Summer First Aid Kit: DIY Natural Insect Spray

Life outdoors, camping adventures and summer eves calls for insect repellant.

Common insect repellants contain some pretty sketchy ingredients that not only are harmful to our health (like DEET and synthetic fragrances) but smell very strong too!

In Australia, we have some of the best natural insect repelling plants around that have been used traditionally for many years. Not only do they smell delicious but they grow so abundantly!

Sacred Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) lake

Australian native Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)
Lemon Myrtle (Backhousia citriodora)
Kunzea (Kunzea ambigua) nick named “tick bush” for its tick-repelling action
Fragonia (Agonis fragrans) (a similar scent to eucalyptus, with many of tea tree’s properties albeit a little more gentle on the skin)
Citronella (Cymbopogon nardus)

Lavender is also a brilliant addition, for its anti-itch, anti-inflammatory action- taking the redness out of the bite/skin and it smells great. Cedar wood or geranium also work well and add a lovely scent.

You can DIY a batch of natural insect spray for your Summer first aid kit following the recipe below-

NATURAL BUG REPELLANT

~ Safe for the whole family but patch test for potential reactions on little ones on the soles of the feet or spray on clothes vs skin for very babies

~ Witch hazel acts as the fixative in this mix, holding the essential oils well amongst the water, but it also has cooling, anti-inflammatory properties- ideal if your skin is a little red from long days in the sun.

You Will Need (to make 500ml- separate into smaller bottles for easy summer travel)