Beach living without the bites.

When I think of summer I like to imagine all of the positive things that come with it. The endless nights, beach trips with the family, Sunday afternoon barbeques, weekends away camping and all the water sports you could think of. Of course with the good comes the bad, that painfully annoying buzzing sound in your ear right when you’re about to go to sleep.

Summer fun also means mosquito season.

If you’re anything like me you’ll always come home from a camping trip with bumps and itches all over. Because rather than gassing out your tent with repellent spray, you risk it and attempt to sleep hoping the mozzies won’t get you.

It’s a similar story with the kids -- they don’t want to be covered with disgusting smelling, sticky spray, and trying to convince them they need it is a huge effort. Don’t even get me started on the aftermath if they don’t comply and end up getting bitten. The kid’s tears, your tears, the attempt to settle the situation with ice and creams. It sucks (excuse the pun) the life out of a nice family holiday.

I was the lucky sibling that grew up with a sister who was allergic to mosquito bites, I always joked that her blood must be made of sugar because they flocked to her, over me. She would wake up in the morning covered from head to toe and I’d have not one bite on me, she was my own personal mosquito repellent.

There are other options of course, the mosquito coils that you have to spend all night telling the kids not to touch, or that sit under the table and get knocked over every few minutes. Then if all else fails there is always the zappers that ruin a peaceful evening with every insect death, how delightful.

The only mental image I have now is from A Bugs Life, “Don’t look at the light, don’t look at the light,” “I can’t help it, it’s so beautiful.” ZAP.But thankfully the insect battles can now be put to rest the easy way, with PARA’KITO Mosquito bands and clips, which effectively mask you from mozzies thanks to a blend of essential oils. And they’re the easiest, most convenient things to take on a family holiday in the summer. I trialled the band and not only did I spend a Sunday night BBQ totally bite free, I didn’t repel anyone with the smell.

I chose the pink band they have on offer in support of The Breast Cancer Foundation, so I could wear something charitable whilst protecting myself against those pesky insects.

They are great for the kids as well. Convincing them to wear a ‘cool bracelet’ is so much easier than persuading them to stand still long enough to cover them in sticky spray. The scent isn’t overbearing either, it’s subtle enough that you can really only smell it if you put it right up to your face.

It's a simple solution with huge pay off and I’ll be wearing mine all summer.

How do you keep mozzies at bay?