Review of bugbar natural bug block

Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/nightamazon

The Houston area in the summer is hot and humid. Put those two things together with a walk and you are pretty much guaranteed one thing....bug attack. Some of the great things about living in this area are the sunshine and so many parks and paths to go walking and biking on. The bugs that come after you? Not so much fun. There is nothing more annoying than a swarm of pesky bugs, mosquitoes and gnats to cut short a stroll in the great outdoors.

I've recently had the opportunity to field test a new-to-me product by Graham Gardens, Bugbar, a solid application product with oils and herbs. One of the things that attracted me to this product was the fact that it is natural and contains no chemicals. Another was the smell which is much better than most commercial bug repellants.

On two separate outings it performed very well. The first was a family stroll in the early evening, a time when the bugs are particularly pesky. We applied the product and went for our walk. Although the smell is strong when you first put it on after a few moments it fades so you don't really notice it. You also don't notice the bugs. The second outing was an Edible Weed Walk. This time the product was tested by two family members and one of the walk participants. None of us had any bug bites when the walk was done. One member of the walk who did not use the product seemed to spend a fair amount of time swatting at bugs. Although the bugs appeared, they hovered near us not actually landing; I'm assuming this was because although they were attracted to our hot sweaty selves they were repelled by the bugbar.

A generously-sized product I am very happy with it and plan to purchase more when my current bar runs out. Around here that won't take very long.