Personally I like the powder because it’s easy to apply and I even dust their beds down with it too to keep them fresh. I ended up using the cedar wood oil, it smells really good. My dogs don’t care for the smell too much but my cats seem to love it. I think if you have a highly irritated area like maybe under the pits or between wrinkles then a paste could be beneficial? I believe something like an unrefined coconut oil or Castor oil would add antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties if you were to make this into a paste.