Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Itchy Hell Bites and Bodywash

When I was a teenager, I worked at a summer camp.  It was a beautiful place, and the summers were so much fun that I tend to gloss over the uglier facts of what it was like to work there.  As the months march later and later into July and August, and especially since this June was so rainy, I am reminded of the only big reason that I disliked the job.

Mosquitoes.

Little hell biters, I called them.  They buzzed in my ear, they bit me everywhere.  Everywhere.  In six years of working at summer camps, there is literally not one square inch on my body I did not get bitten.  Eyelids.  Bellybutton (yes, I have an innie).  Buttcheeks.  Toes, fingers, armpits.  Name a body part.  Yep, got one there.  I actually counted my bites before I went to camp one year.  During staff week, I managed 161 mosquito bites.  In just a week.  And I was wearing mosquito repellent.  Granted, it does wear off during the course of the day, and I usually put it on in the mornings.  Then came hiking and sweating and pool time, so by dinner, I was infested again.

Luckily, in 2004, halfway through my last year working at Scout camp, my mom gave me a different kind of body wash.  I don't remember much about it except that it was green and had a very, very light scent.  I think it may have been cucumber mint.  I started using that and immediately the mosquito bites dropped off.  It could have been because of the weather (I don't remember if 2004 was more rainy or dry), but I'd never experienced this before.

According to Wikipedia, "Typically, both male and female mosquitoes feed on nectar and plant juices, but in many species the mouthparts of the females are adapted for piercing the skin of animal hosts and sucking their blood."  Hmm, interesting, isn't it?  Both male and female mosquitoes drink nectar.  But only the females are the ones that drink blood because, "Both plant materials and blood are useful sources of energy in the form of sugars, and blood also supplies more concentrated nutrients, such as lipids, but the most important function of blood meals is to obtain proteins as materials for egg production."  Basically, females mosquitoes need to suck your blood in order to lay eggs because the proteins in blood are good for making eggs.

I never knew that male mosquitoes drank nectar until college, but it wasn't until a few years ago, when I started working outside in mosquito-drenched vernal pools that I finally put two and two together.  I had just gone to the Body Shop and gotten a honeysuckle scrub.  Needless to say, I was eaten alive.  I read up on what attracts mosquitoes.  Apparently, body wash is not taken into account on most sites, although perfume is.  But if you're buying things because you like that the scent sticks around for a while (ie Bath and Body Works), isn't that basically the same thing as perfume?

This doesn't mean switching your body wash will 100% get rid of all the mosquitoes in your life.  After all, according to WebMD, 85% of what attracts mosquitoes is genetic.  But it could help reduce the amount of bites you receive.  I am not completely immune to them; I have about five bites from two days of playing outside with kids.  But that's about 20 less than I would have received from summer camp, and it's also without using DEET repellent (which is the only thing that used to work before).

I use Alba Botanica's Sparkling Mint body wash.  I have also used Avalon Organics Tea Tree shampoo and conditioner.  These work for me and my body chemistry.  I have also used a mixture of peppermint oil and coconut oil as a repellent, when I went back to visit the Scout camp I used to work at.  Four bites, when I was expecting at least twenty.

Obviously this body wash hypothesis of mine needs more research, so sciencey people, get out there and do it!  I don't exactly have the resources or facilities to perform such an experiment.  Let me know what your results are!

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