Plant-Based Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent, Oil

The right product for this season. I carry it along for walks in the park, for tennis and gardening - in short, any outdoor activity. It has a strong lemony smell. Repels all nats, but has to be re-applied after an hour or so. Spray works well, and the opening is nicely secured.

I have used the pump spray bottle, but decided to try this canister spray. The pump spray is kind of wet and I retain a strong lemony smell for a very long time. The canister spray dries much faster and it seems that the pungent smell fades, but the protection stays for several hours. I live near a swampy area, so it is important to keep mosquitoes away. If I go hiking in this region, tick protection is also necessary. I feel very confident about its ability to protect against mosquitoes. While I haven't seen it "fail" for ticks, it only advertises its ability against mosquitoes. I admit that I use DEET, much as I don't like it, before going into really tick-infested areas, to minimize the risk. But just to go out for a walk, this works great, and applies and dries easily. I am not exposed to those heavier chemicals, and I am happy that it seems to be less smelly than its liquid pump counterpart.

Let me try to be thorough: Repel is a well-known name in the field of insect-repellent, so it was comforting to find a DEET-free option. Living in an endemic area for ticks where Lyme disease is an annual-affair, I always need proper coverage. I am allergic to pyrethrins, and when I put DEET-containing product on my skin, I feel unwell. When I am either in the deep woods for recreation, or am landscaping, using a repellant is always top of my list. Having had Lyme disease and babesiosis, I am conscious about the ticks. I had found this product a couple years ago in pump-spray and learned a couple things: • keep it away from your eyes-this is a must. • apply liberally to your skin before you get dressed. I recommend standing in your tub or shower and spray this onto your hands and then rub onto your skin, rather then spraying it onto yourself because you wouldn't want it to get into your eyes. • for extra protection, spray your clothes and shoes/boots separately with a pyrethrin (if you are not allergic) or a DEET-containing product before putting them on. I hang my clothes outside, cover my face with a mask, spray my clothes and boots thoroughly with DEET, let them dry, then get dressed. • wash your hands thoroughly so you don't accidentally rub your eyes with this on your hands. It works very well for an extended time, and you become accustomed to the smell, which is potent to repel the insects, but pleasant. It washes cleanly off of your skin with a proper dish-washing liquid. I typically wash with dish-liquid first, rinse well, then use my favorite body wash after I have been landscaping for both washing this from my skin and taking extra precaution from being exposed to poison ivy.

Works.

This works so well for my kids and myself. We spent a week in the woods at camp, and when we had it on, we found zero ticks and did not have bug bites! I love that it is a safer option for the kids but keeps the bugs away. It smells very strong of “citronella.” I don’t mind the smell, but some may think that it smells too strong. Overall, it is a wonderful product.