I tried 3 viral cures for mosquito bites on summer hols – a £6 buy stank so badly it gave me a sneezing fit
WE ALL love getting abroad and topping up our tans, but with every pro must come a con, and in the summer it’s pesky mosquitoes.
As much as I love the sun coming out, one thing I despise is bugs – especially ones that like to have a nibble on my skin.
In the UK, we are lucky enough not to have any mosquito-borne diseases, but that’s not the same for countries we might visit for our summer holidays.
Africa, America, Asia and even Southern Europe like Greece and Italy can carry the risk of getting diseases such as Yellow Fever, Malaria and West Nile virus – something you don’t want to deal with.
And when we get warm days here in Britain, I find myself covered in itchy bumps from bugs.
So I decided to try three of the most popular online mosquito repellents to see which of them worked the best.
Pestects Bracelets
These handy bracelets come in a pack of ten for £12.99 or £1.29 per bracelet.
The Pestects multi-pack makes it perfect for the whole family, especially if you’re using carry-on luggage and are precious with your liquid limit.
These come in a range of colours so your kids won’t be arguing about not having their favourite colour.
They promise to keep you protected for up to 300 hours – perfect for a 12 day holiday away and are waterproof too.
Now the smell of these isn’t too strong and use a mix of natural plant oils to repel mosquitos.
A blend of citronella, lemongrass, peppermint and eucalyptus oil keeps them away and I have to say it works.
The scent of the bracelet isn’t too strong which is great as citronella isn’t the most pleasant of smells.
While on a run near a local river, I often get bitten but nothing came near me with this on, including those horrible small riverflies.
My only concern is it might be hard to keep them on your kids as we know how bad they are for fiddling with this kind of thing.
Boots Repel Maximum DEET & PMD Aerosol
This aerosol is tiny so makes it perfect to put in your handbag for on the go use and is a very reasonable £5.99.
You can use the spray on any areas of skin exposed directly or spray it in the palm of your hands and rub it in to your face, neck and ears.
How do essential oils prevent mosquito bites?
Experts at MosquitoSquad say there's two reasons essential oils repel mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes have a strong sense of smell, and just as smells of carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and body odor can lure them in, certain herbs and overwhelming floral scents will send them buzzing in the opposite direction. Not only do they dislike these smells, but these smells also can overwhelm their senses and disorient them, so the effect is powerful.
Many natural scents that are appealing to humans repel mosquitoes, including lavender, peppermint, basil, and eucalyptus. You might find you already choose these scents as perfume or cologne, in candles or sprays.
This is also the only product in the line up which actually has DEET in the formula.
DEET is proven to be the most effective ingredient to repel insects form biting you but can be harsh on the skin.
When using the product I noticed I could feel a layer of it all over and the smell was super strong, so there was no point trying to put a perfume on to mask it.
In fact I broke out in an intense sneezing fit moments after applying it, thanks to the smell.
The product protects you for up to eight hours, and does a good job.
I imagine this Boots spray would be beneficial in countries where diseases can be spread by mosquito bites.
But it’s not something you need in the UK, so I’d give this one a miss otherwise to avoid the downsides.
NatPat Mosquito Patches
I had never heard of a product like this until a friend was raving about it to me.
The NatPat repellent patches cost £15 for 40 stickers and you apply them onto the inside of your clothes – one on the upper body and one for the lower.
These were easy to apply and had a strong smell of peppermint which wasn’t as offensive as the other products I tried out.
Once applied you can barely notice the smell or the feel of them stuck to your clothes.
There is no DEET in the patches but I still went on about my day in the park with no bites.
I imaging these are particularly good for kids as they hate being sprayed with sun cream or insect repellent and they’ll forget about the stickers soon enough as they are hidden.