Re: I give up...
 

I thought lavender had a scent though.. just sayin'

Re: I give up...
 

As I understand it, there needs to be something to confuse the skeeters' sense of smell - so they don't recognise the scent of soft human skin. That's why citronella is used in candles, etc - the scent of the candles is far stronger than the scent of you (always presuming you've showered within the last week or so).

Re: I give up...
 

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Re: I give up...
 

This is what I used to wear growing up- they aren't kidding when they mention the "distinctive aroma" :lol: BUT, it worked!!

http://www.hotdoe.com/ole_time_woodsman.html

Re: I give up...
 

I've never had a problem with mosquitos, I guess I just stink. But I bought the Off clip on things for the kids to make sure they don't get ravaged and they seemed to do the trick for them.

Re: I give up...
 

Burts Bees do a herbal insect repellent which seems to work well.

You can get it from Amazon and also sometimes find it in CVS. Might be worth a try.

Re: I give up...
 

As for Avon Skin So Soft, only the bath oil works, not their 'bug spray.' For us, only the greasy, oily stuff in the bottle.

The black flies in the NE could carry off grown men.

Our community sprays for mosquitoes too, so maybe that helps. We don't have too much of a problem. Besides, soon it'll be too hot to sit outside anyhow!

Yeah, they can be pesky down Texas way.

Re: I give up...
 

It'll either toughen them up, or they'll grow a third arm.

For everything else, there's baby repellent or stuff with less than 10% deet.

Re: I give up...
 

I remember reading somewhere that beekeepers shower etc before going beekeeping.

Re: I give up...
 

That's because you're using the nasty 90-100% stuff. The cream- or lotion-based DEETs with lower concentration are generally more effective anyway. The high concentration stuff goes straight through your skin and starts getting pissed out within 15 min. The creams trap the DEET on the skin surface more effectively so that you don't need as much.

Re: I give up...
 

Are you getting the mossies at home, or are you traveling? We built a screen room 3 summers ago, and not had chance to use it in "anger" yet as not really seen the mossies!!:frown:

Someone mentioned plants - not seen them this year, but the last couple of years a few of the supermarkets have had a "mosquito plant" for sale - sort of a citronella smell. Quite pleasant. I've had a few dotted around the patio, but couldn't really tell if they worked because we haven't had many mossies the last 2 years (anything to do with the colder than normal winters?). This year after a very mild winter I've been expecting a bad crop of mossies, but we haven't seen them yet. It's been windy, which normally helps, plus the subdivision seems to be misting more regularly, so maybe thats it. Nothing like the smell of napalm in the morning....;)

When the kids were younger we used to use the blue avon stuff - there was a stall selling it in Katy Mills, but dont know if its there this year.
The green Off is normally good for us.
Some folk swear by a fresh drier sheet in your waistband.
Others say find someone the mossies like and sit by them - err, tag, you're it!:D

Re: I give up...
 

Try Listerene and put it in a spray bottle, its only a couple of bucks,try it you might like it.

Re: I give up...
 

My sympathies, I'll get bitten to hell while my hubs hasn't a mark on him, must be something about my tasty pasty white skin they love. I read somewhere recently that capnip is 10x more effective than deet at stopping mosquito bites. This summer I'm gonna try it, I've got nothing to lose as "deep woods off" does jackshiz to stop them on my skin.

Re: I give up...
 

Google tells me its actually our output of carbon dioxide when we breathe that they are attracted too. Hence why the ultra violet zappers don't work on mosquitoes as they don't go for the light. However you're right in that when mozzies land on us if we taste or smell so strongly its repellent to them they'll fly off, but no way to stop attracting them unless we cease to output CO2. Stay indoors and grumble about it works best for me.

Re: I give up...
 

They love me too, swell up the diameter of an orange and are get really hot, then really itchy. I bought some Burt's bee's herbal insect repellant this morning in Kroger. Haven't tried it yet but I've tried nearly everything else.