Summer is officially here! How crazy is that!? Seems like just last week we were celebrating New Year's!
Here are a few tips and tricks to make your camping adventures or beach get-aways a little better!
Do you love getting outside and exploring? Do you think to take your Citronella, Geranium, and a battery-powered diffuser along with you? When you are hanging out at your campsite, book in hand, this combo will quickly become your BFF! Simply fill a battery-powered diffuser with 5-7 drops each Citronella and Geranium and enjoy the incredible smell...and pest-free zone!
- Insect Repellent & Insect Repellent Wipes: This formula effectively prevents mosquito, flea, and tick bites, so you can enjoy the great outdoors worry free!
- Insect Repellent Spray Hack: Grab the Insect Repellent bottle and make it into a spray for easy use:
- Continuous spray bottle
- Bottle of YL Insect Repellant
- 3 TBSP fractionated coconut oil or ClaraDerm Cooling Mist
- 20 drops Citronella essential oil
- Add all items to the spray bottle, but add the insect repellent last (it will not all fit!)
- DIY Outdoor Spray: If you live in a state that has shipping exclusions for the Insect Repellant, try the wipes! Still can't order because of limitations? You can also add a spray top directly to your bottle of Citronella.
- Small continuous spray bottle
- 25 drops each Citronella, Geranium, Lemongrass, Lavender
- 20 drops Eucalyptus Radiata, Tea Tree
- V-6 Vegetable Oil carrier or carrier of choice or ¼ part Witch Hazel to ¾ part Distilled Water
- Note: If you want to use a larger bottle, simply double the recipe. Also if you feel you need a stronger formula or are extremely susceptible to outdoor pests add more Citronella, Lemongrass and/or Geranium!
- DIY Itch Stick: for those times you forget your insect repellent...
- In a rollerball, combine 10 drops Purification, 10 drops Lavender + 10 drops Lemon, and top with a carrier oil. Roll on bug bites & itches.
- Lavender Essential Oil: We don't call this the Swiss Army Knife for nothing! Someone needs a little calm? Grab your Lavender. Skin saw too much sun? Grab your Lavender. Little one stepped in an ant bed? Grab your Lavender. Blooming flowers got you down? Grab your Lavender!
- Mineral Sunscreen: Hands-down, this is my favorite sunscreen. It checks all of my boxes -- reef-safe, effective, all natural, great for all skin types, non-nano zinc, won't clog pores. What else is there?!
- Mineral Sunscreen Spray Hack:
- Continuous spray bottle
- Bottle of YL Mineral Sunscreen
- 5 TBSP fractionated coconut oil or ClaraDerm Cooling Mist
- 20 drops Carrot Seed essential oil
- Optional: 30 drops Citronella essential oil
- Add all items to the spray bottle and shake well!
- NingXia Red packets: freeze them overnight for a slushie-like treat
- Lavender Lemonade Vitality Drops + AminoWise: to keep you hydrated in the sun and heat
- Thieves Hand Sanitizer & Spray: for clean hands, e-readers, toys, phones, etc!
- Lavender Lip Balm: great for lips, cheeks, noses and it makes a great carrier stick too!
- Peppermint roller: roll over the back of your neck for instant air conditioning when you get a little too hot!
- Lavender oil: again, for ALL the things! Any kind of skin need, grab your Lavender.
- Seedlings Baby Wipes: for clean hands, even in the sand! Easily remove all the sand from your feet, legs, and hands!
How do you love to spend your summers?? What's your favorite hack?
After a long, cold winter and the sometimes dreary penetrating cold of spring, you are absolutely ready to get outside when the sun starts shining warm and bright, right?? But, sadly, what else wakes up at about the same time?? Yup – the bugs…the black flies, the mosquitoes, the ticks...
And get this…according to the World Health Organization, the mosquito is the deadliest of all animals...
For centuries, plants or smoke from fires have been used to naturally repel insects. But, over the last 100 years or so, these were replaced with toxic chemicals. Is anyone surprised by that yet??
DDT was the first modern synthetic insecticide. Introduced in the 40’s, there was a jingle to go along with it – DDT is good for me-e-e!! Anything that has a jingle must be good for us, right? 😉
But the EPA issued a cancellation order for DDT in 1972 because of its adverse environmental effects to wildlife and people. Go figure.
Then came DEET and other toxic chemicals and even chemical coated clothing. Now think about your skin being porous… DEET has been associated with seizures, numbness and behavioral changes, nasal cancers, compromised immune systems, cardiovascular toxicity, respiratory distress, and severe allergic reactions. DEET brought on a change in the brain of after just a brief exposure to it…and mosquitoes and other insects can develop an insensitivity to it…
38 essential oils were studied in 2005 to look at their ability to repel mosquitos. Let’s take a look at a few.
Citronella with vanillin provided 3 hours of protection, is calming, and helps you think about those things that “bug you”…and you might just find that those “pesky annoyances” are just the things you need to be more accepting of in others...so you can accept them in yourself…
Lemongrass along with citrus or tree oils with vanillin was superior to DEET and also releases resentment, regret from those “should haves”, and pessimism, turning those negative energies into positive ones, so optimism, courage and hope can return.
Cedarwood oil protects against a variety of insects including ants, fire ants, ticks and moths. It helps you feel safe and secure with yourself as well as in your environment, kind of an energetic feeling of a safe warm blanket…so it’s a double blessing for supporting annoyance free sleep for those overnight adventures in the great outdoors…it also has skin cleansing properties and is a natural deodorizer…all great benefits for that active, outside lifestyle.
You can blend it with citronella, rosemary, tea tree, myrtle, clove or lemongrass. Sounds like a win in any situation, right??
Other great oil options are Cinnamon Bark, Geranium, Juniper, Lavender, Peppermint, Sage, Spearmint, Tea Tree and Thyme.
If you aren’t a fan of DIY’s, I’ve got you! Have you tried YL’s insect repellant?? It repels mosquitoes, ticks and fleas with no DEET, or any of the other toxic crap we talk about, is safe for children and for those with sensitive skin.
We tried this out on a walk one day…Delaney and I put it on. Dana did not. Normally the bugs don’t bother him, so he wasn’t worried. It was pretty hysterical when just a little bit into our walk, he is swatting at the bugs that had congregated around him, while Delaney and I are walking along, bug free…he tried to out run them, he swatted at them with his hat, he spun around…nothing worked. That was proof enough for me! LOL We put ours in a roller bottle or a spray bottle for easiest application and one bottle lasted us for a couple of years! Still effective!
There you go, my friends! A little help with that bug free late spring and summer.
What's on your summer bucket list??
