I’m a very light traveler and don’t need to pack a whole lot of clothes or cosmetics to spread my wings and fly abroad. That said, there are a couple of essentials I DO pack before leaving the sanctity of our home. Before mommyhood, I used to never leave for holidays without my hand blender, nut milk bag, yoga mat and ceramic kitchen knife. Nowadays most of the items I pack are family, or baby Lou, related.

I bring a portable water filter, some RVS food containers, Lou’s bamboo cutlery, some packed (prepared and unprepared) foods, sachets of homemade ORS and the natural and non-toxic mosquito spray I’m sharing today. I’m not going to go in-depth about what’s exactly in regular DEET-filled anti mosquito spray but let me tell you this. It. Ain’t. Pretty. At. All.

Your skin is an absorbing organ, which will allow this poison to enter your body. Studies have shown that DEET, the active chemical ingredient in conventional mosquito sprays, causes brain cell death and behavioral changes and acts as a neurotoxin in humans.

This makes regular anti mosquito spray a damaging and not so smart choice. But being eaten alive by buzzing bugs, or watching your child get punctured, is not pretty either. There is an easy, cheap, natural, health promoting, non-aggressive and functional solution to this problem though! Meet Kyra’s homemade anti mosquito spray.

I always prepare a large ready-to-use spray bottle before we leave for holidays. I also bring the individual essentials oils with me just in case we need to make more. And you know what? It works so well my fiancée, who generally questions the power of natural products, has stopped using DEET and continues to use my harmless version. Hoorah for natural body love!

Feel free to scroll down and start making your very own stack to keep those menacing mosquitoes at bay.

Happy holidays!

Xoxo kyra.

PRACTICALITIES

Ingredients

An empty 120 ml (4 oz) spray bottle

60 ml ( 2 oz) water

60 ml (2 oz) witch hazel

30 drops citronella natural essential oil

30 drops tea tree natural essential oil

30 drops lavender natural essential oil

Instructions

Pour water and witch hazel into the empty spray bottle. Keep a little extra space for essential oils and shaking. Add essential oils, place top back on and shake. Spray on body to ward off mosquitoes.

EXTRA TIPS

If you have a mosquito net at hand, feel free to use it! Burn a little bit of citronella in an essential oil diffuser during the evenings. And spray some of the mosquito spray on your bedding and hair to help those bugs keep their distance.