Contamination by skin contact

#1
Had wanted to start a thread on this and finally manage to find the time to do so.

A questionnaire to get the discussion going:

1) Do you use the applicator stick that comes with the bottle to swipe the oil? Or do you use disposables such as toothpick instead?

2) If you were to use the applicator stick, do you diligently wash your hand or wrist before the application? Do you use just water or soap for the washing?

3) Do you clean your applicator stick after each swipe before putting it back into the bottle? What would you clean the stick with?

4) Do you believe skin contact will contaminate the oil in the bottle with time? Does anyone has any experience whereby the oil scent profile changes due to possibly skin contact? How has the scent profile changes?

5) What do you think are the contaminants that will potentially cause the oil to go bad? Skin tissue? Skin sebum? Sweat?

Feel free to add on to the list if you can think of any interesting questions that can contribute to the discussion. :D
 

PEARL

Well-Known Member
#2
I'm somewhat paranoid, I mean hyper vigilant, about keeping my oils free from any type of contamination, at least as far as the original bottle is concerned. What I do is to remove about .5gm or so from the original bottle with a sterile blunt tip needle and syringe, and put that portion in a sample vial to wear. I then cut the wand above the level of the oil, then close the original bottle, wrap that in plastic wrap, put that in a small closable plastic bag, put that in the original velour bag, then put that in the original box, then put that in its own closable plastic bag,yup.

The portion that I use for wearing I wear with reckless abandon. Every now and then if I find the wand getting messy I'll clean it with a sterile alcohol wipe and let it dry before putting back in the vial. I carry oil with me daily and I like the idea of not carrying the original bottle. Unfortunately, one day I did carry an original bottle and had it in my pocket with some tissue and made the mistake of throwing it away never to be seen again.
 
#3
I then cut the wand above the level of the oil, then close the original bottle, wrap that in plastic wrap, put that in a small closable plastic bag, put that in the original velour bag, then put that in the original box, then put that in its own closable plastic bag,yup.
Wow, so many layers!

The portion that I use for wearing I wear with reckless abandon. Every now and then if I find the wand getting messy I'll clean it with a sterile alcohol wipe and let it dry before putting back in the vial. I carry oil with me daily and I like the idea of not carrying the original bottle. Unfortunately, one day I did carry an original bottle and had it in my pocket with some tissue and made the mistake of throwing it away never to be seen again.
Do you think the skin contact makes any difference? Or perhaps the time to finish the 0.5gr of oil is so short that it does not make any difference to the scent?
 

Oudamberlove

Well-Known Member
#4
I just wash my hands before applying oud. So far, I have not detected any signs/smells of contamination.
Although...there is one form of contamination that I am careful about, I dare not pull open a dipstick if there is still some smell on my fingertips from another oil that I previously applied

Storing extra oud in a vial with teflon(ptfe) lined caps is a good idea, but all my spare bottles are still in their velvet pouch/silk box :)
 

Ensar Oud

Well-Known Member
#5
@Oudamberlove: Bienvenido!

I have a box of disposable plastic toothpicks I use for my v-vial collection, although I sometimes get too lazy to open a new toothpick and just put my finger at the tip, flip the bottle, and apply....

The Assamese masters traditionally collected the oil with their palms, scraping it into bottles. I've seen some mighty precious batches of oil that contained dead insects inside, just for the added barakah I guess.

Obviously if your hands are oily or sweaty or scented, the oil will get contaminated. Otherwise, you're dealing with the most robust of essential oils. Imagine what would happen to a batch of fine lavender oil if it was left in the sun for an hour or two – or thirty, as is commonly done with most ouds… or what would happen if it were left open, bottle uncapped, for three months… you wouldn't have any 'lavender' left to speak of… These are all commonly practiced malpractices with oud, and the oil can withstand it all…
 

Adam

Well-Known Member
#6
I am a bit puzzled why people make it so complicated… hihi… no… of course I understand… its just a part of the game =)
for my most precious oils I simply take out the applicator and let the drop fall on my hand…
sometimes I use toothpick and chew it after the application...
 
#7
I am a bit puzzled why people make it so complicated… hihi… no… of course I understand… its just a part of the game =)
for my most precious oils I simply take out the applicator and let the drop fall on my hand…
sometimes I use toothpick and chew it after the application...
Well I guess it is because the oils are so precious (not to mention expensive as well) that nerds like me want to make sure they stay as pristine as possible with absolutely zero contamination to ruin it. :)

I guess as long as your hands are clean, it should be ok. I am concern about oil from the skin that does get into the oil and changes the smell. Then again, my nose may not even be sensitive enough to pick any differences anyway!
 

Taha

Well-Known Member
#8
I am a bit puzzled why people make it so complicated… hihi… no… of course I understand… its just a part of the game =)
for my most precious oils I simply take out the applicator and let the drop fall on my hand…
sometimes I use toothpick and chew it after the application...
Well, that explains it!
I remember the last time you were over at my place, I saw you sitting on the couch chewing on a tooth pick.. so I guess it was the same stick you had used to apply Super Global KL on my forearm. I wonder if your healthy consumption of oud is the reason behind your mellow persona. ;)

Ensar, you beat me to it. I was also going to mention that oud is an extremely hardy oil and in fact the majority of oud oils, as we know, do contain trace amounts of fungi when they're fresh out of the pot. The oil basically 'cleanses' itself as it ages, and of course when distillers sun the oil for months, the UV rays help disinfect the oil as well. But even that itself... well, as Ensar said try that with any other essential oil, and you're gonna kill it.

By the way, sandalwood I've found also has this remarkable property, its very hardy like oud. Interestingly, both of these essential oils are known to have very potent anti-microbial properties, so it makes sense that they 'clean' themselves too.

I'm not as strict with my personal-use bottles, and the only thing I try to avoid is cross-contaminating with any other oud (and other obvious things, like not handling my bottle of oud right after having food). But I go through about 1.5-2g of oud per month, so I guess I don't have to worry about how contamination with skin cells etc would affect the oil in the long run (it all goes on my skin soon enough).

On the other hand, when I'm handling source-bottles of oud, its an entirely different story. Castile soap > 95% alcohol wash > rinse with water > dry hands off on a clean rough cotton towel.

I do save some personal-use oils for long-term storage in a drawer, for different experiments (e.g. testing different preserving techniques, and other experiments) or just even as a memento... and what I can tell you is that, yes, some oils can change in color if the stick was used directly on skin and then re-inserted into the bottle. However, there is no change in the aroma. I personally wouldn't call it "pure oud" any more though. :)
 

JohnH

Moderator
Staff member
#9
We use plastic toothpicks, though mainly because we like smaller swipes and it's easier to gauge the amount using them.
 

Taha

Well-Known Member
#10
Oh man I'm feeling like such a pig.. :S
Not only do I swipe a lot of oud, I also use it in my nebulizer (and you have to use about 0.3-0.5ml per half hour session, for it to work properly). Right after I returned from our last hunting expedition, I was using the nebulizer for something like 3 hours a day, for about 5 days straight (ack!)
Sometimes nothing short of an oud buzz is enough to calm your nerves.
 
#11
I think there are two considerations here:

1) Contamination by microbes that affect the sterility of the oil,
2) Contamination by skin sebum or sweat that affect the aroma of the oil

As what Ensar and Taha had mentioned, oud is hardy enough that i am not too bother or concern by (1) above. I am more interested with (2) as it directly affect the aroma of the oil itself. Interestingly, if the oil can change colour upon repeated contact with the skin, surely there must be some sort of chemical reaction taking place that is causing the change. Now would this chemical change eventually change the aroma of the oil as well?