Best mosquito repellents for VERY susceptible skin?

[Panicmode1]

We are heading to Thailand later in the year - I usually get bitten to pieces, even smothered in repellent. Someone recommended the Avon Softer Skin (?) stuff to me and said it is fabulous - does it really work?

Any other recommendations that aren't maybe so DEET heavy...?

Following. If only I could attract men and money the way I attract mosquitoes.

Skin so soft does absolutely nothing. You'll have posters saying it worked for them but it doesn't, they're just not mosquito magnets in the first place. Deet is the only solution unfortunately

😂😂😂

Smidge is supposed to be good (not used it yet, holiday in 4 weeks)

I was afraid this would be the answer, I really hate having to use such hefty chemicals so was really hoping for a less harsh solution.

(When I was PG, we went to a wedding in the Turks and Caicos and so I couldn't use DEET. I was in so much pain from swollen bites after 2 days of no DEET, I was told by the hotel doctor to use it as a matter of urgency, despite the baby....)

Avon original skin so soft. Spray all over after your sun tan lotion has dried. Worked for my mum.

Here we go 🤣 brace yourself OP.

Smidge apparently has a different active ingredients which is less nasty chemical than Deet but as effective? Worth a try.

I also find Incognito good, I think it just smells so citronella-y they can smell you less 😂

Smidge is fantastic. I mainly use it as we get horseflies in the garden and I react badly to their bites, but it’s fantastic for keeping midges and mossies away as well.

🤣🤣

Al Fresco lotion and cologne. Smells lovely, no DEET and certainly works for me and my DD.
And I absolutely AM a mozzie magnet. I get bitten 100x more than anyone else I know and often react really badly to bites.

Got bitten horrendously in March in Barbados. Nothing worked apart from smothering in Sudocrem when I got home. 😟

Sawyer Picardin Mosquito repellent from Amazon and when you get to wherever you are going get some tiger balm it's great to soothe bites and smells oddly nice !!! Well maybe just to me

I don't think anything works. I tried everything including deet when I lived abroad.

My Spanish friend told me its because I'm fat, they like fat people because apparently they eat lots of sweet things 😂

A course of antihistamines before you go can maybe help with the swelling when you get bitten and for me staying inside after dusk which isn't very practical.

The Tiger Balm stick on patches. One of the hotels we stayed in whilst in Singapore left them out in our room every day.

I get a bullous reaction to mozzie bites. Didn’t get any bites this time.

Mozzies bloody love me, unfortunately! I use Boots 50% Deet or Jungle Formula tropical strength which is also 50% Deet. Any less does not work. Avon So Soft did absolutely nothing for me, and I believe they've changed the formula anyway so now it doesn't work for anyone.
I also took garlic pills as it's supposed to help you be less "attractive". I don't think it helped but it didn't harm either!

Sunset is the worst time, so I advise you cover up then. In some places I would have long sleeves and trousers tucked into socks when everyone else was still in swimwear!

Tiger Balm was good for helping with the itching once I did get bitten.

Thanks everyone - I was hoping for a miracle recommendation for something I hadn't heard of, and I do always take antihistamine with me!

I will take Smidge and my usual max strength Jungle Formula (I've also tried the garlic/marmite/B6 recommendations in the past without much success.

(For some reason, they have always loved me, even when I was a slim size 8, and just as much now I'm a slighty more matronly perimenopausal mum who is a bit bigger than that 🤣 so it's got nothing to do with size and shame on anyone who uses that nonsense to make someone feel bad 🙄).

Smidge contains picaridin which works differently from DEET. It's really effective. You can get picaridin sprays that can spray on clothes, back packs and shoes that last several washes too.
Avon just has citronella in it which can help marginally but it's really not all that effective.

On a MN thread only a month or so ago someone recommended Mosquito Milk..£10 from Amazon.
My DH is usually bitten loads and has bad reactions but he only got one bite in Turkey last month..
It's a roll on and you don't have to put it all over your skin.. just key spots like ankles, wrists,neck etc..my DH did use quite a bit tho..it smells nice too..

Deet. Only thing that works for me. Sorry.

I agree with Piratesofponies. A course of antihistamine is a good start in avoiding the nastier inflammation from bites, rather than waiting until you arrive in Thailand.

I had good results with the incognito spray in Spain last summer, no bites at all. Do check but I don’t think that contains DEET.

Fellow mossie magnet here. And Skin so Soft does not work!
I lived in a mossie ridden country and tried it. Don't waste your time!
You want proper deet type sprays. Or roll ons. I like the Jungle Formula roll on
This who say Skin so Soft works aren't fully fledged mossie magnets! Or at least don't react to bites

Turkish cologne spritzed on the skin and hair and in the air around.

Duru on Amazon.