The other night I heard a commercial on the radio for Avon’s Skin-So-Soft, touting it as a great bug repellant. I’d heard about people using S-S-S for years that way, but this is the first time I’ve heard Avon selling it on its bug-repellant properties specifically. Does anyone know if some new studies have been done to demonstrate its effectiveness?
I’m asking because I’ll probably be spending a lot of time outdoors in the northeast this summer, and I want to avoid tick problems without dousing myself in DEET spray. (Yes, I know about light clothes, pants tucked into socks, etc., but since I once retrieved a wood tick from the back of my neck I’d like some chemical backup as well.) Any and all suggestions for effective, non-toxic repellants are welcome.
I haven’t got a link offhand, but research indicates that for serious bug-off protection, go with DEET.
Skin-so-soft does work, somewhat, but mainly for the “mosquitos at a picnic” level of bug repellant. If you’re going seriously back-country, with ticks and blackfly, I’d strongly recommend you go with DEET.
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen
What Notthemama said. Skin So Soft’s effectiveness seems to vary from person to person; it hardly works for me at all, but works great for some people I know. Unless you’re willing to take chances, I recommend going with DEET.
TMR If you believed in yourself, and tore enough holes
in your pants, there was always a mist-filled alley
right around the corner.
Hmmm… thanks for giving me the skinny on Skin-So-Soft.
I have used DEET sprays in the past, but I was hoping for an alternative because I can barely tolerate the smell (gives me a headache & generally unpleasant feeling). Do you know any particular brand of repellant that maybe doesn’t smell so strongly? Otherwise, I guess I’ll have to numb my olfactory bulbs with Lysol before I apply the bug spray.
I’ve never found DEET too unpleasant, but the new repellents based on geraniol might smell better. Geraniol is found in lemongrass, but I’ve never actually smelled it to know if it’s pleasant. The article makes it out to be as effective and more versatile than DEET, yet safer.
DEET isn’t labeled for infants, so I’m trying to find some of these new products for my (currently) 9 month-old girl before mosquito season really sets in.
I lead a boring life of relative unimportance. Really.
Consumer Reports did a thing on skin lotion when they analyzed bug repellents a few years ago. The unequivocal conclusion was that effectiveness is next to zero.
A few years ago, I did a play at an outdoor theatre up the hill from a swamp. The mosquitoes were murder; we had to fog the audience benches every day, and put out camphor (?) candles and stuff. The cast got it worst; the stage was downhill, closest to the swamp.
Everybody else doused themselves in Deep Woods Off and such. I tried a less chemical solution I had read about; I took garlic-oil capsules and B-12 tablets like M&Ms. It worked surprisingly well, though not quite as well as the Deet-laden sprays. It was most effective on my face, and least effective on my ankles, so I sprayed my legs, and I was pretty much fine. FWIW…
I’d like to note that some bug repellants (including Deep Woods Off) come in a lotion formulation. Some also come as a combined bug repellant/sun screen. I don’t recall any awful smell associated with the lotions. However, you may be more sensitive to the smell than me.
As cervaise said, Consumer Report’s tests indicated Skin So Soft was not effective as a bug repellant. However to take advantage of all the hype and make a buck, Avon has developed and is selling a SSS product that does contain some actual repellant. I don’t recall if it’s DEET or not.
I’ll be spending oodles of time in tick and 'skeeter infested areas this summer too as a part of my job. I got some info from my boss which included a letter about bug repellent. If you don’t wanna go with DEET, seems there’s some particularly potent stuff called Permathone which calls itself a “repellent for clothing.” It’s an insecticide with a zero safe exposure level for humans, but they say once the stuff dries it’s not toxic. Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun to me, but it’s legal, and from what this letter says, quite effective.
Or you can just do frequent tick checks. Much more fun if they’re with a significant other.
I’m going to side with Cervaise, also based on outdoor theatre. Everyone else in my casts douses themselves. I just let the bugs bite me from day one. After awhile, it seems that I either no longer taste very good or I get used to it. They still get bit, plus they have gunk running into their eyes, mouths, etc.