By Hollie Fallon ~
It’s that time of year again. The flowers are blooming, days are warmer and longer, and the smell of bar-b-que is a nightly occurrence. These are all things that make me feel so joyful and I’m always anxiously awaiting for them come late March.
What I am not thrilled for the arrival are all the bugs. Ticks specifically, (although I don’t love mosquitoes either). This is year in particular I’ve been hearing more and more tick findings nearly every day. Dogs are bringing them in the house from their backyard, moms and dads are picking them off their children after a run around at the playground. I’ll be honest, I’ve never overly worried about ticks in previous years. This year, however, I am on high alert.
We don’t live in a very wooded area, but even still neighbors are reporting ticks all over! This is NOT okay. What also is not okay for me and my family is spraying my yard and my babies with chemicals. We live mostly chemical free in this house and I am determined to stay that way.
So I’ve turned to essential oils. I’ve used EO for years for various things and I always have a diffuser going in the house with a myriad of different combinations of oils wafting through the rooms.
I also always have EO on my person. I usually smell like a combination of patchouli and lemon. My boys get a mini massage of grape seed oil and lavender nightly. Because of my use of oils in our everyday life, I kind of think this is partly why I have never found a tick on myself or my children. Ticks don’t like oils. They just don’t like the smell of them.
But this year, I’m being proactive and a bit more intentional with my oils. So I did some research and came up with my own combo for tick repellent. So far so good!
My recipe
A tinted glass spray bottle
10 drops young living lemongrass
10 drops young living geranium
Distilled water
Spray away! Safe on children and the dog!
Here are additional oils that you can add or make your own combo. These are all repellents. I would suggest adding the geranium in to any of them as this seems to be the number one tick repellent.
Lavender
Eucalyptus
Citronella
Cedarwood
Lemon
You can also just put a drop of the geranium alone in between your dogs ears. I will do that as well as put a few drops inside my wrists and behind my ears as well as the children’s.
Please use oils with caution as there are some that you are to not put directly on skin or need to be diluted.
If you’re looking for a natural, non toxic way to repel ticks, I suggest this approach 100%.