Natural Insect Repellant

I am a mozzie magnet and if you want to keep the mozzies away just bring me along and you will be left well alone.

All summer I have been testing out different natural insect repellents and I can now share with you the two that I was extremely happy with because they worked really well and did not leave you feeling greasy or sticky.

I also tested one that I made following a recipe online that used witch hazel and essential oils which was also pretty good.

The first one that I really liked was Bug Another made by Biologika.  It is an organic spray that is made with essential oils, ethanol, aloe vera, coco glucoside, glycerine, xanthan gum and potassium sorbate.

It goes on in a lovely light mist, leaves you feeling like you have not sprayed anything on at all and smells amazing (almost good enough to wear as a perfume) with the combination of essential oils.  
It works really well and I even applied it to my face when we were camping as the mozzies were trying to bite my forehead.  It retails for $11.00 - $13.00 for 125ml and can be purchased online or at many health food stores.

The second insect repellent that I really like is the Outdoor Body Spray by Perfect Potion.  

While not certified organic the ingredient list is only essential oils, ethanol and water.  It also smells really nice but slightly more of citronella than the other oils.  Just like the Bug Another it also sprays on in a nice fine mist and leaves you feeling like you are not wearing anything at all.

It retails for $15.95 for 125 ml online and in store at Perfect Potion.

Both of these sprays are Australian made and I feel very happy that I have been able to find insect repellents that meet my physical and ethical needs.

The home made recipe I tried was just a combination of 120 ml of witch hazel, 120 ml of water and 50 drops of essential oils and then shake to blend.

You can use any essential oils but if you want insect repelling ones you should use a mix of the following:
Citronella
Lavender
Basil
Tea Tree
Rosemary
Clove
Geranium
Mint 
Lemon Grass
Thyme
Cedar
Eucalyptus
Peppermint

I made us a test batch (1/5th the size) and used citronella, clove, eucalyptus, lavender, and cedar.  I think getting the proportions of fragrance right will take a bit of fine tuning and for now I am happy to purchase one of the others.

Have you got a preferred insect repellent or home made recipe?

Disclaimer: The Perfect Potion Outdoor Body Spray was provided to me by Perfect Potion for testing but I have not been paid to endorse their product.

A Product Review

This is the second time that I have blogged about a local product from Kin Kin Naturals.  

The first product of theirs that I blogged about was their dish washing liquid.  That was back at the start of October after using it for about a month, and I stand by what I said when I said it was a great product.  

We are still using that same bottle of dish washing liquid and there is about 1/8th to go, that's about 8 months so far.  

Now I don't want to deceive anyone here into thinking that I have some magic never ending bottle of dish washing liquid, as that is clearly not the case.  The truth is that we also have a dishwasher which we use once a day.  So as well as the load through the dishwasher we do one lot of dishes in the sink per day for the things that do not go in the dishwasher.  On top of that I often use a drop or two of dish washing liquid on my dishcloth to wipe the stove top, benches and on the cupboard doors.  

In the past I have gone through a lot more bottles in that same period of time so I know that spending that little bit more to buy the Kin Kin Naturals product works out cheaper in the long run, creates less waste and supports a family run local business.

The product I want to mention today is the other one of their products that we use in the kitchen, the dish washing powder.

We have tried a couple of other brands including Earths Choice tablets and 7th Generation Powder.  The Earths Choice worked out a lot more expensive as you would expect being in a tablet and although the 7th Generation powder was close in cost and as effective as the Kin Kin Naturals it is shipped all the way from North America so looses out on the carbon footprint by a long shot and is not supporting local business which is something that is really important to me.

The Kin Kin Naturals dishwasher powder advises that it will do approximately 70 washes but I am sure you get a few more that that as we have been using our current bottle since the end of February and are about to use the last of it in the next few days. 

I have a bit of email correspondence with Felix the owner of the company and asked about other products they are looking at doing in the future and I have also made suggestions about the things that I would like to see in their range such as refill bags for the dishwasher powder and dish washing liquid and a toilet cleaner.   Felix has always responded with enthusiasm to my feedback and suggestions and he has even asked for my opinion on packaging in return.  They have recently expanded their range to include an oxygen whitener so I will be including that on my "products to try" list when I next need some.

I would like to stress that I have no affiliation with Kin Kin Naturals and not received payment for my opinion.  I am just a regular consumer who is happy to be able to give a bit of a plug to a locally made product that I am happy to use.

Buying Local

Where I can, I like to buy locally made products or Australian products.

But the term Australian made can be deceptive and often you will find terms like : "Made in Australia, from Imported Ingredients" or "Made in Australia, from Local and Imported Ingredients".
Then I have to ask myself is better to buy something made in Australia with imported ingredients or something made with Australian ingredients but by an overseas company?

My hubby hates doing the groceries with me because I read the labels on everything I buy to see where it was made, who by, and are the ingredients Australian.   I find it much more relaxing if he leaves me to it as well so we have an understanding about it all.

I do not profess to know a huge amount on this subject but I do know that it makes sense to spend you money it a way that will have benefits for the community you live in rather than sending it overseas.  A fellow blogger who has been investigating food sources is Rose and you can read all about the Rose Marshall Project on her very informative blog.

According to Dick Smith's website 85% of the products in the average Australian grocery trolley are made by foreign owned companies. This results in $100 million a day going outside Australia. By comparison, in Japan, 98% of goods in supermarkets are owned by Japanese organisations.

There are two key reasons to support Australian owned companies – profits stay in Australia and jobs are created for Australians. If every Australian redirects $10 per week from foreign owned companies and foreign made items to Australian products, Australia would save $4 billion per year and create 100,000 new jobs. (Source: Ausbuy).  The Dick Smith's website has some interesting information about the ownership of brands/foreign ownership and is worth a read.

But lets face it the product also has to live up to our expectations and I believe that if it doesn't we should take the time to give that feedback to the producer so they have the opportunity to make changes and give the consumer what they want.

So today I would like to sing the praises of a product that is all the things I want it to be.  And better than that not only is it a good product, it is a GREAT product. Kin Kin Naturals dish washing liquid.

Our gas hot water unit is old and you have to keep boiling the jug to get the water hot enough, other wise things have to be washed a 2nd or third time.  So as you can imagine a poor quality dish washing liquid only adds to the frustration.  But the Kin Kin Naturals dish washing liquid is top notch and concentrated so you only use a very small amount.

11/5/2012 - Update
The dishwashing liquid is still going and we have about 1/8th left.

I would encourage everyone to look out for it and give it a go, and check out their website for all of the stores that stock their products.

So now I would like to know if you can recommend any true Australian products?