It is officially bug season out here in Wyoming, and sometimes a perfectly gorgeous & pristine hike can swiftly turn into a nightmare with a thick swarm of mosquitoes. You want to be able to protect your sanity, and your body from these pesky little guys. But you KNOW how toxic substances like DEET are, and those natural bug spray with essential oils you’ve tried haven’t done the trick. Leaves you wondering, do natural bug sprays work?
The answer doesn’t seem attainable, how do you stay away from harmful chemicals while having a natural bug spray that actually works?
When it comes to natural remedies and products, I hear quite often, from beginner natural users, that they “don’t work”. After some digging around the subject, I find that the learning curve is the problem. For these remedies & products to take full effect, we have to learn how to use them, while understanding that they aren’t chemicals, or pharmaceuticals.
The training that all of us have gone through throughout our lives, is to have a quick fix and solution in the form of fast-acting drugs and chemical product applications. However, when we look at the long-term effects of these kinds of applications, it’s not pretty. Not only are they harming our bodies, but the environment as well. It is KEY to understand the difference in herbs and synthetics…
Natural Bug Spray with essential oils is one I hear a lot of gripes about. Maybe it worked for a short time, and then the bugs started swarming. Or even that the bugs were attracted to the spray. This is where understanding the plants, as well as what bugs are repelled by is important too. This is my herbalist quick fix to understanding how to work with these essential oil sprays. So you won’t have to ask again, do natural bug sprays work?
Most bug sprays with essential oils are made with natural bases like glycerin, topical oils, or extracts like witch hazel, with the essential oils added in. The essential oils that are in the spray are what actually repel the bugs in natural bug spray with essential oils.
Scents that are off putting to bugs are things like citronella, tea tree oil, cedar wood oil, and others… On the contrary, bugs are attracted to smells like lemon, lemongrass, rose, and other sweet smelling essential oils. ONes that we humans love the smell of too! I stick to the more earthy scents so that we actually get a spray that repels… and doesn’t attract! This is most likely why you have wondered do natural bug sprays work?
Now that you know what to look for in a natural bug spray with essential oils, let’s get onto application.
The first component of understanding essential oil application is to understand the fact that Essential oils are volatile.
Meaning, they take flight, or rapidly evaporate from the surface they are applied to. This is how we smell them, they come off of the surface through the air to reach our sensory organ, the nose.
Think about it, when you spray some essential oils in your home, or use natural cleaners scented with them, you don’t have a perfume that lingers past 45 minutes or so. This is precisely because once they are taken in from the atmosphere, eventually there are none left.
Talking about natural bug spray with essential oils, It is key to remember this component of essential oils. To use natural bug spray effectively, remember the essential oil sprays act as a temporary barrier.
Expect to apply the Essential Oil Based bug spray onto your skin, clothing, and hair every 2-3 hours while you are outside. This will keep a barrier of scent around your body.
By applying the natural bug spray with essential oils throughout the day, you will find the natural alternatives to be much more effective. Keeping a fresh scent all day long and being able to successfully work with an all-natural and safe Bug Spray for you and the whole family.
I’ve got a fresh batch of Bug Spray ready to roll. AND for your convenience, they are officially online this year. So head over to the herb shop and grab your all natural, safe and effective natural bug spray from Enchantment Creek Apothecary!
