DIY Bug Repellent Gel

Make your own DIY bug repellent gel to ward off pesky bugs like mosquitoes!

Making bug repellents at home is possible through essential oils. Essential oils are highly concentrated substances extracted from aromatic plants.

Certain essential oils have sharp herbal scents that bugs hate – but which we enjoy! These essential oils include peppermint, lemongrass, geranium, tea tree, lemon, patchouli and more. Even citronella and citriodora (lemon eucalyptus) have somewhat pleasant scents even though they can get overpowering. I love mixing citriodora in some coconut oil as a dandruff buster (you can read more about it here: DIY Hair Oil for Dandruff).

There are quite a number of bug repellent recipes out there, most of them being spray recipes and bug creams. But the beauty of a DIY bug repellent gel is that it’s not oily so it won’t stain your clothes or make you feel icky. It’s made of water-based ingredients that just leave your skin feeling fresh and nice!

Okay, onto the bug repellent recipe!

What you need:

½ cup of pure aloe vera gel
1 tbsp vegetable glycerin
1 tbsp witch hazel
5 drops geranium essential oil
3 drops lemongrass essential oil
3 drops lemon eucalyptus essential oil
3 drops tea tree essential oil
Pyrex measuring cup & whisk
Clean container for storage like a squeeze bottle, pump bottle or empty hand sanitizer bottle

Directions:

Into a Pyrex measuring cup, add ½ cup of aloe vera gel and 1 tbsp each of witch hazel and aloe vera gel.
Now it’s time to add the essential oils! Carefully drop 5 drops geranium essential oil, 3 drops lemongrass essential oil, 3 drops lemon eucalyptus essential oil and 3 drops tea tree essential oil.
Whisk everything together to distribute the essential oils evenly throughout the mixture.
And your DIY bug repellent is ready!
Transfer to a clean container of your choice. I like using an empty hand sanitizer bottle.
Apply all over exposed skin to ward off bugs! You can also use it on covered skin if you’re wearing thin clothes like tights, which bugs can bite through.

Will you try this DIY bug repellent gel? Have any good natural bug repellent recipes? Share below!