Do you love the outdoors, but find that bugs and mosquitos love you more? Fortunately, nature and her beneficial botanicals, almost always provides a solution.
Here are a few traditional methods to keep mosquitos and other bugs from taking a bite out of your summer fun.
Taking B-complex vitamins and eating garlic and onions may make skin less tasty to mosquitoes.
Avoid floral scents and other sweet-smelling fragrances, whether artificial or natural, including dryer sheets.
Look for DEET-free bug repellants containing ingredients like geranium oil, cedar oil, citronella oil, peppermint oil, lemongrass oil, rosemary oil or clove oil. Be sure to read the product label and apply as directed.
And if the bugs do get a little too friendly, there are natural ways to get relief, too.
Colloidal oatmeal bath soothes itching and promotes healing.
Garlic soothes. Hold a crushed clove on sting for 20 minutes then rinse.
Topical clay or basil leaf (crushed or extract) soothes itching and stinging pain.
Homeopathic remedies include: ledum (wild rosemary) for swelling and Apis mellifica (honey bee) for stings.
What have you found works best to battle the bugs and mosquitos during the summer?
Originally published May 2015. Updated June 23, 2015.
