Best DEET repellent for avoiding insect bites while travelling in Europe

[MicDoyle]

Hi everyone, I got badly bitten in Lake Como. Im away in Ljubljana next week and Im worried about getting bitten again. Its not infected and I promise I am not scratching. Im just rubbing ice on it. Any recommendations for Deet repellent so I dont get bitten again. I really appreciate it. From Itchy and Scratchy

Does it have to be DEET? I use Smidge and it works very well for me.

https://amzn.eu/d/08WxsE2H

Deet is very toxic ... I also get bitten quite badly and find the Avon so soft spray very good at keeping the bugs away.

I use jungle formula or I get eaten alive. I've tried many deet free mosquito repellents and they just don't work on me.

Antihistamines and 1% Hydrocortisone cream really help with the itching and healing time too. I'm going to Portugal on Monday and am well stocked on all of these!

Anything with deet, it doesn't matter what brand. I don't like the aerosol ones as they make me sneeze.
Antihistamine cream for the bites.

Why do you want DEET? Smidge is far better from a not using crazy chemicals point of view and is very effective. It's what they use everywhere against the pesky wee beasties in Scotland and works with all biting insects. It's all I ever use.

Mountain warehouse do a 50% DEET which is great.

Smidge is excellent. Do not bother wasting your money on any pointless sprays from Avon. The So Soft spray is still sometimes recommended on these threads (by reps?!) but I would give it a miss unless you want to be really greasy, smell absolutely revolting and still be covered in bites!

I made the mistake of buying some of that Avon spray one year. Absolutely revolting smell!

Same here. The Avon So Soft body oil smells quite nice and works brilliantly. I have walked through swarms of midges and not been bitten. The army even use it. Also take Anthisan cream and a good non-drowsy antihistamine like Fexofenadine with you. Some people find those electric zappers work too. I tried one and it didn;t help me much but a friend swears by them.

Take one antihistamine a day. Bites will not worry you.

We used Trek the other year and it was great barely a bite and I usually get eaten alive.

I do DEET (Boots own seems to work for me, less so for DD) plus those protect wrist band things and then, when I’ve been bitten (which I will be as all mosquitoes love me), I take an anti-histamine and an anti-inflammatory. And drink gallons of water

The roll on kind of deet ones work best I think, covers better than a spray (plus you don't breathe it in). I use Off! brand, its the most popular in Finland (where there are many many mosquitoes), one version is also effective for ticks too.

Mosquito milk is the best thing I've ever used, I used to get covered in bites regardless of what I used. Started using it about 5 years ago and not been bitten once. You get it on amazon.

Take antihistamines instead

Stops the reaction

If it's 50% DEET it will be effective.

However, I am not a fan of DEET so I use Incognito Anti Mosquito which uses a different compound which is scientifically tested and doesn't require me to be paranoid about melting my own glasses.

Thanks everyone. I take antihistamines everyday, Fexofendadine for my hayfever- it sadly hasn't helped much with the bites. I will pack antihistamines inflammatories as well. Thanks for the many recommendations- I feel nervous about going because it ruins the holiday. I cant even sleep because its so itchy and clothes touching the bites feel excruciating. I cant be naked!
Off to have a good browse on Amazon. Thank you so much everyone!

Completely agreed on this. I can have 30+ bites if I am unlucky and also don't use insect repellent and no matter how much antihistamine I take they're still hideously unpleasant.

I take hydrocortisone and antihistamine cream with me as well and alternate on any bites, if I miss a bit or whatever.

I also usually take a flannel with me, as if I am in somewhere with a fridge or freezer a chilled out frozen flannel is great on bites. My final technique is very counterintuitive, but it's to put really hot water (not quite scalding but as hot as I can bear) on them, i.e. in the shower. It's sort of like it overwhelms the receptors in the nerves and stops the itching.

I have just had another thought. Get yourself some Fenistil antihistamine gel. You can't buy it over the counter in the UK, but you can get it legitimately on Amazon. It's great stuff to stop the itching

Boots own brand is good, or jungle formula though better for Northern Europe was a scandi brand, jungle formula wasn’t as effective on the biting creatures north of the arctic circle. Take antihistamines as they help with any bites

I use Tiger Balm on the bites - it really stops the itch.

Jungle Repellent - Max worked perfectly for me this year in Mallorca - no bites. Two years ago there I ended up covered in the worst bites ever so haven’t taken any chances since.

DEET is awful stuff but for some of us it’s the only thing that stops us from being bitten to shit and having a miserable holiday. I use either Boots own brand or Jungle Formula. I do second Tiger Balm as itch relief.

I bought one of these Beurer bite heat pens after it was recommended on MN for mozzie bites and it’s brilliant! It takes the itch away instantly.
https://amzn.eu/d/0aj2QTUr

When I’m somewhere with lots of mozzies, I use the strongest DEET I can find. I have some pretty lethal 80% DEET I bought in Australia and some 98% DEET in the USA. I never get bitten when wearing them but obviously have to be careful what I touch - and definitely wash my hands very very carefully when applying.

I think 50% DEET is the strongest you can buy in the UK. That works as well as the highest % ones but just means that you need to apply it more frequently.

Natural repellents don’t seem to work on me at all.

I'd also recommend the heat zapper things! Picked one up at Aldi a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity - I was skeptical but it genuinely work instantly, like magic. I found smaller bites just needed one zap; with larger bites, the itching returned after around six hours and needed another zapping or two before they went away for good.

I react terribly to bites and am a complete baby about them, and have had a couple of holidays that were almost ruined by the itching. I wish so much that these were available decades ago!