Bugs

I hate putting insect repellent on my skin. It feels and smells gross. This weekend I had to take the plunge so I thought I'd buy some of my own to carry to an outside party. First of all - who knew that insect repellent wasn't in the pharmacy section of the grocery store?? I almost left before going to the toxic roach trap section of Harris Teeter. Bug sprays now are all about repelling the West Nile Virus. Great idea, but if a mosquito repellent is keeping away mosquitoes - wouldn't that include the ones infected with West Nile Virus? Or am I really dumb?

I smelled a few of the sprays and based purely on smell alone - I had to go with the Cutter Skinsations Insect Repellent. The scent really was "clean and fresh"! My thinking was that when I was outside at the party people MIGHT even think it was my perfume. It smelled that refreshing! This one seemed like the more feminine choice. The packaging also hearkened back to the Skin So Soft by Avon that everyone used to swear by when I was growing up. But something else made me grab the Cutter Advanced Insect Repellent. It was the one that most people had bought in the section and it was on price special. However, the scent was fragrance free and I was still so hung up on the Skinsations that I purchased both. It was a crazy Saturday!

Off! seems to be the brand with the most monopoly on the bug market...but something about Cutter just appealed to me. Was it the fair pricing? The nice scent? Possibly. Most importantly though the Cutter graphics weren't assaulting my eyes. When I got home I checked the labels to see what the active ingredients were in both sprays. DEET was the main ingredient in the Skinsations and Picaridin was the main one in the the Advanced. I remember DEET being controversial, but I couldn't remember why. A quick fact check this morning and I'm still clueless. I assume there were cases of birth defects in pregnant mothers and some belief that DEET was a carcinogen, but from what I've read this morning that is not the case with the newer products on the market today. Does anyone else know more about DEET that I'm missing?

As for the products effectiveness, I'm pleased with my purchases. I used the Advanced one at the party but I didn't apply it until after I got there so I got a few bites beforehand...