Insect Repellant

Ever notice how DEET smells like crap?  Is it the actual chemical, or the horrible stank that keeps bugs at bay?  Perhaps the world will never know...

One of my co-workers (Hi, Kendall!) had the idea to make her own insect repellant to keep chemicals off her two kiddos.  Best.  Idea.  Ever.  In fact, I'm annoyed I didn't think of it. 

She is using a recipe she found online, with witch hazel and essential oils.  I plan to try one this week that's witch hazel with lavender, peppermint, and Tea Tree oil.  If I can find some Neem oil I'll use that too.  I'm most concerned with mosquitos and ticks, hence my combination.  Recipe below, details to come...I'll update after I actually make this recipe and let you know if it works well for keeping buggies off, or if it just smells delightful.

10-20 drops of essential oils (details below)
1 tbsp of aloe vera gel
1/4 cup of witch hazel
1/4 cup of distilled water

Oils:
To repel ticks, use lavender or geranium.
To repel mosquitoes, use rosemary, thyme, citronella, catnip, clove, lemongrass, peppermint, neem, tea tree, oil of lemon eucalyptus.
Neem apparently is all-purpose.
White vanilla extract is apparently excellent as well.  Some of my crunchy granola style hippie friends just rub lavender leaves in their pits.  Whatever works, I guess.

Updates to come.  Stay tuned.