Natural Insect Repellent – Does It Work?
I recently used the Wild As The Wind insect repellent whilst on holiday in Australia and I wasn’t bit once!
Natalie, Charterhouse-on-the-Mendips
As Australia has bugs the size of rodents, and a lot more insect varieties than most other countries put together, this is high praise indeed!
It’s the only thing that works
Stan, Glastonbury
Ultimate Insect Repellent Recipe
Make this ultimate bug spray yourself, or buy the ready-made, essential oil blend from the Wild As The Wind Shop website here: Ultimate Insect Repellent Essential Oil Blend, and simply add it to a good Carrier Oil.
If you decide to make it yourself you’ll need nine essential oils and a good Carrier Oil…
*If you want a Carrier Oil with a good, natural SPF, then Raspberry Seed Oil is *unofficially the best option to go for. (*Whilst it isn’t possible to make any scientific claims about the SPF values of carrier oils, there is a long tradition of people using Raspberry Seed Oil to protect their skin from the harmful rays of the sun.)
Ultimate Insect Repellent Explained…
The Wild As The Wind Ultimate Insect Repellent recipe is designed to offend practically every bug around, whilst remaining entirely acceptable to human beings.
This is mainly due to the fact many of the essential oils used in this punch-packing blend are aromatically very pleasant, but nevertheless, they remain deeply repellent to many of the bugs that suck blood, bite and sting.
Ultimate Insect Repellent Recipe & Mosquitoes
Citronella Essential Oil and Lemon Eucalyptus Essential Oil are the two key ingredients in the Ultimate Insect Repellent that instantly repel mozzies.
Actually, they don’t actively repel so much as they disguise the scent of our blood. In reality Citronella Essential Oil and Lemon Eucalyptus Essential Oil provide us with some kind of invisibility cloak where mosquitoes are concerned… it’s like they’re acting as sentinels and intercepting every mosquito that flies by, calmly waving them on saying, ‘that’s right, move along now, nothing to see here…’
Ultimate Insect Repellent & Flies
There’s very few things that will repel flies, especially during the season of blood sucking biting flies. These loathsome things are not quite as vile as horseflies, but if you know upon what they have spent most of their day, and how they eat their food under normal circumstances, they are ultimately the last thing we want taking a chunk out of us and making off with our blood.
As flies are really quite insanitary, there are a couple of constituents within this Ultimate Insect Repellent blend that will instantly kill bacterial and viral infections, as long as regular applications are made throughout the day.
*See the end of this article for details on application of Ultimate Insect Repellent
Ultimate Insect Repellant Recipe & Horse Flies
More than half of the ingredients within Ultimate Insect Repellent are designed to repel these wee beasties with the very big bite! These critters actually saw their way through your skin to drink your blood, and they leave a pretty appalling reminder of their visit behind.
Horsefly bites can often become infected, but not so if you apply Ultimate Insect Repellent after the fact. The antibacterial and antiviral properties of several of the essential oils in this blend will prevent your horsefly bite turning into something along the lines of a tropical sore.
Horseflies are one of the insects who will continue to attempt to find an area of skin where you have failed to apply your Ultimate Insect Repellent. They will exploit this to the max. It is, therefore, vital that all areas of exposed skin are coated with Ultimate Insect Repellent for it to be fully effective.
Ultimate Insect Repellent Recipe & Ticks
Although the Ultimate Insect Repellent blend would smell nicer without it, the reason why Thyme has been included is to ward off ticks.
Geranium Rose Essential Oil has also been included in the Ultimate Insect Repellent blend to keep ticks away.
Tick bites can be very serious indeed. Ticks carry Lymes disease, which is difficult to diagnose and can have an incredibly debilitating effect on peoples health.
Ultimate Insect Repellent & Bees
The Ultimate Insect Repellent has not been designed to repel bees for the simple fact that it doesn’t need to.
Bees are only able to sting once and then they die, so bees will not sting you unless they are already in mortal danger.
The best way to deal with bees is to stand still and wait for them to finish their hunt for pollen about your person. They will most likely have been attracted by perfumes or botanicals in your skincare products, but these things will only momentarily confuse the bees. After a couple of moments circling around you they will be off in search of the real thing…
Ultimate Insect Repellent Recipe & Wasps
Ultimate Insect Repellent is not really designed to deal with wasps, but there is nothing in the blend that will attract wasps either.
Like bees, the wasps are simply hovering around you in the hope of a free lunch. And, whilst they’re very unlikely to sting you unless you panic, and in doing so present a very real threat to them, wasps survive the stings that they meet out.
Ultimate Insect Repellent & Lice
Lavender Essential Oil is not only excellent for warding off lice, it even improves the condition of our hair and promotes hair growth.
Ultimate Insect Repellent & Spiders
Peppermint Essential Oil is used to deter spiders… and, as an added benefit, it is said to be pretty repellent to mice!
Ultimate Insect Repellent & Midges
More than half of the essential oil ingredients in this product are utterly offensive to midges. Job done!
Using Ultimate Insect Repellent
Shake your Ultimate Insect Repellent well before use. Then spray it on exposed areas of skin and rub it in. Do not leave an area untreated. Horseflies will find an unshielded patch and go to town on it.
Avoid eyes and mouth, as well as clothing. Ultimate Insect Repellent is an oil based product that will eventually cause staining of clothing if it repeatedly comes into contact with it. Normal eco washing detergents will remove the oil and thus prevent staining.
How To Use
**Always perform a patch test before applying to the rest of your body. Apply a very small amount of Ultimate Insect Repellant to the inside skin of your forearm and leave for half an hour. If there has been no perceivable reaction and you feel just as before, then it will most likely perfectly safe for you to use. If unsure, wait at least one hour. *Please read contraindications before use.
Shake extremely well before use. Only use after the product has turned cloudy in appearance.
Ensure total coverage of exposed skin. Spray to reach hard to reach places, such as your back. Wherever possible rub the product into your skin to ensure total coverage.
We recommend reapplying at least every three hours.
Contraindications
Some people are intolerant of certain essential oils, especially:
Always perform a patch test before using any new product over the whole of your body. *Please see green text box above for more information.
Ultimate Insect Repellent Ingredients
The following is a list if the essential oils used in the Ultimate Insect Repellent blend. They are listed in no particular order.
Lemon Eucalyptus Essential Oil
The Ultimate Insect Repellent recipe also contains a single base oil, but you can use more than one. It is also advisable to add 10% Witch Hazel if your budget can stretch to it, but you will need to shake your mix well before each use to combine the Witch Hazel with the oils.
Organic Sweet Almond Oil is ideal with a small amount of Witch Hazel. But you can use Olive Oil or any other good carrier oil you have in your kitchen. My personal preference is Raspberry Seed Oil as it just vanishes into the skin and is completely non-greasy.
It is possible to buy Organic Sweet Almond Oil as well as Witch Hazel form the Wild As The Wind Shop website.
As mentioned earlier, Raspberry Seed Oil is great also.
And, of course, you can get all of the organic aromatherapy oils pre-blended for you form the Wild As The Wind Shop website.
The Ultimate Insect Repellent Essential Oil Blend comes in three sizes: 10ml, 20ml, and 30ml.
How To Mix
Add eight drops of each essential oil to your base oil / carrier oil. This is best done using a jug. Then add a splash or two of Witch Hazel, (no more than 10% of the overall blend), and mix the ingredients before pouring them into your sterilised atomiser bottle.
Shake well before use!
Disclaimer
The information provided is not intended to replace the medical directives of your healthcare provider. This information is not meant for the diagnosis of health issues. If you are pregnant, have serious or multiple health concerns, consult with your healthcare provider before using essential oils or associated products. If you experience any complications or adverse reactions contact your healthcare provider.
Deepen your knowledge by using the Wild As The Wind Recommended Resources
Another resource you may find useful can be found by following the link below. *Please note, I use sources from the Recommended Resources list as well as sources from the Healthcare and Skincare Information Sources list when researching articles for the Wild As The Wind Blog.
Best Healthcare and Skincare Information Sources.
Wild As The Wind use a number of resources when deciding which essential oil formulas to put together for optimal healing and efficacy, as well as to support any health claims we may make.
We use the industry ‘bible’ on essential oil safety: Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals [2nd Edition] by Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young, to establish the safety of the Wild As The Wind formulations.
We owe a particular debt to GreenMedInfo, and, of course, the teachings of Valerie Ann Worwood, Julia Lawless, Shirley Price and Patricia Davis.
Many of the scientific studies used to inform the claims made on this website are via GreenMedInfo, as well as via Dr. Josh Axe as well as, on the odd occasion, Dr. Eric Zielinski
Other resources include:
- PubMed
- WebMD
- Robert Tisserand & Rodney Young
- Dr. Maria Lis-Balchin
- Robbi Zeck
- Dr. Mercola
- Julia Lawless
- Patricia Davis
- Dr. Robert Pappas