Ah, May in Charleston. The sun is shining, temps rising, and mosquitoes birthing. Alrighty! So this post has been a long time coming. I took a poll a while back to get some ideas for homemade bug spray, and the amount of people that swore by essential oils was overwhelming! I was looking for a safe, budget-friendly alternative to the chemical-filled sprays on the shelves. KEY WORDS: safe. budget-friendly. and EFFECTIVE.

Scout gets eaten alive by mosquitoes and no-see-ums alike and this has been a bug spray that has been working wonders for her the last few weeks. I love spraying some in my hand to run on her cheeks, forehead, and hair since that is where they love to get her.

Now here’s the thing, I already had young living essential oils. I will be honest, I am terrible at using them and have had mixed success (please, oil lovers, don’t hate on me. we all have our things). But, I found a ton of recipes online that used oils that came with my Young Living starter kit. So, I decided to give it a chance. The beauty of this recipe is that is has 3 ingrediants: water, witch hazel, and young living purification essential oil.

There are literally hundreds of recipes on the internet for essential oil bug sprays. I chose this one since I already had everything in my hall closet!

*Disclaimer: much like the skin care, I am not a salesperson for oils. I am just sharing what has worked for us! I do suggest if you wish to order to see if any of your friends sell oils as it is a wonderful support of a small business.

The oil I used to make my spray was Young Living Purification Oil Blend: Citronella, Lavandin, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Myrtle, and Tea Tree essential oils.

*Lastly, I ordered 2 oz. bottles and 8 oz. bottles. I would probably go back and order 4 oz. instead of 2 oz. as both would be pretty portable and I would get more use before having to remake. Ok, without further ado…

HERE IS MY RECIPE:

Fill your bottle (any size) with 2/3 water and 1/3 witch hazel

Then, add…

RECIPE FOR 2 OUNCE BOTTLE: 15 drops purification oil
RECIPE FOR 4 OUNCE BOTTLE: 25-30 drops oil
RECIPE FOR 8 OUNCE BOTTLE: 35-40 drops oil

 

Now, because I love you all, I have tried (to the best of my ability) to break down the cost for you. I used up an entire brand new bottle of Purification Oil and was able to make 3 (2 oz.) bottles and 1 large 8 oz. bottle. That is 14 ounces total. So, with my math, I think you could also make almost 4 (4 oz.) bottles if you went that route instead.

6 pack (4 oz.) bottles…..$10 (this 6 pack (2 oz.) bottles are same price)

purification essential oil.………….$16 (wholesale), $21 (retail)

12 oz. witch hazel……………………$7 (I use Thayers and only used 1/3 of the bottle)

TOTAL (FOR PEOPLE WHO GET OILS WHOLESALE): $33, therefore making each (4 oz.) bottle $8

TOTAL (FOR PEOPLE WHO GET OIL RETAIL): $37, therefore making each (4 oz.) bottle $9

 

Gosh, I really hope that wasn’t too confusing! Basically, the price comes out to be the same as your average bug spray. You could probably get a cheaper witch hazel. And once you go to remake you already have the bottles so then the cost goes down to around $5-6/bottle.

 

I am also posting some comparisons for you. Note the ounce amount.

 

Herbal Armor DEET-free (2 oz.) $4.24

Sky Organics (4 oz.) $13

Badger Organic (4 oz.) $10.20

Burt’s Bees (4 oz.) $13.75

 

Alrighty, hope that was more helpful and not confusing. To recap:

Fill your bottle (any size) with 2/3 water and 1/3 witch hazel

Then, add…

RECIPE FOR 2 OUNCE BOTTLE: 15 drops purification oil
RECIPE FOR 4 OUNCE BOTTLE: 25-30 drops oil
RECIPE FOR 8 OUNCE BOTTLE: 35-40 drops oil