lemon eucalyptus

18 September 2012

Vegemite
I've had a couple of requests for my recommendations for natural inspect repellent. I have to be honest I never pack insect repllent when I go on holiday but then again it has been a while since I ventured to an exotic location.When I backpacked Australia my friend was having allergic reactions to bites but I never suffered any bites. There is a great old wives tale about eating to keep the mozzies at bay. Apparently it's to do with the Vitamin B's. I have searched the internet and opinions are mixed as to whether there is some truth behind this tale. I certainly wouldn't be taking any risks, a nat bite is one thing but mosquitoes carry diseases.

If you are off to an exotic location you need to protect yourself against being bitten.  The illnesses carried by mosquitoes need to be taken seriously but there is controversy over DEET (N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide). It is often recommended that the best repellents on the market are those containing DEET but there have been concerns raised about toxicity. I have read that when using repellent containing DEET you may be better off not spraying directly onto your skin but onto your clothing. If you would like to learn more about DEET I will list at then end of this post the articles I read.

Natural repellents which you may wish to make sure are included in products are citronella and lemon eucalyptus. Products you may wish to research are as follows - 

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of repellents from well known brands. My post is intended as a guide and I recommend you surf the internet to see what else you can find. Let me know in the comment section if you have tried any of the products mentioned above. I would be interested to know whether you were happy with the results.

Sarah x

Links to Further Reading - 
Naturalnews.com - Insect repellent DEET is toxic to brain cells
survival.outdoorlife.com - The Toxic Truth About DEET and Permethrin
protectourbreasts.org - The DEETs about safer bug spray
rodale.com - 4 Natural Alternatives to Toxic Mosquito Repellents

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