Do you know what bugs me? …….. Bugs!
I love being outdoors and in the woods especially over summer but boy do we have some little biting blighters out there. I hate using insect repellent as most of them smell bad or contain chemicals that I just don’t want on my skin. One product I do use and it works well and contains natural ingredients is Nordic Summer, if you haven’t seen or smelled Nordic Summer, it looks like boot polish in a small metal tin and it smells very smoky and of pine tar. I love its smoky tar oil smell, only problem is it’s a bit pricey, so as usual I thought I’d have a go and make some.
Now at the time of writing this, I had made this batch over two months back, as I wanted to test it and make sure it worked. So I’ve been wearing this homemade stuff for the last couple of months whilst I’ve been in the woods and I’ve let others I’ve been working with try it too and we have all had good results and feedback from it. It works very well and the smell is slightly more fragrant than standard Nordic Summer due to my added ingredients. So how did I go about it you want to know?
So the main ingredient I wanted was pine pitch, this can be made at home, but it is a lengthy and time consuming job, easier is to buy some pine pitch or as I did “acquire” some from within the team. The other ingredients used were beeswax, citronella oil, lavender oil and a small amount of olive oil. Receptacles to receive the finished product ranged from empty small jam jars, an empty tin and a Kinder Egg inner. Tools required are simply a pan set or glass bowl to melt it in, a knife, spoon and a cold plate.
First put a small side plate or saucer into the fridge or freezer to cool, then to start I used a candle making pan set I have, you could use a glass bowl sat in a pan of boiling water, I think these are called “Bain-Marie” cooking pots. They are used to melt things like wax or chocolate without it burning or boiling. I added a small amount of olive oil to the pan to help stop anything sticking, I used about 1 desert spoon of oil. Whilst this was warming in the pan I cut slices of beeswax off the block ready to add. I then added about ¼ of a cup of pine pitch to the olive oil in the pan. Give this a minute to warm up and then add the beeswax. Now portions here are difficult to state as I added about 6-7 slices and stirred them with a wooden spoon until melted. Next I added several good drops of citronella oil and lavender oil and continued to stir. At this point your mixture should smell wonderful. (If you like the pine pitch smell). Don’t let the mix get too hot, you must avoid it boiling as this will ruin the pitch and the oils. If it starts to bubble at all turn the heat right down low.
To test if you are getting the right sort of mix and consistency for when your cream sets we can test it in a similar way to testing the setting point of jam when making it. Take your cold plate out of the fridge or freezer, using a wooden spoon just place a drop of your mix onto the cold plate. Give this a minute to set and then rub it with your fingers. You want a slightly soft waxy consistency, harder than petroleum jelly but softer than candle wax. I suppose the ideal consistency is a bit like boot polish. Anyway it’s up to you really, you can make it soft if you like but just bear in mind, the softer it is the easier it will melt and run in heat. If it’s too soft, add some more beeswax and try again, if it’s too hard add a bit more olive oil and try again.
Once you are happy with your mix you need to decant it into its containers, this is a bit messy, so make sure you’re on an easy clean work top. Pour your mix carefully from the pan into jars, tubs etc. Try to fill them right up to the top without going over. Then it’s just a case of letting the mix cool. I noticed that a bigger jar I filled, the level dropped a bit when it cooled, so I just topped this off a bit with some more, but the smaller containers were fine. Personally I think a few small containers are better than big ones, easier to carry and more convenient.
Once it has cooled you are good to go. Wipe off any spillage from the container and pop the lid on. The Kinder Egg inners work great, I have one of these in my day bag most of the time and it’s easy to pop it open take a smear and wipe on. When you put it on your skin you will need to rub it well in to spread it all over and cover all the bits those nasty biting bugs want to have a gncraftaw at. It will add a slight “bronzing” to your skin but that’s no issue.
So does it work? Yes it worked great and I am extremely pleased with it and it will be a definite item that I will make batches of each year. I think it smells slightly better than Nordic Summer and I think it works a bit better too due to the addition of the citronella and lavender oils.
You can see from that last photo of the Kinder Egg tub it had some use and I love it!
PLEASE NOTE - if you have any allergy or sensitivity to any of the ingredients used, please don’t use them on your skin.