Herbal Ingredients That Keep Mosquitoes Away

DEET (N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is recommended by the CDC to prevent the bites of ticks and mosquitoes, but they also caution that DEET is toxic and never should be breathed, swallowed, or applied to areas of the body that have scratches or wounds. They also caution against putting too much DEET insect repellent on your body. Given that, how certain are you that using products containing DEET is really the best option for yourself, your children, or even your pets. Are you convinced you know what the right amount is?

Herbal insect repellents are a safer, effective method of keeping these bugs away. These products have become very popular as a better choice for bug spray. The recommends specific ingredients when you purchase natural insect repellents, such as lemon eucalyptus oil and picaridin. There are others that also work effectively and are found in many natural insect repellent brands like Badger Company and Dr Mercola.

Cedar

People have been using cedar to repel moths for decades. Cedar also repels mosquitoes and biting flies. As a result, many natural bug sprays contain cedar essential oil.

Citronella

Citronella is squeezed from the leaves of lemongrass. The lemony smell is quite appealing to humans, but mosquitoes hate it.

Lavender Oil

Lavender oil is another scent that many men and women love, but a lot of biting insects dislike it. Not only does it repel biting flies and mosquitoes, but lavender oil will keep fleas away too.

Lemon Eucalyptus Oil

This oil comes from the leaves of a lemon eucalyptus tree. It's excellent for repelling both ticks and mosquitoes, but it's also proven to help relieve congestion from colds and allergies. The scent is extremely pleasant, like a mix of lemons and menthol.

Peppermint

Peppermint oil will not work on ticks, but it does repel fleas and mosquitoes. Again, this oil is extracted from the leaves of a peppermint plant.

Picaridin

Picaridin comes from piperine, a component found in black pepper. It's been used in insect repellents in Europe for decades, but it didn't become popular in U.S. bug sprays until 2005. Any picaridin that the body absorbs is naturally broken down. The most common complaint from people who use insect repellent with picaridin is that their skin becomes irritated, much like cutting up chili peppers can irritate the skin.