Is Skin So Soft still effective in repelling mozzies?

[RedPandaFluff]

Going to Turkey in a couple of weeks and would rather not drench the kids in DEET unless I really have to - I remember reading that Avon Skin So Soft is effective as a repellent but then I also read they changed the recipe. Advice would be great!

It was working for me a few weeks ago.

Still worked for us this year in Morocco and Turkey

I find it irritating but love this as an )slightly pricey but smells gorgeous and is full of lovely ingredients) alternative. Didn't need to pack after sun or body lotion either

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alfresco-Natural-Flower-Hydrating-Essential/dp/B07RBDCN79/ref=ascdff_B07RBDCN79/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=255993401035&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1708480746730518017&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006867&hvtargid=pla-779386349899&psc=1

Yes, as far as I am aware, the blue version of the skin so soft still works to an extent, as it contains citronella - though it makes your skin very scaly after a while. Don’t get the pink version, as it has different ingredients and is no good as an insect repellent! However, the best anti mosquito spray I’ve found (we are plagued where I live) is Aeroguard - no DEET, fine for kids, and no smell at all.

Also worth getting one of the little devices for after you’ve been bitten, that heat up the spot and stop the itching - I was suspicious since I’m a mosquito magnet and would get huge lumps and bumps that would itch for days, but this thing is amazing, one zap and they don’t boil up or itch any more!! (I got the Beurer BR60 device off Amazon but I think there are a few similar products out there)

You can make your own with citronella in water or similar.

Great, thanks everyone, going to get some Skin So Soft and the bite zapper thing, then. I had a look for Aeroguard but don't see it on Amazon so will investigate. That fancy one looks lovely, @tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz - is it definitely effective? I have a horror of being bitten

@RedPandaFluff we also shower with Originals Lemon shower gel every evening before applying the skin so soft. I didn’t get a single bite this year. DH had 1 bite.

Didn’t work for myself or my husband when we were in Egypt
we both ended up covered in bites but lots on our feet and legs were from the sandflies, we both ended up on antibiotics as bites we so bad

my friend swears by using fresh lemon and rubbing the juice over her

The jungle formula slap bands are good.

I used to use it on a horse with Sweet Itch (allergic reaction to insert/midge bites), it worked really well. Only thing better was neem oil which smells RANK.

I only use Alfresco now, the original one. Smells gorgeous, feels wonderful as a body lotion and definitely works. I am a complete mozzie magnet but I don’t get bitten if I use this.
https://www.alfrescoshop.com/collections/moisturiser

I think it’s less effective nowadays. I have red hair and they love to eat me. Unfortunately, I’m also allergic to deet. I use the bracelets on my wrists and ankles. I also spray citronella on me and around the room and burn citronella candles on the balcony. They’re not 100% but they definitely do help. We always opt for pool facing rooms rather than garden facing too and top floor helps in terms of not being eaten at night.

Hi Panda

I am a walking All You Can Eat buffet for those flying fuckers and have spent many a holiday feeling miserable after being bitten alive - a high point was when DH and I did our first couple's holiday when younger (you remember those and how you wanted to look totally hot every day?) . The first am o woke to discover I'd been bitten on an eyelid. That was a sexy look. After a few days it gradually went down and he could stop worrying people were thinking he'd hit me. A few days later I woke to find the other one had been bitten. Really, really not fair.

So yes I have many years of finding ways to avoid the buggers and here's what I do religiously ahead of EVERY holiday abroad -

Vitamin B12 daily for a fortnight before and every day during. Apparently they small it through your pores but humans can't and it wards them off

Antihistamine every am on holiday so if o am bitten it isn't as bad

Those plug in things with the tablet in the room each evening and all windows shut before we go out. If possible air con on and no window open at night

The lotion all over (it's that nice) especially on ankles and around knees

Avoid standing water when you go out!

Apparently it's used on film sets to protect slebs

There are different subspecies of mosquitoes in different areas and it works for some and not others (as do all the essential oil based insect repellents, so you need different ones for different subspecies).

The original observations about SSS were based on Scottish Midges, not mosquitoes, though.

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz Your eyelid? That must have itched like a bastard! I got bitten on my clit on one godawful couples holiday to Greece pre-kids. Flying tossers!

Oh lord you officially have topped mine

That's one dedicated mosquito though

You were referring to the mosquito aren't you?

They are especially evil in Greece though.

SSS worked for me in both Barbados and Croatia this year. My husband stuck with a very expensive non-DEET one that has always worked for him before, and got eaten alive.

Never worked for me