Re: Allergic Reaction/Rash from Vanilla Absolute?????????????

[Guest guest]

Sniped

> Did somebody else here experience a bad reaction to diluted vanilla

> absolute or could it be the stuff contains some chemicals or maybe

> even Balsam of Peru or Benzoin to adulterate it?

> I cannot imagine this though, since the vendor also delivers the

> fragrance industry and is really serious.

>

> Thanks for your input, best regards, Annette

>

Hi Annette,

Why don't you try testing some peru balsam and see if you have an

allergic reaction to it. Not everybody is allergic to it. So if you

have it might give you more clues as to whether or not they might have

adulterated it. It is commonly done with vanilla.

Ruth

http://www.whitewitch.ie

[Guest guest]

>

> Hello Everybody!

>

> Since I love the smell of real vanilla, I use it in quite a few of my

> perfumes. First I was tincturing myself, then I started checking on

> several absolutes and co2 extracts. This is quite a trip, because

> actually it is unbelievable what is being sold as Vanilla absolute

> or " essential oil " ! Finally, I found my holy grail Vanilla Absolute

> from a very reputable seller in France. Expensive, but well worth it.

> That is the real deal, it's scent beyond divine, so I bought 2oz.

> BUT: in a dilution of 2% it gives very nasty allergic reactions (I

> have never reacted to anything properly diluted), itchy red spots

> that take at least a week to dissappear! And this does not only

> happen to me, friends who put it on experienced the same! Is the

> percentage of 2% too high? I know that I use several oils in traces

> only for safety, many I don't use at all for that, but that was

> unfamiliar for me with Vanilla Absolute so far.

>

> So I went to my suppliers' site to check on a GC. It didn't show any,

> but it had the safety hint " may provoke allergic reactions " ??????

> Some suppliers list that with every oil, since they are aware of

> misuse and people not diluting properly, so at first I didn't suspect

> anything bad.

> But with my experience now I checked all their other oils and they

> didn't have that hint! I am really puzzled.

>

> Did somebody else here experience a bad reaction to diluted vanilla

> absolute or could it be the stuff contains some chemicals or maybe

> even Balsam of Peru or Benzoin to adulterate it?

> I cannot imagine this though, since the vendor also delivers the

> fragrance industry and is really serious.

>

> Thanks for your input, best regards, Annette

>

Hello Annette,

Skin allergy to vanilla absolutes and extracts is possible, though very

uncommon.

However, if you are allergic to peru balsam there is an increased risk - in one

study 48% of

peru balsam-sensitive individuals reacted to vanilla. This is cross-sensitivity,

not due to

adulteration of the vanilla with peru balsam.

The fact that you are reacting to this absolute does not mean it must be

adulterated -

reactions to the real thing do happen. On the other hand it could be an

adulterant.

Allergies are concentration-dependent, so if you react to 2% there is a

" threshold " - a

lower concentration - below which there will be no reaction. Maybe 0.1%, maybe

lower.

Vanillin is a major constituent of most vanilla extracts, and you could feasibly

test this,

though it has to be said that allergies to vanillin are extremely uncommon.

Other

constituents include ethyl vanillin, piperonal, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, and a

number of

others.

Tisserand