DIY Bug Spray

I have delayed sharing this gem because I wanted to try it out before I told you it worked. After a couple weeks of use at the horse barn, I can tell you that it works.

You will need:

• spray bottle
• 1 c vodka
• 1 c of witch hazel (optional, but a very good option)
• 20-30 drops rose geranium essential oil (repels ticks)
• 10-20 drops peppermint essential oil
• and/or
• 10-20 drops tea tree essential oil
• 20-30 drops lavender essential oil
• You could also use cedarwood, citronella, clove, lemongrass, rosemary, eucalyptus, cajeput or even patchouli essential oils. I personally prefer to smell like peppermint and lavender (although, cedarwood is nice too).

Most of the listed EO's can be found at Whole Foods or Wegmans, or your local health food store. Rose geranium is a bit harder to find, but Young Living and Mountain Rose Herbs carry it. If you live in an area with ticks, I strongly recommend the investment.

 Mix ingredients in spray bottle--label spray bottle. You can add more or less tea tree or lavender depending on what you want to smell like. I couldn't break down for you how many bugs one repels over another, but they do both repel bugs. I personally prefer the smell of lavender to tea tree, so next time I'm planning to up the lavender and down the tea tree and see what that does.

You may want to read Crunchy Betty's note about working with water before making any beauty related recipes using water (I bring this up because some bug spray recipes involve water, including this one by Wellness Mama)

 This stuff really does work. Navarre wasn't wild about it, but he wasn't as against it as he is other fly sprays. I don't mind spraying it on myself because 1-it doesn't smell bad, and 2-I know exactly what's in it, and 3-flies and gnats and ticks keep their distance. It's the best of all worlds!