Shea butter is a fatty acid-rich plant butter that’s incredibly healing for skin of all types. It originates from Africa, where it’s traditionally extracted manually from the local Shea or Karite trees. Since most of the regions where the Shea trees grow in Africa experience intensely hot climates that are buzzing grounds for the famous Malaria-causing mosquito, people are dying to know the answer to the question, ‘Does Shea Butter Attract Mosquitoes?’ before rubbing some all over their bodies!
What prompts many people to ask the above question in the first place is because they’re afraid the strong smoky and nutty smell of shea butter is a scent that mosquitoes would love to be around. But this isn’t the case. Mosquitoes are not attracted to shea butter or rather, the scent of shea butter at all. Check out this list of stuff that really attract mosquitoes:
→ Sweat – Mosquitoes breed in water so something moist like sweat attracts mosquitoes like crazy. If you’re sweating buckets, then move to a cooler region like an air-conditioned room to ward off the mosquitoes! Sweat also dilutes and washes off any mosquito repellent cream you’ve slathered on making you a mosquito magnet.
→ Wearing dark colors – That’s right! Keep your darker colored clothes in the back of your closet and forget about them for the rest of summer.
→ Strong fragrances – Mosquitoes are attracted to those fancy perfumes and powerful fragrance in hand soap, shampoo, detergent, you name it. That’s one of the reasons some people invest in scent-free body products during the summer.
→ Eating a lot of bananas (unbelievable but true!) – Not only bananas, all foods rich in potassium are said to attract mosquitoes because after eating such foods, the body produces lactic acid, that attracts mosquitoes. So go nana-free if you’re spending way too much time outdoors!
→ Body heat – Mosquitoes have super strong heat sensors that are designed to detect their targets and narrow down the one with the most body heat. Body heat means more blood near the surface of your skin so go cool off before you’re pestered by those pesky blood suckers.
→ Carbon dioxide – We can’t help breathing out carbon dioxide but what we can do is avoid areas that are high in carbon dioxide such as – you guessed it – places crowded with humans and animals such as the beach and pool.
→ Working out a lot – There’s nothing more exhausting than working out during the sweltering summer heat and what’s worse, it combines so many mosquito-attracting factors like sweating, giving off more carbon dioxide and higher body heat which all bring the mosquitoes out for a feast. During hot days, you may save your workouts for the cooler night time.
Study Show that Shea Butter is a Natural Mosquito Repellent!
Now that you know that the scent of shea butter doesn’t attract mosquitoes, I’d like to tell you another pleasantly surprising fact – shea butter helps repel mosquitoes! Yup, and it’s scientifically proven as well! In a French Medical Journal, Bulletin de la Societe de Pathologie Exotique, a study published stated that shea butter was found to be an effective, affordable, and practical means to prevent insect bites, making it your go-to mosquito repellent!
How Shea Butter to Use Shea Butter to Repel Mosquitoes
When you put shea butter on your body, mosquitoes won’t be able to sit down comfortably on it and bite the heck out of you because your skin is going to be slippery and uncomfortable to latch onto.
- Use it straight outta the jar! Scoop out some unrefined shea butter and smear it all over your body. You might want to use shea butter Nilotica for this purpose since it has a silkier and non-waxy texture that’s easier to slide onto skin.
- Sprinkle some citronella! Citronella is a famous mosquito repelling essential oil. ‘Essential’ meaning it’s a very concentrated oil so it must be used sparingly and with caution. Using a lot has negative side effects such as making your eyes feel burning sensations: not a serious problem but irritating all the same. To ¼ cup of shea butter, add about 10 – 15 drops of citronella oil.
- Make your own shea butter bug repellent cream! One of the best ways to defend yourself from mosquitoes is by arming yourself with this powerful shea butter mosquito repellent cream! Here’s the recipe. It’s loaded with anti-mosquito ingredients that are all natural, non-toxic and proven to be better than DEET!
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