A study published in the Journal of Insect Science and conducted by researchers from New Mexico University suggests that a certain product of Victoria's Secret perfume is almost as good as DEET when it comes to repelling mosquitoes due to its flowery fragrance.
The Victoria Secret Bombshell perfumes doesn't have any ingredient added for the purpose of repelling mosquitoes. However, its strong flowery fragrance is something that mosquitoes are not fond of.
According to the researchers, these results were nearly the complete opposite of what they had expected to find. "There was some previous literature that said fruity, floral scents attracted mosquitoes, and to not wear those," said Stacy Rodriguez, a research assistant involved in the study, said in a statement. "It was interesting to see that the mosquitoes weren't actually attracted to the person that was wearing the Victoria's Secret perfume - they were repelled by it."
The researchers tested out 10 different substances and placed two different species of mosquitoes in Y-shaped tubes with one end leading to the researcher's bare hand and the other leading to the other hand coated with the substance. They then studied the hand where the mosquitoes were mostly attracted. They also took notice of how long the mosquitos were repelled for.
A report by Medical Daily said that among the products that where include in the test are Avon Skin So-Soft bath oil and Victoria Secret Bombshell. Results revealed that Cutter Natural insect repellent, the Mosquito Skin patch, and Avon Skin So Soft Bug Guard did not result in reduction of insect attraction.
Avon Skin So Soft bath oil resulted in a "significant reduction of attraction" for up to 120 minutes but began to fade by 240 minutes while the Victoria's Secret Bombshell perfume also proved to be an effective mosquito repellent and lasted longer than 120 minutes, although the researchers noted that "the concentration of perfume we used in this test was rather high and that lower concentrations of the same fragrance might have different effects."
Some of the most effective bug repellents are those which contain the chemical N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, better known as DEET. However, there are reports that suggest using products with these chemical might cause harmful effects to human health and even the environment.
