Customer Reviews

Repel HG-406T Lemon Eucalyptus 4-Ounce Insect Repellent Pump Spray

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

As a biochemist, I don't leave my repellents to chance. I insist on reading some of the peer-reviewed scientific studies before switching away from DEET repellents. Some papers on Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, aka OLE or PMD (the synthesized version) caught my attention which made me read further. I looked for information through the Center for Disease Control (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/RepellentUpdates.htm) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Both sites indicate that OLE is indeed tested and effective, albeit not equivalent (hourly) to >30% DEET. I found that the EPA also evaluates repellent data for safety and hourly effectiveness for brand name products including 30/40% Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus; this can be viewed at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/mosquitoes/mosquito-tick-product.html . Armed with this information, I decided to take OLE on a trip to an island (with swamps) in Belize. We *loved* this product. Although 30% DEET was more powerful as a repellent when we were walking directly next to the swamps, the Repel Lemon Eucalyptus product was plenty effective and so much more pleasant when we were in more usual mosquito (and sand flea) territory back at our base camp. We particularly preferred using it at bedtime in our cabins, since we were not sleeping in a tight, air conditioned room. Lemon Eucalyptus is also a more pleasant product to use on the face, neck, and scalp (avoid the eyes) than DEET. Before the end of our trip, we had finished the Repel Lemon Eucalyptus oil and wished we had brought more. I will take *many* bottles of REPEL 30/40% Lemon Eucalyptus oil and also some DEET on my trip to Madagascar next month. If you decide to purchase OLE, make sure you are NOT buying lemongrass oil or essential oils of lemon eucalyptus, as these are mixtures of oils as they come straight from the plant, and the percentage of OLE (PMD) may not be high enough to be effective. I highly recommend the REPEL product.

I am allergic to Deet. I've been the one at the back of the camping/hiking/fishing trips silently feeding millions of mosquitoes and other biting insects in misery for years- until now. I've tried everything on the market and was always disappointed, since all the deet free products I tried either triggered my allergies or just plain didn't work. This year, my doctor recommended I try the deet-free Repel, and I am sold. The difference is like night and day. We took it on a trip photographing butterflies and dragonflies in swamps in the Rio Grande Valley, TX, and came away bite free. Didn't work on chiggers, but I don't think it's supposed to. I'm not sure it lasts as long as the deet-containing products- my husband started using it exclusively as well, and he has to apply it more often than the Off or Cutter products he used to use. But I'm talking a drop from six hours of effectiveness to four, hardly a problem if you have room in your pack to carry the stuff. Also, it smells like Eucalyptus, which some people don't like, and you will smell of it for HOURS, even after it has lost it's effectiveness or until you take a shower.

My family and I used this during a week-long camping trip to Lassen National Park in early spring. Here is our experience in brief:

Pros

* Pleasing scent - We found the scent to be pleasing, if a bit strong at first. It does smell of eucalyptus and lemon and not of chemicals, which is nice. Though strong at first, it quickly dissipates to a more mellow background aroma
* Effective - The mosquitoes against which we used this product were extremely aggressive and voracious, drilling through layers of clothing that I had thought would stop them. They didn't. When giving our exposed skin and clothing heavy doses of this, we noticed an immediate effect: The skeeters would hover around, but not come near, and certainly would not land on us.

Cons

* Awkward and ineffective pump - The spray pump worked well enough when it worked, but was stiff to operate. Besides that, it would frequently experience some kind of vapor lock and would cease to function, requiring us to take it off and apply the product by hand. It may be that we got a bad bottle, and I'll allow for that as the rating I give is only for the product, not the packaging. Still, I think it's important to report on our experience, especially as the package affected our use of the product.
* Short Term Effectiveness - Mind you, I've read the studies and reviews of this product and also the many glowing reviews and all I can do with this review is report on our direct experience of this repellent. While noticeably very effective at first, we experienced a sharp drop off of performance well before six hours. I would expect a gradual tapering off of performance of any similar product, either of manufactured or natural derivation. But we experienced significant intrusion of mosquitoes after two hours' time. (that is to say, they were landing on us and sucking our blood) Others' experiences can - and obviously do - vary; to what extent the variety of mosquitoes, climate, and personal chemistry play into the overall effectiveness of this repellent, I do not know. What I do know, however, is that in order to maintain ourselves relatively mosquito-free, we had to reapply this product every two hours during peak skeeter activity: morning and evenings.

Other thoughts

Would I use this product again? I have to say yes, I probably would. I still prefer this to deet-based products, though I don't have any scientific evidence that having this on your skin for hours is any less detrimental to your health than deet. I do know that I don't like having to reapply it so frequently, however, and I've got to dock it two stars for that. I never expected this to be miraculous, but I did expect that the repellent effect would be significant up to six hours, as the labeling led me to believe. My personal experience with this was that it was significantly effective for about two hours, after which the skeeters would start to move in.

We used this product exactly as recommended and let me tell you we were fairly saturated with the stuff. Let me also say again that this was very noticeably effective right away - it just didn't last. Clearly, others have had better experience with this product, and that should definitely be taken into account. I'd just say go ahead and use this stuff, but don't leave the bottle behind at the camp when you go out for a day hike in skeeter territory, 'cause you may be bummed when you arrive at a really nice, trouty stream and find that your repellent isn't working so well any more.

It may be that my skeeters were commando-trained; it may be that my body chemistry negated the effect of the repellent; or it may be that I just got a bad bottle - still, I've got to give it three stars because in the end, it gave me two hours of protection, not six.

Ya know the guy in the crowd who always has the army of bugs flying around his head? That guy is me. I've tried everything, sometimes at the same time (not safe, by the way).

Yesterday I went on a 5 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail in Northern NJ. Great walk, but there were a million bugs, all of whom told their friends about me. The guy I was walking with told me to try this "deet free" stuff. I kept saying no, until I shared the can of OFF I brought with the crowd at the Rutherford Shelter. They used it up so I figured I'd try the Repel.

This stuff is great. It worked for two solid hours. Probably more, but we were back at the car by then. I've just ordered a bunch. Go for it! As a plus, it smells a lot better than the typical stuff, too.

I'm one of the unfortunate people that mosquitoes love. No matter where I go, I am always the first to get bitten. My bites can swell up to the size of a quarter, and particularly bad ones can itch for a week, so it is with great relief that I discovered Repel last summer.

I am happy to report that this is very effective for a mosquito lightning rod like me and against such a vicious enemy as the Asian tiger mosquitoes in my area. They've out-competed the brown mosquitoes we used to have, which only bite during the morning and dusk/evening and are quite docile by comparison. Asian tigers are active all day and night and very efficient at finding their prey. They're quicker, meaner, and more prolific. Stepping into the garden without my Repel means 6-8 bites within minutes. Unlike browns, the bites of Asian tigers also hurt.

Ease of use:
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The pump is very easy to use. It creates a fine mist that can be rubbed in to distribute. The mist gives your skin a bit of a sheen, since it contains oils. The smell is pleasant, though you may wish to hold your breath while spraying, in order to prevent accidental inhalation. You may need to apply generously, depending on your level of mosquito attraction.


Environmental and Safety Considerations:
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The active ingredient p-Menthane-3,8-diol is made from eucalyptus leaves, so you can feel easier about using it. I also bought OFF! Deep Woods Long Lasting Insect Repellents along with this product, but was concerned about DEET getting absorbed into my skin. Repel, on the other hand, is plant-based and much safer to use as well as environmentally more responsible. p-Menthane-3,8-diol poses no risk to humans or animals, according to the EPA, so you don't have to worry about poisoning if you have children or pets.

I LOVE THIS STUFF !!!
Its got a great lemon smell and it spreads easily, like baby oil. It's not greasy like "skin so soft" and it's natural. I never did like the smell of DEET and I always wondered what the unnatural chemicals were doing to my skin.

The most important thing is IT WORKS !!! Even after 100s of ticks are crawling and biting, one squirt and they die. I use one squirt per ear and mosquitoes stay away from my head. I oil up my arms and legs then I head off in to the bush without fear of bug bites. I spray it on any scratches because I have found that it makes a great disinfectant and wound dressing with very little sting. It's a must for any med kit.

Warning: if you get it in your eyes it will sting for a few seconds until your tears dilutes the oils. It's flavor is NOT lemony.

I'm 38 and I love being, and working, in the woods and brush. This is the best repellent I have found. I'm glad Amazon has it.

I grew up fishing at night in Michigan's trout streams, and my dad always swore by Muskol as the best bug-juice out there. Twenty or thirty years ago that may well have been true (if memory serves, we used the 100% DEET formula, or whatever the full-strength one was back then). DEET works well, but it will destroy several kinds of plastic (including, as it turns out, a vinyl satchel in which a bottle leaked), has an unpleasant smell, and leaves a greasy feeling on your skin. When I get done fishing I can't wait to wash the stuff off of me.

I've always wished for something as effective but more pleasant. Thus, when I heard about the lemon eucalyptus idea and its supposed benefits, I had to try it. I have used it for a couple of years now both in northern Michigan and the wilds of northern Ontario fishing for pike and walleye. If you haven't been to Canada in June, let me assure you that there are few better test-areas for insect repellent. They've got more blackflies than you'd ever think possible, and mosquitoes so big they should be FAA-licensed. Going into the bush in shorts and a T-shirt is a quick ticket to misery, if not insanity.

I am pleased to say that the Repel Lemon Eucalyptus formula works extremely well for me even in the bug-infested north woods. Maybe it wouldn't be as effective for everyone else, since body chemistries vary, but I have found it to be a great DEET substitute. It leaves very little oily residue, and I find the odor to be fairly pleasant (much more so than DEET). Subjectively it does not seem to last quite as long as the strongest DEET products, but since it's pleasant to wear I don't mind reapplying every few hours. When fresh, it's at LEAST as effective as any DEET product I've tried. It's biodegradeable and doesn't seem to damage any clothing or plastics. It is reported to stain some leathers, but I haven't had a chance to test this.

I have not yet tried a picaridin-based product such as Cutter Advanced, but it so happens that I will be pitting lemon eucalyptus against picaridin next week and will be very interested to see which comes out on top. In the meantime, I highly recommend this Repel product. It's certainly worth trying to see if it works for you.

Bought this really good product on Amazon,but later found it cheaper at Target in camping section.

I used this product all weekend fishing around the lakes and streams of Vermont. Mosquitos must have just hatched, because they were out in force. It was so bad, I could hear them swarming outside my truck when I pulled up to the first lake. They were viscious!!! Unfortunately, I left the Repel in the back of the truck and had to make my way through the mosquito storm unprotected. But, after a quick dash to the rear and armed with my new insect juice... I began furiously coating my skin and clothes. The sound of the mosquitos buzzing around my ear was enough to make me want to get back in my truck and head home. But, after realizing they were not landing, I decided to tough it out. The lemon eucalyptus juice was working. After about an hour of fishing, with the sun starting to set, the bugs really started to get thick. Eventhough they weren't landing, they were close enough my ears and face to be a nuisance. Finally, I decided to reach into my fishing bag and pull out the can of bug spray which contains DEET 30%. This kept the bugs a little further away. But, it didn't make enough difference for me to resort to using it again the next day. Bottom line: I didn't receive a single mosquito bite.

I found that I didn't need to coat this on too thick. If they smell it they won't land on you. It definitely burns the eyes and doesn't taste great on the tongue... so, use caution around your face. A little light spraying on the back of my neck and ears kept them off my face. The smell isn't great. But, way better than most conventional bug sprays. I also feel the safety of using a natural product such as this... far out weighs the risk of using the dangerous chemical sprays. So, I am extremely happy with using this product from now on. I wish it was easier to find in stores. Thank god for Amazon.com!

It reads on the back, "Not for children under 6 or to be used around pets". "Wash off skin while inside".

So, this is pretty much useless if you have an indoor mosquito and tick problem like I do. I travel and work on a freight boat where mosquito and tick are common amongst the dirty, smelly crew. I sleep in a hammock.

The active ingredients cause skin burn, nose rash and general discharge of the eye Mucous membrane. So if you need it to sit on a sofa or bed, you'll get the active ingredients all over the place.