We’re Making: Ms. Tamara’s Bug Juice
Some say it’s insect repellent, I say it’s the scent of summer
A few years ago, I picked up my youngest child from school, gave him a big reunion hug, and then a bigger whiff—he smelled incredible. His teacher, Ms. Tamara, said “I hope it’s OK, I used a little of my homemade bug spray on him—it’s just a bunch of essential oils.” It was more than OK and, in fact, I needed it for myself and the rest of us moving forward.
Many of you recently subscribed having come from a Gardenista article (thanks again for including me
!) wherein I’m quoted on a prevention method for ticks. So, at this point, it would be fair if you guessed that my beat is, in fact, repelling insects. That’s not entirely true… But also not-not true. I live in Maine and it is buggy. Really buggy. And we’re outside a lot, for at minimum one portion of the day. The problem, then, is that, say you want to do a little weeding in the morning when it’s not hot yet and you apply some bug spray. Then later, you might need to do some work, meet someone for coffee, go to an exercise class, help a friend hang her gallery show… You don’t necessarily want to smell like DEET or even citronella the entire rest of the day.The solution is Ms Tamara’s Bug Juice!
You can apply it whenever you want because it kind of just smells like a lovely perfume. And, you know, essential oils tend to fade pretty quickly, so you likely won’t smell like it for terribly long. Truly, yes, the scent of summer.
As an aside, if you don’t feel up for mixing your own or investing in many tiny vials of essential oils, I do like this spray from Badger Balm. Despite the citronella, it actually is quite nice!
Ms. Tamara’s Bug Juice
+ Equal parts water and witch hazel
+ 20 drops of lemongrass oil
+ 20 drops of geranium oil
+ 10 drops of peppermint oil
+ 10 drops of lavender oil
Nearly-fill the bottle with equal parts water and witch hazel. Add essential oils, cover and shake.
** Option to add 1/2 tsp vegetable glycerin so the oils don’t go rancid. However, Ms. Tamara says she usually doesn’t do this part because her family goes through it quickly (you have to re-apply it pretty frequently, about every 20 minutes or so).
** Option from me: Cedar oil seems to be pretty effective, generally, and smells really good. Might be a nice addition.
Happy spraying! And please, let the rest of us know if you happen to have any great insect-repelling tricks to share. Since, you know, this is my beat now.
Because apparently we only do things the hard way around here, I must recommend this recipe for what amounts, essentially, to homemade Gatorade. (LINK)
I just signed up for this workshop—who wants to join me? (LINK)
Posable man. (LINK)
Very cool radio that needs some TLC in Friendship. (LINK)
I'll give this a try! When I was researching this story for Gardenista, I saw a lot of preliminary research that suggested essential oils could be effective at deterring mosquitoes and ticks, but not enough clinical testing on human skin to say for sure. Here's to hoping they do more research into non-DEET options.