No one likes the stuff. It's smelly, and if it can strip the plastic off of your watchband and the coating off of your Gore-Tex, you've got to wonder what it can do to human skin. Use it sparingly. You don't need 100-percent DEET to do the job.
Tests show that diluted concentrations work just as well.
You can buy combo sunscreen-insect repellent lotions to protect your skin from two problems at once. Know your enemy Know where bugs hang out. Lush grassy meadows, especially wet ones, are prime skeeter territory. Windy passes are not. Citronella candles can help keep mosquitoes out of the area, meaning that you don't have to slather so much repellent on yourself.