Interesting use for perfume oils-> strip furniture with it.

[patina]

The paint on my table has had a reaction to Brisingamen . It turned out my imp leaked a bit on it and now the paint just peels off... Interesting use for perfume oils-> strip furniture with it.

 

Wow. That's furniture stripper for people who bathe in champagne and use hundreds for toilet paper.

[MadameGorgon]

What to do when your skin rejects a favorite scent.

[angelamaria]

Awww. You can opt to use rose blends in a scent locket, maybe? And I believe some people also put BPAL in their hair instead of on skin. If it's the note itself that's a problem, you could also try looking for other "kinds" of roses--rose also turns powdery on me, but white roses stay "rose" longer and better than any other type of rose for me, and I know I also have problems with some forms of white musks, but not others. Maybe it's just a particular kind of rose that's problematic for you?

[MadameGorgon]

Ok, Just recently, my skin began to reject all BPAL rose scents I have tried on it. Small, raised, itchy welts.

 

OH NO!!

 

It has happened with Dance of the Mirlitons, #20 Love Oil, and Catherine. Haven't had the guts to try anything else.

 

I am seriously bummed because rose is a favorite of mine and I have a long list of rose based BPALs I want to try.

 

What makes it even weirder is that I do not appear to be allergic to rose in other forms. I don't have any problems with the actual flowers and I use a rose hydrosol to wash my face with no problems.

 

(BTW - I have MEGA oily skin. Like puddles. So cleansers and lotions can be an issue. But I am 40 years old, so I can't go w/out moisturizer. I find that rose hydrosol cuts the grease, takes off any last traces of makeup, and leaves my skin feeling clean, but not tight. No additional moisturizer needed.)

 

I know that rose oil can be outrageously expensive, so wondering if I am dealing with a reaction to a synthetic fragrance oil or if it is some other issue. I haven't gotten all scientific on it yet, just noted itchy rash a day or so after wearing my rosy precious.

 

I don't want to get rid of them and can't afford a scent locket right now.

 

Has this happened to you? What did you do?

[jizatt]

I get those raised bump itchies if I apply oils right after the shower -- your skin is open and much more sensitive then. I also had some major hormonal shifts going on, and many of my favorites stopped working at all on me (though not the point of welts in that case) -- so it could be temporary?

[khazakant]

All of BPAL's roses hate me. AAAALL of them. Rose otto, rose attar, white rose ... If they even get near me they instantly turn whatever fragrance they're in into a combination citronella candle/Philly cheesesteak. It breaks my little heart because I love roses, I grow them.

 

I haven't found a solution myself other than just wearing rose fragrances from other companies (small consolation) so I'm just posting to give solidarity.

[halation]

Allergies and sensitivities are weird. For me, frequent exposure to things can trigger reactions to things that never previously gave me problems -- if I wear or eat something every day, it can suddenly start causing me problems. But the good news is that a break from things that are giving me reactions is often enough to solve the problem. I love WILF, and for a while wore it nearly every day, until it started giving me a bright red rash. I stopped wearing it for a month (and avoided other blends with shared notes) and when I came back to it, no more rash! Since you're not sensitive to *all* roses, just the BPAL oils with rose, I wonder if it's something like that: a sensitivity to a specific compound caused by prolonged exposure. Time can fix that.

 

Also, sometimes it's a question of your body feeling overwhelmed by other environmental irritants/stressors, so if you have any other allergy symptoms currently (seasonal allergies or food sensitivities), your body might be more sensitive than usual. Don't get rid of your roses just yet. I'd suggest you switch to other scents (or no scents) for a few weeks and then try again.

 

You can also try scenting your clothes, if your reaction is limited to your skin -- some oils can stain, of course, but I like to scent my scarves and shawls in cold weather. Just a few swipes with a wand cap/imp wand gives you a lovely scent-cloud, and it lasts longer and doesn't interact with your skin chemistry. Of course, then you have that scent on that item til you wash it, so you want it to be something you don't mind smelling for a while. Someday I'll be able to afford a locket, but til then I have my scarf!

 

What makes it even weirder is that I do not appear to be allergic to rose in other forms. I don't have any problems with the actual flowers and I use a rose hydrosol to wash my face with no problems.

 

I don't want to get rid of them and can't afford a scent locket right now.

 

Has this happened to you? What did you do?

Edited November 2, 2011 by halation

[Monday]

The only rose blends that don't turn sour or artificial on my skin are Bearded Lady (it has Turkish rose in it) and L'Ecole des Filles (white rose, but it has masses of other notes as well ). Can't help you with the skin reaction other than Dance of the Mirlitons has marzipan listed which usually means almonds and almond is known to cause allergic reactions. I hope you will be able to wear some rose scents!

[archionblu]

I know you said you can't afford a scent locket right now, but I would suggest checking etsy, you can find scent lockets there for very very cheap if you want something that's functional, if not the fanciest thing in the world.

[MadameGorgon]

Well I am very glad to know that it might go away.

 

I am having seasonal allergies and probably hormone shifts as well. Now that I think about it, my skin has been acting seriously touchy lately because of a medicine I take.

 

And khazakant - that's just weird! You can wear rose from other companies, but not BPAL? Philly cheesesteak??

 

archionblu - that's a good idea. I hadn't thought of that. In truth, I had never heard of scent lockets before BPAL, so I kinda thought they invented it. Ha! I suppose one could wear any kind of locket as long as it can be opened to add scent. Brilliant!

 

Halation - love the idea of scenting a scarf!! I have a favorite cotton scarf that I wore with Milk Chocolate, coconut, cardamom, rum ginger truffle. I could smell its spicy goodness all night, but it didn't overpower those around me.

 

I did dot an old scrap of silk with some Alice last night and put it under my pillowcase. It was lovely, but not nearly strong enough.

[AnnetheCatDetective]

I've avoided any kind of perfumes for so long, because I'm very sensitive to different scents, and because so many perfumes use chemicals that make me sick. One of the things that really interested me in BPAL was the naturalness. I know most of the scent notes that I absolutely won't be able to handle, so my strategy was to just by imps of scents I wasn't sure about. So, I'm really new to this... but optimistic.

 

I'm hoping it works out for me. I've had sensitivity/sensory integration issues my whole life, and I'm liking the thought of being able to have some scents that I like around. My sister occasionally talks up aromatherapy and I've often had atypical reactions, but there are a few scents I know that I like, and a few BPAL blends that use those. I love the general aesthetic and the poetic naming and descriptions so much... I'm hoping that some of these that look really appealing to me are good for me aroma-wise.

[Caper]

so yesterday i had an allergic reaction to something. i was wheezing and my eyes started swelling and itching. i couldn't figure it out because there's no pollen or anything in the air, it's cold and clear here.

 

so i showered and this morning i was fine. i decided to test the oils i wore yesterday (oak moon and a torrent of light) and i started with oak moon.

 

i breathed it in from the bottle (smells SO good!) and waited a few minutes and my lungs started tightening up.

 

i generally only have allergies to seasonal pollens and things, never to any other bpal or perfume or scent. i found some other posts about contact allergies from cinnamon or headaches, but nothing like this. has anyone ever had an allergic reaction to a specific oil? do you think i can e-mail them to find out the components so i don't buy anything else with the same ingredients? i hope it's not lunar oils.

[malibusunny]

BPAL lists these ingredients -- acorns, oak leaves, oak bark, and oak sap rising through a mist of traditional lunar oils. If you have seasonal allergies, like to trees, you might have a problem with the tree components. I know I have problems with Apatrophia and Coyote and both have tree components. Hay Moon also has an allergy note in my spreadsheet, but that's a lunar, so it doesn't help eliminate lunar oils as the problem component. But I have about a dozen lunars and that is the only one that has an allergy note.

[Caper]

i have my fingers crossed that it's just the oak, considering i bought your hay moon i sure hope i'm not allergic to that one too!

 

cedar is fine, pine is fine, oakmoss is fine.

 

it doesn't seem like oak is a common component, so fingers crossed it's the oak and not the lunar oils!

[Ashmedai]

so yesterday i had an allergic reaction to something. i was wheezing and my eyes started swelling and itching. i couldn't figure it out because there's no pollen or anything in the air, it's cold and clear here.

 

so i showered and this morning i was fine. i decided to test the oils i wore yesterday (oak moon and a torrent of light) and i started with oak moon.

 

i breathed it in from the bottle (smells SO good!) and waited a few minutes and my lungs started tightening up.

 

i generally only have allergies to seasonal pollens and things, never to any other bpal or perfume or scent. i found some other posts about contact allergies from cinnamon or headaches, but nothing like this. has anyone ever had an allergic reaction to a specific oil? do you think i can e-mail them to find out the components so i don't buy anything else with the same ingredients? i hope it's not lunar oils.

 

I once had a similar reaction to a retail exclusive oil called "Autumn" (which lists "Dry leaves, osmanthus, sandalwood, and rose absolute" as components). My lungs tightened up, sneezing, watery eyes, the whole deal. I'm guessing it was something in the "dry leaves" note, which I assume is an accord made up of several notes, but I'm not sure. I've never had a reaction like that to any other oil, though, and scents like October, Elegy IX and other dry-leaves scents are favorites - and so are some others that contain sandalwood, osmanthus or rose. E-mailing might be worth a shot, but I didn't because I figured if the culprit was one of many components that make up a particular note, it wouldn't be helpful anyway, unless the Lab started listing every single component they use to make a certain note (e.g., more specific than just "dry leaves" or "bark"). I doubt it's possible to do that, for one because that encourages manufacturers to copy-cat the blends. So I guess for those of us with seasonal allergies who like essential oil fragrances, it happens that once in a while we encounter an oil that makes us wheeze - lol. Like I said it's just been one blend so far for me, so...knock wood. But yes, it happens.

[wendyb1063]

I've had an odd problem also when using Glowing Vulva bath oil directly on my skin as a moisturizer. This has happened several times now consistently, and now I'm afraid to use it and I LOVE the smell of it so much. Several hours later, I get a visual disturbance that is exactly like the aura to a migraine (zigzaggy flashing lights, along with some general inability to think straight). This lasts about 20 minutes or so. I get a very, very mild migraine-like headache afterward. Sometimes I will get several of these in the same day (and I only generally get a real migraine once a year or so).

 

Of course, I'm at an age where hormones are shifting, so I'm not giving up hope yet. The other bath oils don't seem to cause this problem, just (sadly my favorite) Glowing Vulva.

 

[Gwydion]

so yesterday i had an allergic reaction to something. i was wheezing and my eyes started swelling and itching. i couldn't figure it out because there's no pollen or anything in the air, it's cold and clear here.

 

so i showered and this morning i was fine. i decided to test the oils i wore yesterday (oak moon and a torrent of light) and i started with oak moon.

 

i breathed it in from the bottle (smells SO good!) and waited a few minutes and my lungs started tightening up.

 

i generally only have allergies to seasonal pollens and things, never to any other bpal or perfume or scent. i found some other posts about contact allergies from cinnamon or headaches, but nothing like this. has anyone ever had an allergic reaction to a specific oil? do you think i can e-mail them to find out the components so i don't buy anything else with the same ingredients? i hope it's not lunar oils.

 

I once had a similar reaction to a retail exclusive oil called "Autumn" (which lists "Dry leaves, osmanthus, sandalwood, and rose absolute" as components). My lungs tightened up, sneezing, watery eyes, the whole deal. I'm guessing it was something in the "dry leaves" note, which I assume is an accord made up of several notes, but I'm not sure. I've never had a reaction like that to any other oil, though, and scents like October, Elegy IX and other dry-leaves scents are favorites - and so are some others that contain sandalwood, osmanthus or rose. E-mailing might be worth a shot, but I didn't because I figured if the culprit was one of many components that make up a particular note, it wouldn't be helpful anyway, unless the Lab started listing every single component they use to make a certain note (e.g., more specific than just "dry leaves" or "bark"). I doubt it's possible to do that, for one because that encourages manufacturers to copy-cat the blends. So I guess for those of us with seasonal allergies who like essential oil fragrances, it happens that once in a while we encounter an oil that makes us wheeze - lol. Like I said it's just been one blend so far for me, so...knock wood. But yes, it happens.

 

I react like that to the masoia component, which is luckily rare. Good luck to both of you.

[Caper]

thanks gwydion.

 

i just wanted to update that the lab sent me the oak moon components. i am fine with most of them in other blends so i have a few to watch out for. but luckily they aren't very common.

[PixieSkull]

I don't want to get rid of them and can't afford a scent locket right now.

 

Has this happened to you? What did you do?

 

I know you said you can't afford a scent locket right now, but I would suggest checking etsy, you can find scent lockets there for very very cheap if you want something that's functional, if not the fanciest thing in the world.

 

Etsy is a great place for lockets. Just remember that certain materials react with essential oils (sterling discolors.) If you have nice bead stores, they tend to have some lockets that work. Otherwise, if you're crafty, you can bead one! Granted, beaded ones tend to let the oil get to your skin more than the lockets, but it can be fun.

[Monday]

Well I had my first Bpal-related skin reaction. I had slathered Inferno on the back of my hand and got on with things for the day. I had completely forgot about the >be careful-possibly conflagrant< part of the description. The next day my hand was itching like mad and there was a patch of red bumps right where I had slathered Inferno.

It took a couple of days for the itching to go away (it was really persistent ) and about a week and a half later I still have little bumps on the back of my hand. I'm not going anywhere near Inferno again!

Weird thing is that I can wear Chimera without any reaction at all.