Good-bye bayou mosquitos and bats.  Hello Skin-so-Soft.
I'm such a mosquito magnet that, when my husband and I walk our two Yorkies in the Houston evening in a neighborhood.  No matter how hot it is, I wear long sleeves and long pants on these lovely, relaxing walks because we're 1 block from a small lake (bayou-fed mosquito heaven), and tthe BATS that live in the old-growth oaks swoop down at me and the halo of mosquitoes that circle my head, my legs, my feet.  That's right, swooping bats.  Mosquito halos. West Nile Virus, here we come.<br /><br />I like to sit out in our backyard for a while in the daytime on a bench beneath our weeping willow.  I get my Vitamin D, my dogs get some exercise running around trying to make all the dogs in the neighborhood crazy by starting a chain letter of barking.  But my backyard is also near that bayou and, although there are no bats in the daytime, there are mosquitoes 10 out of 12 months each year.  The really deadly tiny ones think it's a game to bite me THROUGH MY CLOTHES. West Nile Virus, here we come.  I won't use sprays because aerosol mist chokes me, and non-aerosol sprays have to be smoothed on by hand. Thus one quick wipe at an itchy eye and I'm blinded from the pain.<br /><br />My dear departed sister sold Avon, so I was familiar with the company line but always believed that DEET was my only solution.  I tried other, more &#34;natural&#34; products (candles, wristbands, salves with herbs that supposedly stink to mosquitos). They stink to me, too.  I usually use Sawyer's lotion and then wash the palm sides of my hands.  It works great if I'm going out for several hours, but I prefer not to over-expose to DEET if possible.<br /><br />So this year, I thought I'd listen to my sis and give Avon a try for outings lasting less than two hours. All of my outings between late March and early January last less that two hours.  Big surprise.  SKIN-SO-SOFT WORKS AND IT SMELLS GOOD. No zooming bats whirring by my ears (although the mosquitoes still halo my smallest Yorkie, but her hair is thicker than a black bear's).<br /><br />So, if you hate to slather in chemicals and don't plan on being out all day or all night, give this a try.  You'll be very pleasantly surprised and smell pretty good, too.
Rating: 4 stars