The combination of cinnamon, rosemary, lemongrass and wintergreen oils makes EcoSMART’s bug spray a less abrasive olfactory experience than DEET based products. It also avoids the irritating and potentially poisonous effects of a chemical originally developed by the US military for use in jungle warfare (!)

The real question, however, when wondering about comfort and protection from virus-carrying insects isn’t smell, health or even toxicity, but effectiveness. Spending a weekend in the woods without getting a single bite was certainly a welcome change, but that is probably due more to the relative dearth of mosquitoes in the Colorado mountains (I’m originally from Nova Scotia, and went to school in Massachusetts) than it is to the credit of this particular spray. EcoSMART did, however, prove effective against the swarms of non-biting flies that hovered lakeside on my weekend getaway. One spritz and the flies quickly began avoiding the patch of skin they’d been using as a resting place. If Ecosmart proves to be equally effective against mosquitoes and ticks, then it has my endorsement.

Sidenote: although they sent the tiny bottle to us in a huge box, it was filled with biodegradable cornstarch peanuts, and the company tells us they’ll soon be switching to bottles made out of recyclable plastic.

> via JENNY GIMIAN