Allergy Questions, Allergies and other reactions to oils

[russetfox]

I have recently added a man thing into my life that has a major nut allergy. He loves scents and I really want to explore smells between us, but I don't want to kill him. Does anyone have any notes I should for sure avoid besides the obvious ones?

Edited February 3, 2017 by russetfox

[lizabelle]

I have recently added a man thing into my life that has a major nut allergy. He loves scents and I really want to explore smells between us, but I don't want to kill him. Does anyone have any notes I should for sure avoid besides the obvious ones?

I don't have a huge amount of personal experience with this (we had one nut allergy scare with me when I was little, but it was a false alarm), but I did a little research and some people with nut allergies have trouble with coconut, shea, and pink pepper (related to cashew) too. For the most part, though, it's just common sense. See this site for a good list.

 

You might want to talk to him about what he does with his diet and see if there's anything else that he specifically avoids.

[t_for_tau]

Russetfox, I hear you - my wife has a peanut allergy, and though no bpal has ever set it off, sometimes the smell of a nutty note will make her feel sick & freaked out by association. :s

 

The whole "unlisted notes" thing makes me really anxious from time, largely because of that - but also recently I saw that the Yule mashed potato scent is garlicky. I'm allergic to garlic, but it's not something I'd ever expected to find in a perfume, even bpal!

[russetfox]

Thanks everybody, it was pretty much what I was thinking, just gonna start scouring my oils and make sure I don't wear any potentials around him

[Lucchesa]

I want to thank whoever suggested wearing oils on the less sensitive skin on the backs of my arms. After several days of trying a bunch of new scents, including at least one without listed notes, Baron Samedi, that I reacted to, I woke up yesterday with my wrists and inner elbows feeling sensitive, like they were just getting primed to itch. I was afraid I was going to have to go cold turkey to keep my central nervous system from freaking out about all scent, not just cinnamon or whatever I was reacting to. So I put lots of calming lotion on my wrists and elbows, but I put some lovely No. 93 Engine on the backs of my wrists so I can still get my endorphin rush from the fragrance. Seems to be working so far!

[Pixie-elf]

So. Kind of a necrobump cause I didn't wanna bother the labbies. Fiance brought with him an old bottle of Jersey Devil. Which has a cranberry note in it.

 

I'm super allergic to them even tho I love them. Anyone know if they are actually used in the note? Thanks!

[Silvertree]

This is one of the times when it is absolutely appropriate to contact the Lab, and is not bothering them. When in doubt, better safe than sorry.

[Pixie-elf]

This is one of the times when it is absolutely appropriate to contact the Lab, and is not bothering them. When in doubt, better safe than sorry.

I received a response and they said it's an accord, but in the case of my allergy being so severe they wouldn't chance it. Bless the lab. <3

[Safyr Drathmir]

Beth and Puddin are amazing. I have allergies to Strawberry, Kiwi, and Hemp, and while they are generally made with bouquets, accords, and the like, I still react very badly to them.

 

They are very sweet and do respond whenever they can get a minute when you ask about allergens, so never be afraid to ask.

[Seajewel]

Yay the mods helped me fix an issue with not being able to respond to this thread.. would love to resume a discussion on allergies if anyone else has them. 

 

I've previously had issues with contact dermatitis with some BPAL blends - possibly Chimera's cinnamon, but it was so long ago and I just realized something in the past week that puts everything into doubt. Throughout the lockdown I've been buying and testing BPAL like mad (it's been a lovely distraction), and that means putting on 3+ scents a day on various parts of my arms. I also started keeping a detailed journal of each scent and my impressions of it, and when allergies reared their head I started keeping track of where on my arms I was putting each scent so I could do, ahem, "contact tracing" (highly recommend to our Government during this time of COVID). There were a few things that seemed to trigger itchy white bumps that would last for days that I set aside as being allergic to, when I had a huge realization in the past week - Dark Rosaleen (which I love) seemed to be causing allergies, because two different spots I put it on, one of which I hadn't put anything else on, came up with hives. But not for 3 days after I applied. So I went back and tested Dark Rosaleen on my left arm, near the shoulder, where I haven't tested ANY BPAL at all, ever. And approximately two days later, small bumps appeared. So then I had to go back through all my notes.. all the stuff I thought I was allergic to - No Man is an island, Colemanite Phoenix, Kommt Mit.. all of those were blends I had put on the DAY the hives appeared. But going through my notes, it seems it was actually something else.. potentially Aradia, Buck Moon ' 19 (this has pine pitch in common with Dark Rosaleen.. but the pine pitch in Illustrated Woman, for instance, I'm not allergic to), and The Instinct of Hope. I won't know for sure until I retest those. The instinct of hope is almost definitely one that I'm allergic to based on the areas I tested and the reaction a few days later, so I might have some kind of wood allergy. I won't retest that one though as I didn't like it on either prior occasion. Also the odd thing about Dark Rosaleen is the first time I applied it I had no reaction whatsoever in that area, it wasn't until the second+ times that I had a reaction.

 

Anyways, would love to hear from others who have pinpointed their allergic reactions, and also hope this helps other who might have reacted to something.. knowing that actually hives can take several days to appear (maybe that's obvious to others..) rather than just minutes or hours, at least in some cases. 

 

Also, heartbroken about Dark Rosaleen which made it to my Top Ten list. But I'll try it in a scent locket once my locket ships! 

Edited July 22, 2020 by Seajewel

[a_bear]

I'm not sure about reactions to perfume oils, but urushiol, the oil that makes poison ivy bothersome, can take a few days to cause a reaction. I think urushiol's also one that the more you are exposed to it, the worse your reactions can be. It stands to reason that you might have delayed reactions to perfume oils, and they may get worse after later applications.

 

In anticipation of my first BPAL order (!), I've been revisiting scents I got ages ago in my initial foray into perfume. I tried a spritz of one per day on my left arm. Skin is fine, but 4 of the 5 bothered my sinuses. I realized that I seem to be sensitive to juniper, cedar, and maybe guaiac? 3 of those I reacted to have cedar listed, and 1of those, the one I reacted to the most, has both cedar and juniper.  In the case of cedar this is particularly sad as it's a scent I really like, which is why it's in several perfumes I own already. Cedar isn't listed in any of the ones I ordered from BPAL, but I'm hoping I don't react to them! Had to refigure my wishlist after doing my testing, though.

[harps]

I just tried Colmanite Pheonix and my eyes are itchy and stinging... what is the likely allergen here?

I haven't had issues with the (relatively few) other BPALs I've worn.

[Exquise-moi]

12 hours ago, harps said:

I just tried Colmanite Pheonix and my eyes are itchy and stinging... what is the likely allergen here?

I haven't had issues with the (relatively few) other BPALs I've worn.

 

On the reviews, @RoseThornAndOak had issues with that one. Maybe you can mind meld?

[RoseThornAndOak]

On 3/10/2021 at 10:55 AM, Exquise-moi said:

 

On the reviews, @RoseThornAndOak had issues with that one. Maybe you can mind meld?

I'm not sure what it is, but I've noticed with many new perfumes, mostly conventional, turn to this acrid/burning smell on me. A scentcan smell great in the vial, then within minutes the blend gets hard to handle. I get it with a lot of oud/agarwood/guiacwood blends, so it could be that, or a component that is added to those. Only noticed it in recent years. It has happened.with a few BPALs, but mostly conventional perfumes released in the past few years. Very strange. It's odd because oud can also smell very beautiful, and it's not one.of the listed notes, possibly it is a component to one of the listed notes. It smelled great in the vial, too!

We can rule out the dandelion note, however that could be causing an allergy, although I'd reckon the sage could be causing a reaction.

[harps]

Thanks @RoseThornAndOak, that gives me things to think about.

 

Perhaps the only way to know for sure is try some things with overlapping notes and see what happens. 

[amokslime]

Dwarven Ale and King of Hearts made my skin get red and irritated where the oil came in contact. I’m hoping to learn if there’s any common ingredients between the two of them, so I can avoid that ingredient in future imp purchases. Does anybody know?

 

FWIW Morocco and Spellbound both gave me headaches, but I didn't experience any irritation. I'm just starting out on my BPAL odyssey, but so far my skin chemistry seems to do poorly with any note that's described as "red" 😅 which is a shame since the scent descriptions always sound so tasty and alluring.

Edited November 9, 2021 by amokslime

[Teamama]

Necrobump:

Thanks @Lucchesa for referring me to this thread. I'm wearing my beloved Bengal again today, at last! Abstaining from spice scents for nearly two months may have done the trick. If today continues without mishaps of the red & itchy variety, I'll try another spicy favorite next Friday. 

[Jarek]

I don't have allergies but I have always been pretty easily overloaded by most perfumes & colognes I've encountered from stores, and I don't like to layer too many scented products on my body at once. I can get headaches or nausea or just generally be very overstimulated and need a quiet and scent free zone to come down in. 

 

So it's pretty relieving to read that many other people experience similar issues! Like, I don't know if I could ever work in perfumery, just being around so much or certain ones could totally take me out. I've never worn perfume or cologne before aside from very very simple oils when I was younger, like vanilla. And scented ailes of perfumes or cleaning products are so bad! (And yet I love aquatics!)

 

I never thought I might be reacting to certain scents or oils though. I've never really narrowed it down. So far every BPAL perfume I've tried I've either liked a lot, liked okay, wasn't a fan of, etc. or whatever, but nothing that sets off headaches and nausea. I'm wary of layering scents, but maybe that's never been my true problem? I'm so curious now what sets me off! And I have noticed increasing tolerance as I age, and presumably my sense of smell deteriorates. But things still smell pretty powerful to me!

 

I'll definitely look into this more, especially if I encounter something through BPAL that does set me off worse than mere preference.