Reklame/produkter sponset av Nature’s Botanical

All Natural fly repellent? That actually works? Sounds a little too good to be true. I’ve tried my fair share of fly repellents that haven’t done the job, all of them varying from super-not-natural to super-very-natural to home-made. I was thrilled when Nature’s Botanical offered to send me some of their products to try out, and oh boy!

Most insect repellents in Norway are based on Permethrin or DEET. The Permethrin based ones have been working pretty well, but the chemical is heavily regulated and is a danger to water supplies (and not recommended for use on skin). Several of my friends horses have had some pretty bad allergic reactions to DEET, so I figured I wasn’t thrilled to try that out either.

When Nature’s Botanical say they are all natural, they mean all natural, and having their products based on Rosemary and Cedarwood oils gives of an incredible scent too! Not lemon-y, just fresh and a little rosemary-y? (Wow, Emma, I wonder why *hark* rosemary oil *hark*). I also think the fact that their natural ingredients aren’t any wonky natural ingredients, is a huge plus. Lot’s of things can be labelled natural, and still be rather dangerous.

I tried it out on myself first, and let me repeat myself; oh boy! When they said that the cream needed to be applied as if it was sunscreen, they weren’t messing around. Once my arms and neck was covered, the mosquitos got so offended they tried crawling into my nostril and into my ears! I was quite quick to cover up those areas too! x) Once I had mosquito-proofed myself, they didn’t even bother to think of me as a potential meal. For other bugs, you probably don’t have to be as thorough when applying. Or if you have more lazy mosquitos where you are from.

After a quick patch test on Lillen, we hacked out into mosquito land (and horsefly land! ugh) the next day, and even though he was sweaty and quite the luxurious target for flying terror bugs, they kept their distance. They still came to check us out, but didn’t find anywhere good to settle down, so we had a fairly quiet and calm hack. Applying the cream thoroughly on more exposed areas (face, prive parts, chest area etc.), and the rest in a light mist of the spray, we were more than covered enough!

Although their products work as an insect repellent, the ingredients are also quite useful for a lot of other stuff. I’ve applied it to itchy mosquito bites and had quite the sudden relief, I’ve used it as a hand lotion after a long evening of leather crafting, and I even had one of those kinda ingrown (sorry, gross) pimples that made half my face a swollen and sore, and go figure, my skin calmed down a lot after applying the cream.

The lotion comes as a roll-on (50ml) and on a spray bottle (125ml, 500ml and a 5L refill), and even though the roll-on is made for humans, it makes applying it on a horse face a lot easier. The spray works like a “normal” bottle of bug repellant. They also have a cream version – I have my 100g down in the stable for pony faces (because my roll-on is never where I need it to be) and one 50g by my bed, because I cannot sleep when itchy and that cream is a life saver.

Lillen is thankful for his new bug repellant, and is super happy to know it works! Why add lots of stuff to a repellent when there is a natural alternative out there – and that natural alternative is safe to use as well. He is however a bit insulted that he isn’t allowed to eat it, and that the one time he actually did manage to eat my hand with the cream on, it didn’t at all taste as good as he had hoped it would. Brego was offended I applied it to his face, but that is the norm with him, and after a headbutt (and a little pep talk about anger management) I think he too learned the lesson; the fresh smelling natural bug stuff is doing its job! Wohoo!

If you wish to learn more about Nature’s Botanical, you can check out their website at https://naturesbotanical.com/, where you also can ask whatever question you want, or order their products. They are Australia based, but ship worldwide without any fuzz. I got my parcel less than a week after they sent it, and I live on the other side of the world!

Nature’s Botanical were kind enough to send me their products for free, but that does in no way alter my view on their products. I decided to write this blog post out of my own will, and trust me when I say my 50g cream and the 50ml roll-on is going EVERYWHERE with me this summer! And for all of those out there who follow me on Instagram; pay attention to Monday. We have a little surprise for you! 😀

Emma