Desperately need recommendations for mosquito deterrent please!

[ElTortilla]

I'm going away in September and the mosquitoes eat me alive every single time. It becomes very uncomfortable and I can't sit outside in the evening. I can hear the mozzies zoning in on me when im trying to sleep. Last time I had about 20 bites on my body. I still have the scars!

I have tried a few sprays/roll ons now but each one hasn't done the job. Please can you recommend your fail safe mozzie deterrents? Also for the apartment, do plug in deterrents really work? I've found they don't but maybe I'm using one that's ineffective.

Thank you.

Use a hairdryer or very hot shower directly on the bite as hot as you can handle.

It is miraculous and gets rid of itch for several hours.

OP, you really dont need to spend £10 on a JF plug in, just buy local when you get there you can buy complete sets as well as refills.

I pay less than £2.00 for a full set (Plug and liquid) and less than £1 for a refill. These are the big branded ones.

Again it would be a help as to where your going so maybe could recommend brands to get or sprays.

Have just spent 4 weeks in a high risk area. Max strength jungle formula 3 x a day kept me bite free - only bites I got were during the one night when I must have forgotten to put it on, much to the delight of the mozzies

Another vote for Jungle Formula. I take a roll on in my hand luggage so I can use it before I get off the plane, same on the return journey home. Take it with you if you go on any excursions too. I always have it in my bag.

On Amazon, you can buy for just a couple of pounds a sting relief cream which is actually 1% hydrocortisone. I find this more relieving than antihistamine cream.

I spray some JF into my hands then mix with body lotion and put that on my exposed areas then put roll on on top.

try the local supermarket and you can buy a room spray. One country I lived in had a spray branded Doom and it was amazingly effective.

I get bitten alive every year and react badly when we go to Italy. Have tried it all.. skin so soft, bracelets, citronella etc. Jungle Formula with Deet is the only thing that works. I prefer the roll on to the spray as the spray stinks.

This stuff is excellent: www.lessmosquito.com/

I also recommend hydrocortisone cream for the bites. My daughter reacts very badly and I've been using it (as recommended by her paediatrician) since she was a baby and it makes a huge difference in terms of reducing the itching and the swelling.

Hi thank you for your advice. I can only find expensive ones when I'm away too but that's in the coastal supermarkets so maybe they're geared to the tourists and that's why they're expensive. I'm going to the Costa del Sol, Spain.

Yes to this. These are my legs from an inland holiday in Italy, the itching and pain was horrendous and went on for days. I was getting up in the night to spray cold water on them.

I only discovered hydrocortisone cream when I got home and it has been my essential holiday cream ever since.

I Don’t rate the plugins, even the Jungle Formula, but the Deet spray is quite good, it just stinks. The Avon stuff smells ok but isn’t particularly good.

Thing is with the plug ins is to leave them on until the liquid has gone then change. No use switching them on and off all the time. That and a spray of the bedroom long before you go to bed and a fan or air condition will defiantly help keep them at bay.

I would rather have the smell of any deet product to the alternative of getting bit or worse still dengue, which is horrendous.

The plug ins I use are very cheap and have a tablet in not liquid. Replace every 8 hours.

I can't believe I only just spotted this thread as this is my obsession right now!

We are off to a Greek island next week and I have the fear.
My last holiday in France was honestly a bit ruined by my mozzie bites - I get horrible blister reactions and even a French pharmacist recoiled at the sight of my bites .

So this year my entire holiday shopping has been focussed on bite prevention and reducing the discomfort if I do get them.

Be warned I have gone belt and braces - so much so that Amazon is now adding even more extreme suggestions like a head net!

I have -
Vitamin B 12 - started this already
Antihistamine for reactions
Jungle formula for me
Something less Deet based for kids
Antisan cream
After Bite pen
Pestects bands ( great marketing bet they don't work!)
Beurer insect bite healer pen ( this gets amazing reviews !)
Jungle formula plug in
Moskinto bite patches

Oh and yesterday I came across a UV zapper machine on another thread and ordered that too ( no idea if it will fit in luggage or arrive in time!)

Surely I have all bases covered ?!
Maybe I still need lemon scented products and some citronella for the balcony.

Typing that out I am genuinely worried I have lost the plot and will exceed baggage allowance ..

I wish I knew

I was in the south of France in late May, and while we were on the coast I only had one or two bites. But once we went inland (towards Nimes) both me and DH were eaten alive. I had put my trust in Pestects bracelets - i wore two, one on wrist and one on ankle and changed them weekly but they did nothing. I also had some Jungle Formula 4 which didn't seem to do much either. I figure the best thing is to stay covered with clothing. These buggers bit day and night though.

Tropical strength insect repellent. I've gotten to the point that only the strongest stuff gives me any sort of peace of mind and for a couple of weeks a year it's the lessor of two evils. If I lived somewhere I'd have to soak myself in the stuff daily I'd be much more concerned.

Used Trek and anti histamines in Corfu this year and wasn't bothered by mosquitos and normally I'm an all you can eat buffet for them.

@holidayfever2024 I’d add in a hydrocortisone cream for bite relief. You can get it from Amazon. Sorry can’t link it but the brand I got is called Skincalm.

I always carry a JF roll on with me at all times.

😡So so mad, just got in the lift to my apartment after being out, boy its a hot one.....but jeans and socks trainers as I have walked a lot.....and been bitten on my ankle, with spray on.....

Everyone is hyper sensitive to mozzies at the moment here as I have mentioned Dengue is everywhere, its itching like mad first bite since last December.....

Smidge works and smells nicer than most.

Bloody hate mosquitos and am still traumatised after being bitten by tiger mosquitos in Spain several years ago. Definitely DEET - no point bothering with the “gentle, non-toxic” stuff. Start antihistamines a week before you travel - this will dampen down your response before you get bitten. Yes to 1% hydrocortisone cream and worth trying to get Fucidin cream (prescription only) before you go in case the bites get infected. You can get an amazing cream called Onctose in France that has 1% HC and a local anaesthetic in it - may be available on Amazon.

Anti histamines every day a week before hand and every day on holiday / strong deet / aircon on constantly in your living space, they don't like the cold / the hot spoon trick on bites is amazing for relief. We did two years a row in Italian campsites in the forest. First year we got eaten alive, second year we used this strategy from the start and only got a very occasional bite. Also, do this for the whole family, not the one person who gets bitten, as it'll be too late when you discover the hard way that others get bitten too!

Me.....take me with you because they will all bite me instead. Dh swears I am the reason he never gets bitten.....you can play dot to dot on my skin if I go anywhere near the equator!

My sympathies! It's bad enough without the Dengue dread in the mix !

Thank you I will! I may have some somewhere..
I have to say it made me smile that instead of anyone telling me I was being totally over the top I have now been told to get something else for my armoury!

@holidayfever2024 i think your armoury is really smart. My DH thinks I’m a bit OTT but he never gets bitten. If he does it doesn’t bother him whereas I’m just a great big ball of histamine and scratching.

I’ve found Smidge is effective and can be put on face which is good. Definitely hydrocortisone cream to stop any bites itching.