Natural Bug Spray

It's 2-3 drops vanilla extract per ounce of water and I swear by it. I'm the one person in a crowd of a million who the mosquitoes seek out, I get half eaten alive. This has kept me from getting ANY mosquito bites thus far this year. Again, thanks to the mama who originally posted this. =)

I also heard that a few drops of vanilla extract in a spray bottle of water (exact proportions not specified) will keep mosquitos and other bugs away. I haven't tried to, but plan on it, since it's non-toxic and super-simple.

Well, I've never tried making my own, but I've used Burt's Bees natural bug spray when I was pregnant. Quite honestly, nothing (not skin so soft or anything else) truly works on me but DEET, so I use it. I try wait until I have to have it and spray it on my clothes, but I will get bites without it. The Burt's Bees stuff DID keep most mosquitoes at bay though -normally where I would have had 5-8 bites I would only get 1 or 2. It's expensive though -I think more than OFF or CUTTER. I also think Cutter has a natural, no DEET spray out that I also tried and had the same results as with the Burt's Bees.

Here's a page from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) website regarding various kind of active ingredients in insect repellants:
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/mosquitoes/ai_insect...

They have several different commercial and naturally-derived ingredients listed.

Don't assume that they're unhealthy because you may have heard/read things. Much misinformation is on the internet, and a lot comes from sources without scientific information or credibility.

I'd be more concerned with products that aren't thoroughly tested - Whole Foods announced today that they're requiring allpersonal care products that label themselves as "organic" to have official government certifications by 2011 (http://www.drugstorenews.com/(S(gcjtxl45g33ps255zeue0e45)...)
What this means is that there are currently a lot of products on their shelves currently that will not be a year from now because they won't be willing or able to submit to governing bodies to verify their organic ingredients.

I haven't tried it yet, but I heard that one part vanilla and one part water works really well. You wipe it on with a cotton ball. If not, jason's organics worked pretty well (some people really don't like the smell though). Good luck.

I use a great mixture of natural products that I get from Melaleuca. I also have a mixture that I use in parts of my yard that also works at keeping them at bay. What I love about the products is they have so many variety of uses. Ie the Sol U Mel is also a super cleaner.