I went to bed with bites all over my legs.
I’d already tried everything in the house. A shower. Benadryl cream. Absorbine Jr. I decided I’d just tough it out and sleep through it.
I woke up in the middle of the night scratching.
That’s when I got up and went digging through the bag of samples I’d brought home from Switchback — not hopefully, just out of options. No-Bite-Me was in there. I put it on.
The itch and the sting were gone within minutes.
Why I recommend it
No-Bite-Me is a cream rather than a spray, and it does two jobs out of one jar. It repels — mosquitoes, black flies, ticks, fleas — and it takes the itch out of bites you already have.
There’s no DEET in it. It’s olive and soy oils in a beeswax base, with cedarwood, lemongrass, geranium, clove, spearmint and thyme doing the work. SallyeAnder have been making it for more than forty years, and it’s safe for kids, infants and pets. You get around four hours from an application.
The essential oils are also where the smell comes from, and the smell is genuinely good. I walked into a room recently and my mom and my niece both asked what I was wearing. I told them it was bug repellent. That was not the answer they were expecting.
Missy’s Honest Take
I want to be straight about how I came to this. It wasn’t my first choice, it was my last — three other things failed before I reached for it. I’m more convinced by that than I would have been if it had been the first thing I tried.
The itch relief is immediate and it lasts. That half I can vouch for completely.
The repelling half I’m still finding out about. So far I’ve used it in the backyard and on walks, and that isn’t a real test. Next week I’m camping somewhere mosquito-prone and it’s coming with me and staying on me. I’ll come back and update this.
What you’ll need
Nothing, except a habit. It isn’t waterproof or sweat-proof, so it wants reapplying after you’ve been in water and more often on a humid day. Four hours is a ceiling, not a guarantee.
There’s a soap version as well, if you’d rather start with it in the shower before you head out.
And it’s one layer rather than a whole plan. On a bad evening I’d still want the Thermacell running where we’re sitting, and the Tik Patrol in the first aid kit for whatever gets through.
Get this gear
No-Bite-Me is for people who’d rather not put DEET on their kids, or on themselves — and for anyone who’d rather carry one thing than two. It’s a four-hour cream, not a force field. Somewhere with a serious tick load, keep checking yourself regardless.
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