Allergy Questions, Allergies and other reactions to oils

[Fuhrankie]

Ok, this is strange, I think I may be allergic to something in Alice in the Pumpkin Patch...every time I have it on I keep sneezing...strange because I never had this reaction to any of my other pumpkin blends....

Have you tried straight-up Alice? It may be something in that blend. The notes for Alice say "Curiouser and curiouser. Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot."

[Balaclava]

Qandisa is such a beautiful fragrance, but sadly it gives me sneezing fits! I Googled each of the notes, the only one that is likely to be the problem is the black musk. I'm perfectly fine with BPAL's skin musk, is there enough of a difference between the two kinds of musks that one would cauze sneezing and not the other?

[Cactus]

Black musk and skin musk smell very different - so they must have different ingredients. And when it comes to allergies, even little differences can be very important.

[goodnightnightvale]

I don't really have allergies to anything that I've tried so far, but cinnamon and cardamom both burn my skin if they're in a blend. Which absolutely sucks, because I found that out the hard way, after tracking down a bottle of Phantom Calliope. Dabbed it on before bed, and within 10-15 minutes, it started to burn. Boo.

[chinkee21]

 

Ok, this is strange, I think I may be allergic to something in Alice in the Pumpkin Patch...every time I have it on I keep sneezing...strange because I never had this reaction to any of my other pumpkin blends....

Have you tried straight-up Alice? It may be something in that blend. The notes for Alice say "Curiouser and curiouser. Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot."

 

I will try just Alice alone....it's been a long while since I last wore it....

[TriGirlJ]

Dragon's Milk makes my skin burn. No idea what is causing that as I don't have that problem with any of my other oils.

[Gwydion]

...And I am officially allergic to India Ink. As it's an accord I have no idea what burned me.

[maija]

I didn't read the whole thread through, but anyways.. help please?

 

My friend would like to wear more bpal but can't because all she likes seems to give her rash. She hasn't tried many blends, but has bottles of Velvet, Eclipse and Blood Countess and can't really wear any of them (atleast without diluting them first). I understand that Eclipse has cinnamon and that can irritate skin. Maybe Velvet has something similar too. But Blood Countess doesn't really have any similar notes listed? (Description for Blood Countess says: Corrupted black plum, smoky opium and crumbling dead roses covered by a deceptive veil of Hungarian lilac, white gardenia and wild berry.)

 

Can anyone pinpoint if these three have something in common that could cause skin irritation? She does have sensitive skin and has had trouble with lots of cosmetics. She still can wear some commercial perfumes (like some Body Shop perfume oils) and some essential oils even undiluted so I find it hard to believe that bpal in general would be too harsh, so maybe it's just couple of unlucky ingredients that are causing problems.

[Cactus]

Maija,

 

BPAL oils are *very* concentrated - and the intensity of them can make them cause issues for people who are sensitive. Maybe there is something (or more than one thing) in particular that your friend is allergic to. But in the mean time, while you are puzzling that out...

 

Maybe she could dilute some of her BPAL oil with a carrier oil and try wearing that and see how that works? Some carrier oils that I've heard people say good things about are grapeseed oil and jojoba oil.

 

But on the other hand, the notes listed in the descriptions aren't *everything that's in the scent* and looking through the reviews, several people are saying they get a spicy or cinnamon-y smell off of Blood Countess, so maybe there is some cinnamon in the mix somewhere? Also "smoky" notes can cause some people issues. As for Velvet... maybe the sandalwood? *shrug*

[maija]

Thank you for your reply. She was asking me about it last weekend because she wanted to buy some new scents but was afraid they all will cause allergies. I know the notes in description aren't everything in them and that's why I was wondering if there was spicy element in Blood Countess that wasn't listed (or if some of those flowers could cause the skin irritation). It's likely that the smoky part is causing problems then. I also suggested diluting. I think I'll send her few non-spicy/woodsy/smoky imps to try before buying.

Edited February 4, 2015 by maija

[nightwing]

Thanks to BPAL I have discovered that what I always thought was a general allergy to perfume was actually an allergy to perfume alcohol. There are still many notes that give me the spitting headaches, but it's transformed the way I look at perfumes.

[recklesslysober]

I tried on Nocturne last night and it gave me a rash.. there's a red blotch over everywhere I applied it. Any ideas on irritants in this one? I haven't had a reaction to anything else and I've tried a variety.

[kakiphony]

I'm having a reaction to Lacuna Oblivionis -- but only on my chest and neck. My wrists are fine, but the spots I dabbed on m neck and chest got some nasty, almost zit-like red bumps. Ouch!

[SadariEvenstar]

Black musk is one of my favourite notes ever. All the sudden I am getting a reaction to it. I've worn two different blends (that I have never had trouble with before) with it recently and both have given me cinnamon oil like reaction. Has anyone ever just started randomly reacting to their perfumes after years of owning them? Do you think it could just be my extra dry skin right now? I haven't been reacting abnormally to any other notes....... I really don't want to lose my ability to wear my black musk blends.

[keileya]

Black musk is one of my favourite notes ever. All the sudden I am getting a reaction to it. I've worn two different blends (that I have never had trouble with before) with it recently and both have given me cinnamon oil like reaction. Has anyone ever just started randomly reacting to their perfumes after years of owning them? Do you think it could just be my extra dry skin right now? I haven't been reacting abnormally to any other notes....... I really don't want to lose my ability to wear my black musk blends.

 

You can develop reactions to ingredients at any time, yeah. Or if what you're reacting to is a new bottle of something you've tried before, Beth might have switched to a different supplier for one of the ingredients in the accord, or slightly tweaked the accord, or or or...

 

But if it's a case of "this is the very same bottle I was wearing before and now it's freaking out my skin", dry skin could definitely be part of it. Try pre-moisturizing: put some lotion or oil or whatever you use on about ten-fifteen minutes before you're going to put the perfume on. You can also switch to applying on sturdier skin that isn't quite so battered by winter, like further up your arm. (The top side of your arm, not the underside -- that skin is more delicate.)

[andabri]

I'm allergic to Against Idleness and Mischief. It must be the hyssop since that is the only thing I'm unsure about. Watery eyes and sneezing both times I tested it.

[dartigen]

I didn't have any headache/nausea/etc. from Plunder...but, my wrist turned red, blotchy and very itchy about 5 minutes after applying it. (I was beyond sad too, since it smelled so good.) I had a similar reaction to Al-Shairan, so I'm going to blame the cinnamon for now. (I already have a pretty bad time with cinnamon in other skin products, but it was often blended with other strong spice oils like sandalwood or clove so I couldn't pinpoint what exactly the problem was.)

 

I've thought of trying a scent locket for Plunder - has anyone else with contact allergies had luck with them? Any particular brands of locket you'd recommend? (Other than the Trading Post ones, I mean; those do look very nice, but they also look to all be OOS at the moment.)

Edited July 5, 2015 by dartigen

[vthesiren]

Is anyone else finding that they only react to some cinnamon/cassis blends?

 

When I first started BPALing, I thought I would be fine because I tested blends like Plunder, Al-Shairan, Faustus, and others with no problem. Others I've worn with no reaction include Count Dracula, Playful Wooden Mallets, and Harlot. However, other blends don't treat me as well - Spanked 2011, Jailbait (this one really didn't like me), Dark Pumpkin Mead, Inferno, and the latest, Alice's Evidence. Does it have to do with what else it's blended with, or am I just unlucky and doomed to play roulette with cinnamon blends?

[DiesMali]

So far, the only thing that has irritated my skin is Vial of Holy Water, which burns mildly for about 5 minutes after I put it on. Go figure. I'm not sure what is actually in it, so no idea how to trace it.

[Anaire]

Is anyone else finding that they only react to some cinnamon/cassis blends?

 

When I first started BPALing, I thought I would be fine because I tested blends like Plunder, Al-Shairan, Faustus, and others with no problem. Others I've worn with no reaction include Count Dracula, Playful Wooden Mallets, and Harlot. However, other blends don't treat me as well - Spanked 2011, Jailbait (this one really didn't like me), Dark Pumpkin Mead, Inferno, and the latest, Alice's Evidence. Does it have to do with what else it's blended with, or am I just unlucky and doomed to play roulette with cinnamon blends?

 

For me it depends on how new the blend is. For example, Sin burned me when I first got it, but after a few months of (the bottle) aging I barely get a red mark. Inferno took my imp a while to settle down before the cinnamon stopped burning me (and I was getting welts from that one when I first got it).

 

And obviously I'm enough of a glutton for punishment that I kept retrying these despite the initial burning to figure this out.

[Miranda Larson]

So far, the only thing that has irritated my skin is Vial of Holy Water, which burns mildly for about 5 minutes after I put it on. Go figure. I'm not sure what is actually in it, so no idea how to trace it.

 

 

Sorry, I just watched the Extended Director's Cut for the first time last weekend...

 

I haven't had any skin reactions that I know of, but Scherezade makes me sneeze something terrible, which is so sad because I love it.

[littletiern]

Oh really?!@

 

My date of birth is December, 7th, 1983 and I think I was born at 11:07 pm, but there is a dispute there, because the doctor didn't record the time until a few minutes after I was born but my Dad looked at the clock when I was born and I think that's what he says.

My birthday is December 7, 1982 (4:45pm)

[littletiern]

This might be covered at some point in this topic, but does anyone have a skin reaction to Snake Oil? It's the oddest thing. It doesn't happen every time I wear it (maybe 1 out of every 3 times), and only on my wrists and inside elbows (behind the ears, back of the neck, in between and under breasts are fine). It doesn't keep me from wearing it, as it mellows after 5-10 minutes, but I'm curious if anyone knows what the triggering ingredient might be so I can be careful when ordering other scents.

[littletiern]

Black musk is one of my favourite notes ever. All the sudden I am getting a reaction to it. I've worn two different blends (that I have never had trouble with before) with it recently and both have given me cinnamon oil like reaction. Has anyone ever just started randomly reacting to their perfumes after years of owning them? Do you think it could just be my extra dry skin right now? I haven't been reacting abnormally to any other notes....... I really don't want to lose my ability to wear my black musk blends.

Extra dry skin!! I just posted a question about reacting to Snake Oil. I'm not sure what's in it (if you know, pray tell! Maybe there's black musk?) but I only react every once in a while and you just made me realize I think it's on days I don't put lotion on first! I forgot to put lotion on today and I reacted. I live in Denver and CO is SUPER CRAZY dry year round.

[PersimmonSeeds]

I wasn't sure where to post this, but I found this thread. I realize it's a little old but Its worth a shot?

 

Recently I have been on the hunt for The Garden of Proserpine scents.

I have managed to get my hands on a few so far but have run into some issues with two bottles. I'm not sure if its the ingredients, age(really not that old), or contamination?

One smells god awful and actually makes my skin tingle. From what I saw on the reviews it was never the best smelling thing out there but oh well. It doesn't irritate me too much.(Crowned with calm leaves she stands)

 

The one that actually has me ripping my skin off is the most seemingly simple one of the bunch. Hope and Fear set free - Bourbon vanilla and 10-year aged frankincense.

I was shocked that it was so faint on me. I couldn't discern much when I applied it. Just faint, bitter frankincense no bourbon vanilla or anything. Then it went BO and disappeared on me.

I tested it a few times and am just now seeing the affects of it.

 

In the patches I tested I have broken out in hives and scratched myself to shreds. There are red streaks where the wand cap touched and actually one patch that appears to be bruising?

 

I've never had a reaction to any perfume i've ever tried. The only thing is the lab's cinnamon. It makes me itchy and lightly burns for a little bit but that's it.

 

I do have slightly sensitive skin. I break out into hives easily when it comes to cheap lotions and certain detergents (whisk is the main one but also anything Gain) and certain dryer sheets.

 

I don't really know what's going on with it but its actually kind of painful?

Edited April 22, 2016 by PersimmonSeeds