We’re leaving for our annual trip to the Philippines next week to visit Mr. Bee’s parents, so I’ll be writing a lot of travel related posts over the next week!

I always stock up on mosquito repellents and bite treatments before we go since it’s a tropical island, and Charlie and I are unfortunately delicious to them. Everyone knows how much mosquito bites suck, and since I’m a particularly itchy person, they drive me crazy! Apparently it’s mostly genetics whether you attract mosquitoes, and studies have shown that people with O type blood like me and Charlie tend to get more bites than people with A or B blood types. Mr. Bee and Olive (B blood type) get far fewer bites than us, even when we sleep in the same tent! This year I discovered a couple new products to add to our mosquito combating arsenal though, and hopefully they help me and Charlie escape the dreaded bites we get every year.

Mosquito-Bite-Repellents-and-Treatments

1) Buglet Reusable Repellent Bracelet – This bracelet for kids has an absorbent pad where you pour in bug repellent that never touches their skin. The bracelet comes with a DEET-free, nontoxic, essential oil based, bug repellent, but I’m assuming you can use any repellent you want. It’s not really feasible for us to apply bug repellent on the kids from head to toe throughout the entire day, so I love that this keeps bug repellent on them at all times. Plus it’s a slap bracelet! I got the bunny for Olive and the monkey for Charlie.

2) iCooker Mosquito Repellent Bracelet – This is the adult version of the bracelet repellent that I got for myself. Instead of pouring repellent into it however, it comes with 2 repellent pads that last 15 days each. Perfect for our trip!

3) Therapik Mosquito Bite Reliever – This might sound a little wacky, but I had to give it a try. It uses directed heat to eliminate mosquito bites immediately because “most insect venom is thermolabile (sensitive to heat).” I was a little skeptical at first, but it got a positive review on Gizmodo, and this blogger achieved similar results by blasting his mosquito bites with his hair dryer. I hope this works! I also wanted to try this Click Mosquito Bite Relief Device which uses an electrical pulse to eliminate itchiness, but it wouldn’t arrive in time for our trip.

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4) Cutter BiteMD Insect Bite Relief Stick – Since the reviews say the Therapik stings a little, I wanted to bring something different for the kids. While these analgesic products don’t get rid of mosquito bites, they do help with the itching.

5) Emu Bliss On the Go First Response Stick – I really wanted to try this all natural product made of emu oil that’s supposed to be a natural remedy for inflammation and pain, but unfortunately it wouldn’t arrive before we left for our trip.

6) Pa Paw Ointment – I am obsessed with this multi-purpose cult product from Australia! I have ridiculously chapped lips and this helps so much. On a recent camping trip I burned my finger badly and it hurt so much; when I applied this I felt better almost instantly. When I get a big pimple before my period, I put this on (it’s a drawing salve) and it shrinks considerably by the next morning. It is a miracle product! But a lot of people don’t like products with petroleum, so I looked for something similar containing the main ingredient pawpaw. I came across another Australian product called Suvana Paw Paw and Honey Balm which looks like a great alternative.

7) Sweetly Citron Natural Bug Repellent spray – I tend to lean towards more natural products since we have to spray this all over their bodies multiple times a day. I haven’t tried this bug repellent before, but it has great reviews so I hope it works in conjunction with the bracelets! The ingredients include: Lavender Oil, Lemon Essential Oil, Vanilla Extract, Citronella Oil, and Water.

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How do you prevent mosquito bites and combat itchiness?