During the summer season, mosquitoes are a major nuisance even in urban areas, and if you are outdoors near bodies of water such as rivers or reservoirs, they will literally suck your blood dry. The solution is to spray yourself with an effective repellent that repels mosquitoes and other biting insects.
Repellents sold in stores contain a substance called N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, or DEET for short. Regular use of such repellents can cause side effects. Excessive use of such cosmetics can lead to memory loss, nausea, weakness, headache, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Products containing DEET should not be applied to sunburned or broken skin; it is not recommended for use on young children. DEET is a highly toxic substance, and there have been cases of children who have absorbed high amounts of DEET through their skin and experienced seizures, slurred speech, hypotension, and bradycardia.
That's why I prefer to make my own repellent. It's even a little cheaper, depending on where you buy the ingredients and whether you can find a promotion.
You need a bottle of essential oil, which you dilute and use as an ointment or liquid in a spray bottle. Essential oils can be dissolved in either another oil or alcohol. I prefer to dissolve them in alcohol and then put the mixture in a spray bottle and spray myself with it.
The most effective essential oil against mosquitoes and other insects is lemon eucalyptus oil. However, it is more difficult to find. It is easier for me to find and use lemongrass oil. While the effectiveness of lemon eucalyptus is over 95%, lemongrass is around 90%, which is perfectly satisfactory. You can also add other essential oils to the mix, such as lavender or tea tree oil.
But I try to keep it as budget-friendly and effective as possible.
So my recipe for homemade repellent is as follows:
10 ml of lemongrass essential oil (if you can find lemon eucalyptus, even better)
100 ml of ethyl alcohol. (In this case, the photo shows 70%, but I have also used 95%)
Add the oil to the bottle with the alcohol, mix well, and then pour into a spray bottle.
In this case, 10 ml of oil in 100 ml of alcohol is a little over a 9% solution, which will be a little stronger. It is recommended that the solution be somewhere around 6-7%, or in other words, 10 ml of essential oil in 150 ml of alcohol.
But I don't go into such details, it's easier for me to pour 10 ml of oil into 100 ml of alcohol and that's it.
This stuff is supposed to be effective for about 3 hours. But from personal experience, I can say that it lasts longer.
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