Homemade Bug Spray

As I swat mosquitoes away while trying to watch on my front porch while trying to write, I find it an appropriate time to re-release this blog post from 2017. The bugs are in FULL Force this summer (2023) thanks to alternating days of intense rain followed by burning sun so I hope this helps someone out there

originally written on Aug 30 2017

As I have been slowly switching all my body, face, and home products to organic and all natural it can be really expensive.  That’s where my whole essential oil journey began.. I started inquiring about essential oils in the first place because I wanted to be able to make my own product sand I wanted a better way to take care of my skin. I didn’t like the idea that all of my current products were filled with toxins, especially when I was using so many products on my acne prone skin.  I love DIY and I wanted to save money

Enter: Essential Oils

Since then, I have been trying to perfect recipes for different beauty products; body scrub, face wash, bug spray, bug bite remedies, handwash. I’ve posted a couple for you guys (linked above) and I am working on adding more and more recipes as I experiment.

For this trip, I brought all my essential oils on the road (duh!)—just in case I needed to create some home made remedies along the way. Good news: The oils definitely came in handy.  It was really interesting to see which essential oils we used most and what oils we didn’t really use along the way.

When we arrived in the Shoshone National Forest at our first real campsite (it had been rest stops and Walmarts at the beginning of the trip), it was extremely buggy. One of the most beautiful campsites we stayed at on our trip in retrospect but close to the water and quite buggy. So I broke out my ingredients and essential oils to DIY Some bug spray for us. I used a similar recipe to what I have in the past and tweaked it a little. And here you go!

It worked great for us! The only bug bites I had were from the one hike that I forgot to bring the Bug spray with us. We (…I) were eaten alive by all the mosquitos that one afternoon but that is it. I am particularly tasty for bus so I have to use bug spray. I normally hate the feeling of normal Bug Spray: the ickey, sticky feeling. I always feel like I need a shower after but with this DIY recipe, I don’t. It is light and nourishing for your skin.

I wanted to share some of the properties of each essential oil so you get a glimpse of why I added it in to the mix:

Melaleuca

• helps ward off mosquitos and ants

• Anti- EVERYTHING!

• Helps aid in healing cuts, wounds, skin infections and bug bites

Lemongrass

• Help fight off mosquitos and ticks

• Insecticide and sedative for CNS

• Aids in stimulating the lymphatic system and parasympathetic nervous system

Arborvitae

• Helps keep away mosquitos

• Antibacterial, antifungal and repellant

• A natural insect repellant

Terrashield

• The repellant blend made by DoTerra

• I added this to give an extra boost to the recipe

• A blend of lemon eucalyptus, citronella, lemongrass, skimmia laureola,

Lavender

• Help keep away mosquitos, flies, gnats and ticks

• Helps Soothes skins

• aids in decreasing inflammation

• can aid in easing sting of bug bites

Patchouli

• helps to keep away flies and gnats

• can be helpful las an antidote for bug bites historically

• anti-infectious, ant- inflammatory and antifungal

• emotionally: calming, grounding and sedating

There are some essential oils that are great keeping different bugs away and I wanted to share them with you here!

Best Essential Oils to Ward Off

• Mosquitos: lavender, geranium, lemongrass, eucalyptus, citronells

• Flies & Gnats: lavender patchouli, rosemary, peppermint, spearmint

• Ticks: Lavender, Lemongrass, eucalyptus, sage, thyme

You can pick and choose from the essential oils above which ones sound best to you. You might be called to certain scents or you might find certain combinations work better on your skin and body chemistry. I am going to continue to experiment as well so I will keep you updated

Give it a try and drop me a comment to let me know how it goes!

 DIY Bug Repellant Recipe:

• 20 drops of Melaleuca

• 20 drops of Lemongrass

• 10 drops of Arborvitae

• 10 drops of Terrashield

• 5 drops of Lavender

• 5 drops of Patchouli

• 1 teaspoon of Jojoba OIl

• 1 part Witch Hazel

• 1 part Water

(1:1 ratio of witch hazel to water: I used half the container of water and half the container filled with witch hazel)

Let me know how it works out for you!