August 3rd 2013
In all of the years that I have been wearing, using, enjoying Bath and Body Works products...it never happened to me.
But today...finally, it did.
I went to my favorite B&BW store and found it to be a bit busy. The mall there had some huge book sale going on and it brought people out, which in turn pushed them up to the B&BW store for a quick peek at what may be new. I saw a lot of new I will be blogging about next, but I was picking up a few of the pumpkin pocket bacs I missed yesterday.....and I was looking at the wallflowers and the bulbs trying to decide if I should take the plunge on more. Hubby was following close behind me and the SA who is a dear friend to me came over with a new Fresh Picked Scarlet Pumpkin body cream and told me I had to try it.
I love everything so I was game....and she squeezed a small amount onto my left hand and I proceeded to rub it into my right forearm below the elbow while clutching the goodies still in my hand.
It smells INCREDIBLE....better than Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin and I asked her how much that tube was.....and she replied it was $8.00. She left me for a moment and came back with a new Maple hand cream and said it was like caramel for your body and in those brief seconds.... I had an allergic reaction to the Scarlet Pumpkin.
Both sides of my lower arm from wrist to elbow where I rubbed that cream became red, with raised bumps and irritation and with every minute that passed it got a bit worse. My hubby took the pocketbacs from me and I went to the sink where I proceeded to try to clean that lotion off of my arm. I let it run for a few minutes trying to cool the itch and instant redness. I stopped for a bit....dried the area and showed the manager. After a few minutes I repeated the procedure again. It took a few hours for the reaction to completely clear.
I have no nut allergies that I know of so I am unsure of what actually caused that kind of skin reaction. All I know is I am glad there was a sink nearby because I needed to get that stuff off of me.
Right next to the fresh picked display is the pocketbacs display and while I was there trying out my cream a small group of little girls were trying out every one of those.
My next thought was about the kids who come in to try things. I don't always turn a bottle around to read what is in it before I put it on to check its scent.....but you can bet I will from now on. So I am sure none of them are thinking what ingredients are in something....They are just spraying and squeezing everything. I saw two girls having fun with the sweet ~ sexy products on the wall trying out everything and giggling. No where did I see a allergy disclaimer letting people know that the products may contain something that could irritate someone who has sensitivity issues.
And I am not writing this as a OMG.....run for your lives I was attacked by a Scarlet Pumpkin. :) I am saying I have no issues with allergies and don't usually have any major problems with B&BW products that I have used for Years. But that being said.... there is always a chance for a first time....as I found out today... Too bad too because that Scarlet Pumpkin scent was wonderful.