It is officially summer now. It means 2 things for me: a sun-kissed vacation and…constant battle with mosquitoes. Mosquitoes just feed on me whenever they meet me. I often wake up the next day with red spots here and there and unbearable itchiness. And then, it is almost impossible to stop scratching it sometimes. And each time I just hope I won’t leave a mark behind. This year since the weather is getting warmer. I have been trying new tricks for my battle with mosquitoes, one that won’t leave your room fill with awful chemical smells but also help you to get rid of mosquitoes efficiently.
Turns out my synergy blend and mosquitoes repellent spray work like a wonder. Sharing is caring, here it is my summer surviving tips!
The science behind mosquitoes bite
Insects bite us when they seek to defend themselves (this is the case with wasps), or when they seek to feed on our blood (this is the case with mosquitoes).
When a mosquito bites you, it pierces the skin using a special mouthpart (proboscis) to suck up blood. As the mosquito is feeding, it injects saliva into your skin. Your body reacts to the saliva resulting in a bump and itching. Some people have only a mild reaction to a bite or bites.
– CDC.GOV
In the mosquito, it is the female who stings us with her needle, which she pushes in until she finds a small vessel in which she can draw the blood she needs for food. It is the numbing saliva that the female mosquito inoculates us that can cause an unpleasant reaction in some people (not everyone! Some do not even feel the bite).
Top 5 NATURAL ANTI-MOSQUITO ESSENTIAL OILS
In nature, every species has one or more than one natural enemy. That’s how the natural habitats and ecology systems find equilibrium. Mosquitoes do have natural enemies too, they are the predators of mosquitoes but they live permanently around bodies of water. We can’t however keep them as pets to attack mosquitoes. Luckily, many natural scents that are appealing to humans actually repel mosquitoes, including lavender, geranium, citronella, clove, and cryptomeria japonica. Many of these scents of essential oil can be worn on your skin to help keep these pesky pests from biting you. How do they work? These oils contain chemical compounds and scents that mosquitoes don’t like, it helps you mask the scent that mosquitoes rely on target hosts which are carbon dioxide and lactic acid.
Citronella Essential Oil
The repellence effect of citronella was investigated in several studies. Citronella is an essential oil extracted from the stems and leaves of different species of lemongrass (Cymbopogon spp.) The 3, 7-dimethyloct-6-en-1-al in citronella essential oil is proven can deter mosquito biting for 2 hours[ source ].
Geranium Eygpte Essential Oil
Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) is an economic plant in Egypt that can resist insect infections. This study [source] shows the success of geranium eo against mosquito.
Cryptomeria Japonica Essential Oil
It is a Japanese cedar, also known as Sugi. This oil is well-known with its anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties. It’s repellence is proven to be effective against aedes. [ source, source ]
( This oil is particularly hard to find, you can either buy it from aroma zone in France or replace it with Eucalyptus citriodora. Learn more about this amazing oil here )
Lavender Essential Oil
Also known as Lavandula angustifolia. This essential oil is well known with its calming scent to help us to relax and sleep better. It contains a compound known as linalool, which produces a strong odor that is pleasant to humans and detestable to mosquitos. This is primarily because it overloads their sensitive olfactory organs, much in the same manner as DEET [ source ]
Clove Essential Oil
Clove oil, from Syzygium aromaticum, Eugenia caryophyllata, or Eugenia aromaticum is proven to be efficient as mosquito repellent. The major components of clove oil are eugenol, eugenol acetate, and caryophyllene. According to this research, clove oil has the longest and most effective protection against three mosquito species; mosquito defense lasted between 2 and 4 hours [source].
HOW TO USE ESSENTIAL OILS AS A MOSQUITO REPELLENT
1. Diffuser blends as mosquito repellent
Print
Ingredients
DIY Tool & Equipment
Directions
- Prepare the above synergy blends in a 10ml dropper bottle.
- Drips 8~10 drops for a 250ml diffuser or 16~18 drops for a 500ml diffuser.
- On intermittently whenever needed.
2. DIY Essential oil Mosquito repellent spray
Alcohols has been proven to attribute to the repellent properties of EOs [ source, source ]. It creates a synergism efficient to repel mosquito together with Cryptoméria Essential Oil, Citronnelle Essential Oil and Géranium Egypte Essential Oil.
Ingredients
1 ml Cryptoméria Essential Oil ( This oil is particularly hard to find, you can either buy it from aroma zone in France or replace it with Eucalyptus citriodora. Learn more about this amazing oil here )
20ml 90° alcohol or 70° alcohol
DIY Tools & Packaging
Directions
- Measure each oils with a pipette and drips in a spray bottle.
- Add in 20ml of alcohol. Shake and mix. That’s it!
- To use, spray it like you would like any other mosquito repellent spray. Except that this one don’t smell awful at all!
3. DIY Synergy oil blend for anti-mosquitoes
This synergy oil blend has a light and subtle scent that makes it the perfect oil to ward off mosquitoes. Andiroba oil (Carapa guianensis) is famous as a mosquito repellent oil. Thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties, we can also use this oil directly on the mosquitoes or bugs or insects bite zone directly. This study shows that it is efficient as a mosquitoes repellent. Citronella essential oil, Geranium Egypte esential oil and andiroba oil are powerful concentrated oil for mosquitoes and even insects or bugs repellent. However, they can’t be use directly on our skin.
So we need a gentle carrier oil like apricot kernel oil to dilute it to the safety dose level for topical use. This oil has been studied for insecticidal activity, turns out that it is efficient as a repellent for certain insects [source]. It’s primarily made up of Oleic Acid (58 to 72%) and Linoleic Acid (22 to 32.5%) [source] which make this oil perfect as an emollient as well as fast absorbance moisturiser for skin.
Ingredients
DIY Tools & Packaging
- 5ml Pipette [ US / Europe ]
- 50ml Dropper bottle/ Pump bottle / Spray bottle
Directions
- Measure the oils with pipette and carefully transfer it to your container.
- If the container is 50ml, just simply top up the apricot kernel oil till below the cap. Be careful to don’t overfill, leave some space to close the container.
- To use, just apply it before you sleep on the exposed skin area or apply it before any nature outing. Reapply every one hour for best result.
Since this is an only oil recipe, you do not need a preservative for the blend. No water = no microbes!
4. Nature shield / SHIELD ME synergy blend from plant therapy
If you can’t find all the oils above to make your own blends or simply just don’t have time to DIY, this wonderful synergy blend named Nature Shield from Plant Therapy is efficient to use as a mosquito / insect repellent. This blend contains 100% pure Contains the 100% pure, undiluted essential oils of: Citronella, Geranium Egyptian, Lemongrass, Eucalyptus Globulus, Lavender, Tea Tree, and Patchouli, Cedarwood Virginian and Catnip.
Shield me synergy blend is another synergy blend equivalent to nature shield from plant therapy that is efficient to be used as a mosquito or insect repellent. It is a kid-safe version of oil, which means you can use it on your baby and toddler safely.
Ingredients
72 drops of Nature Shield / Shield Me (Kids safe) for a 2% dilution
120ml of witch hazel
0.75g of Geogard / Optiphen / Germaben II
DIY Tools & Packaging
- electronic balance 0.01g precision [ US / Europe ]
- 5ml pipette [ US / Europe ]
- 120ml spray bottle [ US / Europe ]
Directions
- Measure each ingredients correctly and transfer into the the spray bottle directly.
- Spray directly on your skin as often as needed, I typically use it hourly. Â I spray it on our clothes and even on our outdoor gear to help keep the area around us free and clear!
5. Prediluted mosquito repellent roller blend
If you don’t have time to blend one for yourself, Plant Therapy has also these nature shield pre-diluted roll-on blend too. Just need to roll it over your exposed skin for protection from bugs / insects / mosquito bites.
Final thoughts…
We know how overwhelming the mosquito repellent marketplace can be. While it is definitely very convenient to buy a mosquito repellent in supermarket, they unfortunately have ingredients like parabens, DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide), aluminium, and propylene glycol. These industry made products contain usually harmful chemical content that can kill or repel mosquitoes and bugs efficiently, more importantly, they smell awful to us too. That smells that linger in our room is harmful for everyone especially those who are allergic to certain compounds of the repellent spray, and definitely not good for people who suffer asthma.
From stress relief to restful sleep, users of essential oils have found lots of applications for these naturally-derived oils. Like any product, not all essential oils are created equal in quality, and consumers should do significant research before purchasing any oils. For those folks new to essential oils, it’s important to note you can use them topically on your skin (but not sensitive skin near your eyes, etc.), diffuse them with a diffuser, or create a spray by diluting the oil with water and either witch hazel toner or alcohol. Essential oils, while natural and plant-based, can be very potent. Please research their effectiveness and application before using any product. For example, the oils degrade the plastic over time, so if you decide to make a spray, use dark blue or amber glass bottles.
The tutorials mentioned in this entry are great DIY mosquito/insect repellent recipes using an essential oil like lavender, geranium, citronella, clove, and cryptomeria japonica. Since everyone has different scent preferences, feel free to experiment until you find one that works for you. Also, it’s important to note that mosquito repellents use other scents to camouflage your body’s scent. Since everyone smells slightly different, what works for you might not work for your friends or family.
If you like my tutorial, please consider donating me a coffee! Cheers
Ressources
- Essential Oils as Repellents against Arthropods Biomed Res Int. 2018; 2018: 6860271.Published online 2018 Oct 2. doi: 10.1155/2018/6860271
- Prevention of Vector Transmitted Diseases With Clove Oil Insect Repellent, Journal of Pediatric Nursing (2012) 27, 346–349
- Comparative study of the topical effectiveness of the Andiroba oil (Carapa guianensis) and DEET 50% as repellent for Aedes sp, Rev. Inst. Med. trop. S. Paulo46(5):253-256, September-October, 2004
- Fatty acid composition and tocopherol content of the kernel oil from apricot varieties (Hasanbey, Hacihaliloglu, Kabaasi and Soganci) collected at different harvest times, European Food Research and Technology volume 242, pages221–226 (2016)
- Effectiveness of plant-based repellents against different Anopheles species: a systematic review. Malar J. 2019; 18: 436.Published online 2019 Dec 21. doi: 10.1186/s12936-019-3064-8
- Syed Z, Leal WS. Mosquitoes smell and avoid the insect repellent DEET. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008;105:13598–13603. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0805312105.
- Sathantriphop S., Achee N. L., Sanguanpong U., Chareonviriyaphap T. The effects of plant essential oils on escape response and mortality rate of Aedes aegypti and Anopheles minimus. Journal of Vector Ecology. 2015;40(2):318–326. doi: 10.1111/jvec.12170. [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
Further reading…
I recommend this book The Alchemy of Health Collection: 3 Book Collection of Essential Oils, Herbs . A complete book of essential oil and aromatherapy for further reading and to understand and learn more about aromatherapy.
Calleigh
Hi, I am Calleigh, MEng Chemical Engineering and a process engineer, and I'm here to show you how to DIY your skincare and household products with the correct formulation and using only natural ingredients. I believe that eating good food (Yes I have cooking recipes too!) and living in a chemical-free environment are the keys to having a healthy lifestyle. And that doesn't need to be expensive.
