Tags
DEET, DIY, Essential oil, Health, homemade bug spray, Insect repellent, Mosquito, Ophelia, West Nile virus, Witch Hazel
Ugh. Mosquitoes.
Annoying at the best of times, downright troublesome at the worst. Like when you’re playing Ophelia and you are dead and corpse bearers are bearing you on a bier to your grave and there is lace draped over your body and a mosquito is trapped under the lace with you but you’re dead and can’t swat it away from your ear or eyelid. Ugh.
Every night I make the choice: spray myself with DEET or take my chances with West Nile. So far, my fear of the West Nile virus (and the bites and welts) have trumped my fear of a daily dose of DEET.
Homemade mosquito spray to the rescue? Maybe.
I used half witch hazel and half boiled water, with 10 drops each of eucalyptus, lemon, and lavender oil. Shake it up and spray. I tried it the other night, but at the last minute, before I went on stage, I chickened out and sprayed myself with DEET. I really don’t like being bitten on stage, and the air was thick with mosquitoes. It may have helped – I was the only actor who didn’t get eaten alive that night, despite soaking ourselves in DEET.
Maybe I’ll be brave enough to try it tonight . . .
Maybe.
Avon skin so soft has come out with a mosquito repellent and is supposed to smell nice too. I should get my order by Monday and will return and let you know if it works well or not. Like the sound of your recipe…maybe try it out in your backyard and see if it works well enough.
I totally forgot about the Avon stuff. If that works, it would be great. Off! makes a Eucalyptus lotion that works quite well, it just doesn’t last very long, and it makes my skin all tingly.
Try body shop satsuma body butter. I know many people who SWEAR by it. Fingers crossed!
Oh good! I have some of that in my cupboard. I’ll give it a try tonight!
There are just some insects that I just have a hard time seeing their usefulness or where they fit in the greater scheme of things. I’d have to put mosquitoes on that list. Good luck with your home remedies. If it doesn’t work you’ll still be the best smelling corpse in the show.
Ha ha! It’s true – I’m a corpse that smells like oranges, lemons, and lavender!
Girls at work said satsuma body butter works but for a short time only and then you have to reapply fairly often. Smells good though
Yeah, I tried it last night. It worked but I did need to reapply it, and it gave me a headache after awhile. The search continues . . .