Patient Friendly Oils

[ZephyrZ]

For those of you who are RNs or other medical professionals...which oils would you recommend wearing when working with your patients? I've used Tresor and Angel PreBPAL as well as Young Living Essential Oils (pure theraputic quality) as "perfume" in the past with only 1-2 patients complaining in any way.... But I like BPAL so much more than those...the variety of the blends...seems so endless...a good thing except when trying to decide what to order next....

 

I know there are old school folks who think we should all be fragrance free at work...but I've found patients generally do like someone who smells good taking care of them...versus the anticeptic and chemical (cleaning produccts) smells associated with hospitals or the folks who drench themselves (or so it seems) in cheap colognes!

 

Appreciate suggestions...just got my first order of BPAL and already have a growing list of must haves....

[kakiphony]

My vote would be for things that stay very, very close to your skin with limited throw because people DO have scent sensitivities and, as much as many might like a good smelling medical professional, you'd hate to have someone react to you. The ones that stay closest to my skin are:

Dana O'Shee

Sudha Segara

O

Queen of Sheba

Dragon's Milk

Embalming Fluid

Velvet

[ReallyZeb]

As someone who had a lot of surgery recently, from a patient perspective I could cope with something fresh and with not much throw - I'd suggest Embalming Fluid (and cross your fingers no one asks what its called!) and then also suggest Kumiho for the gentle ginger freshness. One I've only just tried but also might work well is Gorg's Garden, it's light, slightly sweet herbal.

[Numanoid]

Well....even though it isn't a GC scent, Snow White is a beautiful and very light scent. It has a low throw to it (to me at least)! Good luck in your search!

Edited June 29, 2012 by Numanoid

[Wwindy]

I'm not an RN and this isn't a GC recommendation (sorry!), but you might want to try Wake (one of the recent Land of Dreams LEs): Pink grapefruit, peppermint, orange blossom, bitter orange, juniper berry, cumin, tuberose, and lemon balm. Everyone who smelled it on me said the *exact* same thing: "That's really pleasant." Might be exactly what you want by way of something mild and inoffensive!

[Alia Kaitan]

I'm a massage therapist, so I have a similar dilemma, as I do work with a lot of people with sensitivities. Gentle vanilla scents seem to be all around unoffensive to everyone, and I've even had some scent sensitive clients remark on how pleasant the smell was. Also beeswax and coconut scents are a big hit. I think one of the reasons is neither of these things registers as 'perfume' to most people.

 

As far as GCs go, I usually wear The Lights of Men's Lives or Black Pearl.

 

You might also look into Neutral from the RPG line, or maybe even the Honeys from Rappacini's Garden.

 

I agree with other posters about trying to find something that stays close to the skin.

 

ETA: Oh, I almost forgot - I recently tried Yemaya (from Excolo line) and she was a lovely fresh, light honeydew melon. Would also probably be good for working in.

Edited June 29, 2012 by kaitan

[Floria]

Some scientists did a study, and apparently mint and citrus tend to be perceived as pleasant by the highest percentage of people across cultures. (Schrodinger's Cat, if you like it and it doesn't amp on you?) If you're not in a situation where citrus allergies are a concern that might be worth keeping in mind.

[wishingwell]

I normally wear something that is very light, especially if it has a non-floral throw. Lately, Undertow has been my go-to work scent -- on me, it's like a soft, complex mint, and very "clean" smelling. It does include floral notes, but they just don't come out on me. Stressful days call for GRR, though I make sure to apply it a half hour or so before I go in so it has time to mellow out. Sudha Segara is another one I discovered recently and really love for work.. it's upbeat, yet soft and comforting at the same time. The ginger isn't very snappy on me though, so that's a big factor.

 

Long story short, my goal is to absolutely never ever be leaving a scent trail.. but if I am right next to someone, I should smell pleasant, not perfumed.

[becca_s]

I would recommend White Rabbit or even Glasgow. They are both really light, fresh scents on me that also seem to fade pretty fast. Lady Una is also light and sweet. I work with infants and I also try to wear ligther scents which I seem to prefer anyway. The scents that I wear most to work are White Rabbit, Sudha Segara, Alice, Blossoms in Springtime & some other light vanillary scents.

[lucyboo21]

I have to go against the trend here, and just say skip the scents.

 

I love smellies, and the heavier the better. No scents have ever really bothered me, sometimes I wouldn't like them, but scent h as s never caused a physical reaction in me.

 

Then I got to spend quality time in the hospital for knee issues (almost 4 weeks in the course of 3 months). I'm not sure what happwned, but I woke up one day and couldn't handle any scent of any kind.

 

One day a gal came in to get my lunch tray and I had such a reaction they had to call some kind of code which brought all sorts of people running because I couldn't breathe. The culprit turned out to be a bath and bodyworks pocket bac. The kicker was that I had yhe same kind in my purse and it had never bothered me.

 

I kniw that's not the answer uoi want, but heaven forbid somone have a freak reaction like mine, and I would think you could be in serious trouble for violating policy.

 

Just my 2¢. Intetestingly enough the only thing I could tolerate the smell of was Ugh massage oil. And I craved the smell of that!

[calivianya]

That sucks, lucyboo21. I'm sorry that happened to you.

 

I'm a believer in you can wear (almost) anything you want - if you wear it on your chest and under your clothes and use a tiny amount. My preceptor this summer and I were talking about sweating after moving a heavy patient, and I commented, "This is why I always wear perfume!" I have been following her around for about a month and a half so far and we have pretty much been joined at the hip, but she was extremely surprised to hear that I wear perfume at all. I swear if you wear it on your chest, it just wafts straight up to your nose and no one else will smell a thing.

 

The Lights of Men's Lives gets pretty heavy rotation for me - I agree that beeswax doesn't smell like perfume, per se, and people wouldn't necessarily think you were wearing perfume if they did manage to smell it. I have, however, worn things that smell more like perfume, and still no one but me knew I was wearing anything at all.

[kakiphony]

I have to go against the trend here, and just say skip the scents.

 

I love smellies, and the heavier the better. No scents have ever really bothered me, sometimes I wouldn't like them, but scent h as s never caused a physical reaction in me.

 

Then I got to spend quality time in the hospital for knee issues (almost 4 weeks in the course of 3 months). I'm not sure what happwned, but I woke up one day and couldn't handle any scent of any kind.

 

One day a gal came in to get my lunch tray and I had such a reaction they had to call some kind of code which brought all sorts of people running because I couldn't breathe. The culprit turned out to be a bath and bodyworks pocket bac. The kicker was that I had yhe same kind in my purse and it had never bothered me.

 

I kniw that's not the answer uoi want, but heaven forbid somone have a freak reaction like mine, and I would think you could be in serious trouble for violating policy.

 

Just my 2¢. Intetestingly enough the only thing I could tolerate the smell of was Ugh massage oil. And I craved the smell of that!

 

I've actually quit wearing anything day to day because I have a colleague who is very chemical and scent sensitive. I've never set her off, but I've seen her react to other people's scents and it's not pretty. Just as easy for me to save my smellies for evenings and weekends (and Mondays, when she does not work). It makes the scent budget smaller too!

[Finny]

I am currently a CNA, I wear lighter, sweet, and/or fruity scents. I haven't had a complaint yet, I apply sparingly, and like calivianya, I apply it on my chest so I get the waft of fragrance but do not overwhelm my residents.

 

I save my heavy and earthy scents for days off, or when I get home from work. Some of my favorites for work are Poisoned Apple, Alice, Mad Hatter, Grog, and Dragon's Milk.

[Poenari]

I don't work in the medical profession, but I'm only chiming in for one reason: a couple of years ago, I took my cat to the vet, and the lady behind the counter asked me what kind of perfume I was wearing. That question always makes me nervous, because I never know if it's asked because I smell good, or bad. I'm afraid it means I applied too much and offended someone,

 

Anyway, that day I was wearing Melainis, which I had not reapplied since the morning, and this was after work, but I already knew that Melainis has hella throw and staying power on me. The lady told me that she'd completed chemotherapy, and since then nothing smelled good to her at all. Either scents made her ill, or she couldn't smell anything. She said my perfume was the first beautiful thing she'd smelled since she started her chemo. Even though it's an LE, I gave her the bottle, since I had it in my purse. I was so happy to make her happy.

 

So long story short, this wasn't an "in the hospital" patient, but just a comment that an incense-heavy scent smelled great to someone after chemo, so maybe a light incense might also work, simply because it's not the perfumey kind of scent?