Calling all DIY’ers! It has never been this easy to make a beautifully scented product yourself, until now. Bug repellant is an especially easy recipe to make since all it needs is a base of distilled water. As I’ve written previously, there are lots of essential oil options for (repelling bugs), and even essential oils to treat (bug bites). If you’re wondering “why on earth should I make my own bug spray?”, keep reading below.

Conventional bug repellant sprays found in drugstores and supermarkets can contain loads of nasty chemicals and harmful preservatives which are absolute beauty buzzkills! One particular active ingredient found in commercial bug sprays is the synthetic chemical, and highly toxic, DEET. But as you may have seen in part 1 of this segment, there are marvelous essential oils that work just as well as DEET and are all natural. Plus, essential oils are completely safe for the body and the environment. So if you wanted to go swimming in the ocean, you don’t have to worry about polluting the waters or harming sea life. Yes, DEET is that toxic.

I love customizing my bug spray from day to night. Peppermint essential oil is fabulous for cooling you down during the daytime sun and I like blending it with lemongrass to give it a playful summer kick! As a night time bug spray, I really enjoy blending geranium and cedarwood essential oils since cedarwood also has deep calming effects while geranium has a beautiful rose scent that is also quite dry. Perfect for those humid summer nights.

!REMINDER! Use organic, therapeutic or medicinal grade essential oils since those are safe enough to use directly onto the skin. Most conventional essential oils you find in stores are only used for diffusing into the air. Smell good and keep bugs at bay doing it with the recipe below!

DIY BUG REPELLANT SPRAY

50ml glass amber or cobalt spray bottle

35ml distilled water

Splash of witch hazel water

10–15 drops bug repelling essential oils of your choice