With mixed reviews on our first attempt at a lavender mosquito repellent, I decided it was time to try something a little bit different. With our first attempts, one friend used the lavender mosquito spray while camping and said she didn’t have any mosquito bites the whole trip. My husband said he needed something stronger. Our initial mosquito spray, a lavender spray in a mister, works well for some, and is also effective as a pillow mister to help restless minds drift off to sleep. It is now one of the new products on our website, called Lavender Lullabye.
I started by using witch hazel in place of distilled water as a base. I gave it to my landscaper husband, who got bit before he even put it on. He sprayed it on, and was surprised to find that it took away the itch of the bite – something I have read both lavender and witch hazel are good for. He found that that the spray worked for him in the morning, but by afternoon, it no longer had any effect. We thought it might have something to do with the heavy manual labour required in his job, or the exhaust from the machines overpowering the scent of the spray, since even commercial mosquito repellent with DEET were having little effect at keeping the mosquitoes at bay.
To make the mosquito repellent more effective, I tried adding a few different essential oils as well, including the ever popular citronella. I will continue testing, but am already more satisfied with the new results and like the smell of the mixture a lot better than a lot of “citronella” mosquito repellents.
Check back over the next couple of weeks to see our progress as well as to check out what else is going on here at Lavender Breeze!
Sunday 18 July 2010
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