July 10, 2009

I hadn't planned on discussing this today, but since BigSis mentioned the all natural insect repellent, Buzz Away yesterday, I thought that it would be a good time for me to share with you another all natural product that I just discovered.

We don't have chiggers here in California (thank goodness) and we really don't have much of a mosquito problem, but as you get closer to the water, there are definitely a few annoying mosquitoes. I know some people who rave about scented oils for pest control, which sounds super-interesting so potentially something to try in the future were we to ever move somewhere bugs and pests were a little more common.

Wednesday night we were at the Harbor around dusk and some of us started to notice that we were getting bit. One of our friends who has lived aboard his boat for years, has, according to him, tried almost every single insect repellent on the market. As we were complaining about our bites, he was raving about his favorite, Herbal Armor by All Terrain.

All Terrain Herbal Armor Spray

I really didn't want to spray anything on me because I didn't want to have to go home and shower it all off before climbing into bed. But, our friend promised us that it wasn't sticky, didn't smell, and said that you could definitely go to bed with it still on.

I gave in and tried it and I really like this product. You spray it on but then spread it around and it becomes almost like a thin lotion. It wasn't sticky at all and at first, it did have a pretty strong citronella scent, but that went away in just a few minutes just as our friend has told us.

I'm sold on this spray and went out yesterday and bought us a couple of bottles. This spray is also all natural and 100% Deet free! All Terrain states this about their product:

Clinically proven to be 100% effective for over two hours, 95.8% effective for three hours and 77.1% effective for four hours. Unique formula w/five natural essential oils.

If you want to give it a try, you can either call your local drug store to see if they carry All Terrain or you can order the All Terrain products on Amazon.

When doing a little research, I found that All Terrain also makes a Herbal Armor Spray for Kids.

Herbal Armor Spray for Kids

And, they even make a Pet Herbal Armor for your furry little kids.

Pet Herbal Armor

Most of the time, I would rather take my chances on getting bit versus putting stinky bug spray all over me, but now I've come to realize that insect repellent doesn't have to be stinky and loaded with chemicals. If you have an all natural insect repellent that you love, we'd love to hear from you.

~LilSis

July 9, 2009

Are the little critters eatin' you up this summer? Here in Texas we're always trying to avoid mosquito bites and chigger bites. Sometimes we can avoid them, sometimes we can't. Either way, they're super annoying! You spend most of your time trying to swipe them from your face than actually being able to sit back and enjoy watching them fly around your garden. My absolute worst nightmare would be to come home one day and see a whole swarm of critters nesting in my home. Urgh, it's making me feel queasy just at the thought of this. In fact, it happened to my friend a couple of weeks ago. She found the likes of fleas, ticks, and cockroaches in some of the rooms in her house, and she tried everything she could to try and get rid of them but to no avail. It wasn't until she was able to get in touch with somewhere like https://www.pestcontrolexperts.com/pest-control/ that they were eventually exterminated from her home for good. Phew! At least I know what to do if this situation happened to me, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can avoid this altogether. Anyway, I'm too focused on trying not to get bitten by mosquitos and chiggers that I simply don't want to add any other problems to my list.

Do other parts of the country have chiggers? If not, let me fill you in. These microscopic varmints will burrow under your skin, and STAY ALIVE! How gross is that? It's like the stories you hear about the bugs that lay eggs in peoples' eardrums or the worms that live in peoples' brains. Chiggers will drive you insane with the itching because they're squirming around under your skin! One of the home remedies for chigger bites it to kill them via suffocation by covering the chigger bite with clear nail polish. I kid you not.

Have you noticed that some people don't get snacked on by mosquitoes, and other people are devoured? I've heard that taking B vitamins makes your blood taste yukky to mosquitoes so they'll leave you alone if you're full of B. I've always taken B, but I don't know if that's why they neglect me or not, but I'm glad whatever the reason. Another home remedy I've heard of is to keep a dryer sheet in your pocket to repel bugs.

There are plenty of chemical-laden insect repellents on the market, but there are also some natural ones, which would be my preference. One is called Buzz Away. It's an all natural insect repellent without DEET. It's said to repel mosquitoes, black flies, fleas, gnats and ticks. Who wants those on their body? Not me.

Buzz Away Natural Insect Repellent

You can order through Buzz Away's web site, or at many local vitamin stores, health food shops and drugstores.

Have a good summer, and stop scratching that bite! It's gonna get infected!

~BigSis