Mosquitos Used to Bite Me First, Until These Eco-Friendly Repellents Rescued Me

I’ve spent dozens of summers lumpy with mosquito bites, skin scratched raw in all kinds of semi-tropical, humid places. Everywhere I go, I’m the first and last to be bitten, racking up nasty bites as late as February — I’m the sole food source of the strong that survive. I’ve heard all the theories: I have sweet blood; it’s my blood type; I have a natural scent that lures them in; I wear colors that are too bright or too dark or too light (depending on who you ask); I eat too much fruit (or meat) and it comes out in my sweat, my pheromones, my aura. The only thing that’s important to me is how to make it stop. 

On that quest, I’ve tried everything. Sprays, lotions, wipes, after-bite aids … even literal outfits made out of mosquito netting, which only made me extremely uncomfortable. After much trial and error, these are the products that I’ve found that actually work to dampen the enthusiasm of mosquitoes in the Northeast, Deep South, and the jungles of the Caribbean and Mexico too.