It is not unusual for some people’s skin to have unpleasant reactions to even the most natural mosquito repellents. Most natural bug repellents use essential oils as their active ingredients and these oils come with cautions not to apply onto your skin straight out of the bottle. We will observe that caution by using a carrier oil.
Our recipe calls for coconut oil as the carrier oil. It repels mosquitoes on its own and it is readily absorbed by your skin. The refined oil is odorless, whereas the unrefined has that pleasant coconut smell. Your choice here. That coconut oil is something healthy to rub on, helps, but it is not our Star Attraction for skin rejuvenation.
For our active ingredients, we will use two essential oils and vanilla. Vanilla also has anti mosquito properties. More importantly, on a molecular levels it slows down the evaporation of our main defenses, the essential oils. This can more than double the time between needed reapplications. Smells yummy, too!
Now, for our Star Attraction!
This essential oil is considered to be at least as effective as DEET, when undiluted. In India, they call the source of this oil “The Tree of Life”. You may have heard it called NEEM.
NEEM has a well established reputation for restoring healthy skin. It has been used for all kinds of skin treatments. NEEM has powerful anti viral, anti bacterial and anti fungal properties. Cosmetics and skin care products actively seek out more ways to utilize NEEM’s magic. If you’re a lady, chances are that you’ve run into some of them. NEEM has had no known side affects over the thousands of years of it’s use.
Really, we are the most interested in NEEM, not because of it acting as a skin moisturizer, healer and protector, but because BUGS HATE IT!
Unfortunately, NEEM by itself, smells… odd.
Thus, our second essential oil ingredient, clove. Clove oil is possibly even more powerful as a mosquito repeller than NEEM. It has the best persistence of all oils and effective against the most strains of those whiny little blood suckers. We won’t ramp up the concentration of clove oil in our recipe because it can irritate mucous membranes. Blending clove oil with our soothing NEEM and coconut oil seems to alleviate any bad reactions, though. (possible substitution: Cinnamon Leaf is very similar chemically, but it is not quite as strong smelling. Do not confuse cinnamon leaf with cinnamon bark, which is less effective on bugs and even more irritating)
Remember that we add the clove oil for the overall exotic and warming smell. We want to add just enough to fade that odd aroma of NEEM into the background.
The following measurements are not critical, just a very good starting point. Experiment for your liking.
1 tablespoon coconut oil warmed just enough to liquify ( that is over 78 degrees F)
1/4 teaspoon of NEEM
1/8 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp clove oil (test with less first)
Mix it up and throw it in the freezer for quick solidification.
Apply mixture directly to your skin. Lasts anywhere from 4-8 hours or more. Consider soaking some gauze patches or cotton balls in the liquid and keeping them handy in a small container or plastic bag for reapplication.
Combined we have the coconut oil and the NEEM strongly supporting our skin. Plus, each one of our ingredients mosquitoes find repugnant. They will stay away!