Darkoshi

I started playing the music files on my laptop in random mode, by means of my VLC script.
The first thing it played was the recording of grandma speaking about Boston. After only a couple seconds of hearing that, in my mind I could smell the sweet scent of unsmoked pipe tobacco; that was what I remember grandpa smelling like. It is funny how hearing a voice from the past can trigger the memory of a scent.

Today I learned that in product labeling, "unscented" and "fragrance-free" can mean different things.

EPA "SAFER CHOICE Fragrance-Free" fact-sheet

Fragrance-free means that fragrance materials or masking scents are not used in the product.
Unscented generally means that the product may contain chemicals that neutralize or mask the odors of other ingredients.

What is the difference between “Unscented” and “Fragrance-free” products?

Unscented products are formulated to have no smell but can contain ingredients that have a smell but the smell has been neutralized by other components. A fragrance-free product cannot contain any ingredients that have been added to impart a smell but may contain ingredients that have a scent but are not added because of their scent. For example if a cream is made with an oil that has a smell, it could still be labeled as fragrance-free because the purpose of the oil is to act as an emollient, not as a scent. But it could not be labeled unscented. However, if a product is formulated with lavender, for example, but some chemical is added to mask the smell, the product can be labeled as “unscented.”

The Difference Between Unscented and Fragrance Free

Some raw ingredients may have a scent, which may be pleasant, and some not be pleasant but have a chemical smell to it. The term unscented may be used to mean a fragrance may have been used to mask an odor that is a natural part of the raw ingredient.

Raw ingredients that may have a natural scent and do not include fragrance chemicals, may include shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil, most herbs, olive oil, almond oil, honey, beeswax, and others. These types of raw materials or ingredients may not bother most people, but may be very annoying to others.

The Important Difference Between Unscented and Fragrance Free

It sounds silly, but "unscented" products typically have added fragrance agents used to mask the other smells. ... Masking fragrances are usually composed of toxic phthalates.
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Phthalates have been linked from everything to testicular cancer to liver cancer, but they are still in almost all synthetic fragrances, including masking agents which cause a product’s other natural scents to disappear.

Buyers Beware When Looking for Fragrance Free Products; Read the Labels!

Basically, a product marked “unscented” can either mean they did not add a “scent” to the product (but it may or may not still have a smell from the other ingredients and/or chemicals) or they tried to “de-scent” the product (often using masking chemicals and/or fragrance).

The above page shows examples of products that are labeled "unscented" but with fragrance or masking fragrance shown in the ingredient list.


Phthalates( THAL-ates) The Everywhere Chemical

Phthalates must be listed among the ingredients on product labels, unless they are added as a part of the “fragrance.” Under current law, they can then simply be labeled “fragrance,” even though they may make up 20% or more of the product.

The above page includes a list of "the 8 most widely used phthalate compounds and their metabolites", which you may find on ingredient labels (basically, they seem to be anything with "phthalate" in the name, but often they are listed in the ingredients as 3 or 4-letter acronyms ending with a 'P'.)


Phthalates (FDA page)

Consumers can tell whether some products contain phthalates by reading the ingredient declaration on the labels of such products.

However, the regulations do not require the listing of the individual fragrance ingredients; therefore, the consumer will not be able to determine from the ingredient declaration if phthalates are present in a fragrance.

Hypoallergenic, Fragrance Free, and Unscented: How to Tell If There's Truly No Fragrance in Your Skincare

It's not always easy to tell if a product does contain fragrance. A few keywords are used to depict whether a formula is potentially irritating (enter hypoallergenic, fragrance free, and unscented) but these terms can be misleading because they aren't regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. "The FDA does not have the legal authority to approve cosmetic products and ingredients, aside from color additives," Lortscher says. "There is no regulation specifically defining or governing the use of the term hypoallergenic, nor for the labels 'safe for sensitive skin' or 'allergy tested.' Manufacturers may make those claims even if they have no supporting evidence."
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Products labeled hypoallergenic can still have fragrance in them. If a product claims to be hypoallergenic, it means the product produces fewer allergic reactions than other conventional cosmetic products, Lortscher says. The keyword here is fewer—no product can be labeled as nonallergenic, because no product can be guaranteed not to cause an allergic reaction.

In summary, I've gathered (but could still be mistaken on some points) that:

Synthetic fragrances often contain phthalates, which are bad for one's health.

"Unscented" products MAY contain ingredients with a natural scent that some people find unpleasant, and MAY also include other ingredients (including fragrance!) to mask the unpleasant scents. Those masking ingredients also often contain phthalates, which are bad.

"Fragrance-free" products shouldn't include added fragrance, either natural or synthetic, nor should they contain scent-masking phthalates. But they may contain ingredients that have a natural scent, if the main purpose of the ingredient is not for its scent. So fragrance-free doesn't necessarily mean scent-free.


The reason I was curious about this topic to begin with was due to some lotion I have, one of which is labeled unscented and the other fragrance-free. In all other respects, they are the same. This lotion does have a slight scent (which reminds me of the smell of ink from ball-point pens!), which I believe to be natural. The ingredients do not mention any fragrance, perfume, nor phthalates. So a product being labeled "unscented" doesn't NECESSARILY mean that it has masking agents or phthalates. But it seems to be something to watch out for.

Neither term guarantees that the product will be scent-less. And neither seems to give a better indication than the other, of how much scent the product actually has.

Whew, is it hot outside. Upper 90s, but with the humidity and in the direct sun it feels like in the 100s.

Qiao hired tree cutters to take care of the fallen tree as well as another dead tree that hadn't fallen. They finished it all, including grinding the stumps and removing the debris, in under 5 hours. It's a good thing they started early when it was still overcast and not as hot.

I will need to do some more fence repair before I can let the dogs loose again. But it's too hot now; maybe this evening. Although the forecast says it will still be 90 degrees, feeling like 96, at 9pm.

My mom is going to a free outdoor concert this evening. Phew. Hot, hot, hot.

Apparently Fort Jackson doesn't do their annual 4th of July Torchlight Tattoo and Fireworks anymore*. I didn't go often... I'm not into patriotic stuff, but the cannon blasts and fireworks, and cheering for the states and territories in the union was fun. Except for the parts where I worried that the fireworks would misfire and hurt someone.

I am still doing my work-work for the day. Learning to write JUnit tests, using Mockito. I feel somewhat ambivalent about their usefulness. In my experience, they only test what you already know works, and when they break it's not usually because the code got broken, but rather because the test code or test data became outdated.

Qiao's back yard now smells like my mom's oil paints used to. Or rather, the turpentine she used to clean the paint off the brushes. I like the scent, knowing that it is only pine.

I had a small set of oil paints when I was younger. And a small bottle of orange-scented turpentine. The orange didn't mask the turpentine smell at all; it just morphed it into a different strong overpowering and astringent scent.

Oil paints didn't appeal to me much. Too long to dry. Too hard to clean. Too messy. Not very suited to my style of abstract art. Me, not talented enough to paint realistic images very well. Although one time I copy-painted a portrait of my mom and brother from two photographs, and it turned out fairly well.

Turpentine smell makes me think of the Mediterranean too.

Whaddya know: orange terpene is made from orange trees and can be used as a substitute for turpentine. But I still think that the one I had back then was orange-scented pine turpentine. One made from orange tree extracts would probably have smelled better, like one of those citrus-based cleaners.

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*A web search shows that 2017's Torchlight Tattoo event was cancelled due to the year-long centennial celebration that finished up that year. 2018's event was cancelled due to the "Victory Week" celebration in June of that year. But nothing at all is mentioned anywhere about it this year, which seems odd to me, considering that per those pages, "The Torchlight Tattoo is typically one of the most popular July Fourth events in the Midlands. Before last year, Fort Jackson hosted July Fourth celebrations each year in recent memory".
Per a family friend, Fort Jackson is not doing the July event at all anymore, instead having fireworks as part of their annual June celebration, the aforementioned "Victory Week".

Such gorgeous weather this week. All warm and gentle, breezes and blossoms. Have photos, will post, later.

I noticed this evening that the scent of wisteria has a hint of cinnamon to it. I wish it were possible to post examples of scents, not only words and pictures.

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Went to the post office today to pick up a package. They searched and searched and called the truck driver who told them where it should be, and they still couldn't find it. At one point, the lady helping me said, "You've got to go" in a firm voice, and I was like "Oh. ::blink:: Okay." My immediate impression was that she was telling me to step back from the half-door/counter I was leaning on, as she intended to close the window while continuing the search. My next impression was that she was telling me that I had to leave, that I had been there long enough.

She seemed to catch on to my confusion, as she then repeated it, "You've got to go?" in a more questioning tone. She was simply asking if I was still able to wait longer. That was amusing to consider, afterwards. I did wait longer, but eventually left my phone number so that they could call me if the package was found. It ended up being left at the house. The truck driver must have had it in the vehicle after all.

Yesterday evening I had an allergy attack for the first time in 20 days (since starting the butterbur). I believe it was triggered by the soapy smell of a certain item (a ziplock bag in which I had once stored soap). I drank a cup of ginger-peppermint tea, which helped for the duration of drinking the tea, but not much longer afterwards. Today, my nose has still been sniffly all day long, even though I took an extra butterbur capsule.

After an allergy attack, I seem to be extra sensitive to smells. While cleaning out a drawer this evening, I came across a bottle of foam soap which I apparently intended to give away... I must not have liked the scent. As the ingredient list looked innocuous*, I washed my hands with it to remind myself what it smelled like. Egads! Soapy soapy up-in-my-nose soapy smell! I then tried washing the irritating smell off my hands using my normal soap, but it didn't come off.

*After reading the ingredient list again, I still can't figure out which ingredient might be bothering me. Melon extract, maybe? (But I like melon, and melon doesn't smell soapy!)

Anyway. I wonder if the butterbur helps against certain triggers, but not others? Or could it be that the butterbur doesn't actually help me, and it was coincidence that nothing else triggered me for a whole 20 days?

For the last several years, I've been using Queen Helene Mint Julep deodorant. I generally have to reapply it during the day or evening, especially if I've been sweating. Sometimes it leaves foam on my armpits, which takes a little while to dry and disappear after application. But other than that, I've been quite pleased with it.

It meets all my criteria:
- the scent doesn't bother me
- it prevents body odor
- it doesn't make me itch or give me a rash (even after reapplying it several times)
- it doesn't leave a sticky residue (even after reapplying it several times)

But now The Hain Celestial Group, the maker of this deodorant, has changed the formula. The new version, while it doesn't foam much, is slightly less good at preventing body odor, and it leaves a sticky feeling of residue on my armpits. In short, I don't like it.

I've been looking for a new brand. So far I've tried 7 different ones, but haven't found any that meet all my criteria. Therefore, this poll. Please leave a comment, answering the below questions. I'll mightily appreciate it!

It doesn't matter whether the deodorants or antiperspirants which you use are marketed towards men, women, or whether they are gender-neutral - I'm interested in information on all of them.

Oh, and feel free to point other people towards this poll too!

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1. Do you use a deodorant or anti-perspirant? If so, what brand and scent do you currently use?

2. What type is it: stick, roll-on, spray (etc.) ?

3. Does your deo/anti-perspirant contain an alum and/or aluminum compound?

4. Do you only need to apply it once per day, or do you usually need to re-apply it one or more times, in order to prevent body odor?

5. Do you notice any sticky residue feeling from the deodorant/anti-perspirant, when you wash yourself?

6. Would you consider your armpits to be sensitive - have you ever gotten a rash or itchiness from using certain deodorants or anti-perspirants?

7. Overall, how pleased are you with your current deodorant / anti-perspirant?

8. Do you tend to stick with the same brand, or do you often switch brands? Do you have any comments (good or bad) regarding other brands that you've used in the past?

My lantana is growing. Not the flowers yet, but the green parts. I bought some more lantana too, and planted it by where the dead tree was.

A friend gave me a fig tree. The leaves on it aren't looking well, but I hope it will recover. I like the scent of fig trees. The gardenias in the store smelled good too... I wonder if I planted one, if I would have any luck with it.

The neighbors across the way were playing some nice music, which traveled gently across the street in the fresh morning air. Mexican, it sounded like. I wonder if music from other central American countries sounds that way too, or if they all have their own distinct recognizable styles.