Natural Insect Repellent Protection without topical application

9th November 2014

posted in Natural Beauty

Gone are the days where it's necessary to douse your family in Aeroguard from an aerosol can to keep the mozzies at bay in an Aussie summer. Natural insect repellent protection without topical application is possible. At Shop Naturally we already have an extensive natural insect repellent range for topical application. We have pump sprays, thin lotions that are easy to rub in and also solid tins. All repellents are based on essential oils in various blends that are designed to be unappealing for mozzies but pleasant for humans.

Common essential oils included in these blends include citronella, lavender, lemon myrtle, peppermint, sage, lemon scented tea tree, lemon scented eucalyptus and kunzea. If you're really clever and thrifty, or just have a sensitive nose, you can make your own blend up with any combo of these essential oils and a small tub of coconut oil, but for most of us, buying something pre-made is much easier.

There are solutions for people with sensitive skin or who want protection for a few minutes while they're outside, but don't want to smell like essential oils all evening (think zipping outside to use the BBQ and then being inside all night with your guests and not wanting the scent on you.)

What are the best mosquito repellent options without applying directly to your skin?

Spray your clothing instead of your skin

Choose a natural mosquito repellent spray and you can simply spray your clothing or a piece of fabric that you can hold and then leave outside when you go in the house. We have spray options from Bug-grrr off, Lemon Myrtle Fragrances and doTERRA

Diffuse an essential oil or blend or burn a candle

You can get citronella candles in plenty of mainstream stores and they are an effective way to keep the mozzies away if you're sitting close to it. From Good Riddance, we have a soy candle that has the same essential blend found in their Tropical cream, a blend of citronella and Australian lemon scented tea tree with woody undertones. Good Riddance also have an essential oil blend to diffuse.

Wearable wrist products

Parakito have clips (top of photo) and wrist bands (bottom of photo) that contain a little pouch to hold an essential oil blend that's in a sealed pouch. Each pouch contains a proprietary blend of essential oils to deter mozzies from coming anywhere near you. The clips and pouches are made from neoprene (wetsuit material) and allow you to have natural protection against mozzies without having to rub anything in to your skin. The starter packs come with ONE clip or wrist strap and TWO oil pouches. Each pouch gives you 15 days protection once opened. Replacement oil blend pouches are readily available to give you protection all summer long.
If you're a swimmer, the wrist bands, clips and oil pouches are all waterproof, so you can swim in a lake or at the beach and still be protected in the water and once you get out. If you have a baby, simply place a clip on their stroller or anywhere on their clothing or pop one of the wrist straps around their ankle for protection without having to rub anything in to their delicate skin.

doTERRA TerraArmour

In the doTERRA range in Australia, there's a blend called TerraArmour. It's the doTERRA outdoor essential oil blend. It's available in both a 30ml spray to put on your skin or your clothing and also a 15ml pure oil blend to diffuse. This is not one of the doTERRA products registered with the TGA nor the APVMA so we're technically unable to call it a repellent. It does contain Lemon Eucalyptus essential oil like many of the registered products, and it's a citronella free blend that uses ylang ylang, nootka wood, cedarwood, catnip, litsea fruit arborvitae and vanilla bean. It's unlike any other product in the outdoor skin products. It is described by doTERRA as herbaceous, pungent and floral.