You know how some people just never seem to get bitten by mosquitoes?
Do you HATE those people??
Then you, my friend, are probably a fellow sweet-blooded skeeter-magnet like me. I get it bad. Like, can’t-walk-from-my-car-to-inside-the-house-without-half-a-dozen-bites bad. I’m completely serious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7bAQzvg6WQ
Yeah, that? Is me. And those suckers leave maaad marks on my skin. Not mild little red dots. Big, puffy, swollen welts that will TORMENT me with itchiness for days.
Or should I say, they used to.
I have a new weapon of mass bite destruction, and it is shock-and-awe. some. And it’s kinda even made from food!
I now present to you, the ultimate Hippie cure for those horrendous bites:
Grapefruit Seed Extract.
GSE
But my primary use for it is nixing those nasty bug bites!
Here’s how:
- Squirt out about 2-3 drops of GSE into a small bottle cap, then fill it with water. You don’t evvver want to use this stuff straight up — it’s quite powerful! Always dilute it.
- Dab the GSE solution onto your bug bite, as soon as you notice it. Try to rub it in there pretty good.
- Watch with amazement as your bite DISAPPEARS!
I am not kidding, you guys. When I do this, my bite stops itching completely within about 30 seconds, and the swelling and redness immediately start to go down.
My bites are almost always completely gone — like, poof! invisible! Within a half hour! Even really bad ones still fully vanish within the hour.
See??
Right after being bitten…
…just 15 MINUTES after applying my GSE cure!!
(By the way, this bite was on the tame side. I kept waiting for a really nasty one to come along so I could show you how even a big, fat, quarter-sized bite goes away with my GSE remedy super fast — but they kept popping up in inappropriate or difficult-to-photograph places. Haha. I’ll have to update this post with time-stamped pics of a really good bite next time I get one!)
Bye-bye, hydrocortisone.
I honestly do not know what I would do without grapefruit seed extract. With the amount of mosquito bites I get, I would be SO MISERABLE if I didn’t have a way to get rid of them so quickly.
Oh and also? The little bottle I bought two years ago is still going strong. When you factor in the “indefinite shelf life,” plus the fact that you only need a couple drops of it every day or two (I just keep the bottle cap of diluted GSE handy in the bathroom and keep using it til it’s gone) a little bottle of this should last you multiple mosquito-filled summers.
I’m so done with chemical itch relief creams, messy baking soda pastes, or expensive bite salves — this Hack is all I need! I hope you all find it as miraculous as I have, dear Hippies!
{Disclaimer: If you get your GSE from the links I posted here, Amazon will pay me a little bit which helps to keep this site up-and-running. And helps me eat. :)}
[This post is linked to Monday Mania, Traditional Tuesdays, Real Food Wednesdays, Simple Lives Thursday, and Fight Back Friday!]
I’m loving your natural body care posts! I use GSE to preserve my homemade hair gel so I can keep it in my gym bag instead of the refrigerator. I’m definitely in the same boat with misquitos-I will give this a try!
Thanks, Karen! Ooh, homemade hair gel? I’ve heard this is possible but have not tried it. Got a recipe?
I love this! I’m a major mosquito magnet! I swear I must be allergic because of the amount I swell up! I will try this asap!
I think I am too!! The bite pictured is like, *nothing* compared to ones I get in more sensitively-skinned areas. After a few minutes, they swell up like crazy and morph into these bizarre shapes as the skeeter venom spreads… *shudder!* Thank goodness for the GSE — stops it in its tracks!
Another great reason to have GSE on hand!
Oh I am so excited to see this! I will be snagging a bottle TODAY! Wonder if it works on fire ants too?
SO good to know! I find I don’t get bit by mosquitoes nearly as often as I did when I ate tons and tons of sugar, but this is perfect for the times when I do get attacked!
Love this! A few of my kids get monster bites, like really monster bites. When my kids came back from a camping trip with Dad last week, they looked like they had been beaten with a stick! I am soo buying some of this. Like now. Right now, Thanks!
Yay! This is sure to help! Thanks, Melissa. 🙂
I have to try this! My ds4 and I always get the bug bites while my boys are hardly ever bitten. Poor ds4’s legs are covered in bites right now.
And, I have a bottle of grapeseed extract in the bathroom right handy.
Oh dear! That’s wonderful if you already have some on you — are you sure it’s grapefruit seed extract? Grapeseed extract is also a great thing to have, but it’s not the same as GSE. I was totally confused when I first heard about it, since I already had grapeseed extract/oil, til I realized they’re from two different fruits! Hehe.
Wish I had known about this say… 40+ years ago! Then I wouldn’t have suffered so! Thanks for sharing this with all us “sweet” people that bugs prefer.
Ugh, right?! Wish I would have discovered it earlier too, back when I was going through a tube of cortisone every couple of weeks! Yuck. Thanks for stopping by, Amy!
I love GSE. Great tip. I have also heard that adding MSM supplement to your diet helps ward of those nasty biters as well. They just done *love* you as much any more.
How interesting! It makes sense that it would help since MSM acts as a blood clarifier, if I’m not mistaken. I used to take it pretty faithfully (such a great supplement), but haven’t for a while! I’ll definitely try to start again — thank you!
This TOTALLY worked! I get covered with mosquito bites every time I mow the lawn. And I am quite allergic (it’s not uncommon for them to get the size of quarters if I forget and scratch). I remembered I had a bottle of GSE (thank God that stuff lasts forever), dabbed some on and the bites were gone shortly thereafter. Thanks!
Love your blog!
I’ve been using “pickle medicine” aka ACV, which does relieve the sting, but does nothing about the swelling. I have some GSE – I can’t believe you’ve actually made me look forward to being bitten by a mosquito ROFL! I’m also going to try it on ant bites, including fire ants (but not currently plagued by them – about the only good thing about the Tx drought LOL), so hopefully it’ll be a while before I do the GSE/Fire Ant test.
When you bring your body chemistry over to a more akaline state you will be less atractive to bugs> Bugs like sweet. Also Nature’s Fresh Enzyme cleaner from Nature’s Sunshine is also very good for relieving itch and promotes healing.
So I ran out and got some but not sure if I’m doing it right since I still am ITCHY and the swelling is still there. I tried with 3 drops in about 1/4 cup of water. Nothing. Drained out about half the water and added 3-4 more drops. Still nothing. 🙁 Help!
Oh sorry I didn’t see this comment, too! Did the full-strength GSE calm your bites? I think 3 drops in 1/4 cup of water is too weak of a solution. I usually put a few drops into a little bottle cap full of water, so it’s much stronger. I don’t think it needs to be diluted by a whole lot for the purposes of treating bug bites, but I just prefer not to use it full strength since it’s pretty powerful stuff. Hope that helps!!
OK, now I’m confused … I actually put the GSE on my skin straight – even though everything says not to – and nothing. No tingle, no anything. Any thoughts?
You probably just don’t have very sensitive skin, lucky you! I got freaked out when my mom broke out in a rash from putting GSE straight on without any dilution, so I always dilute it, but if it’s not bothering you any to do it full-strength, may as well I guess!
put some on my bites too, no luck =[ and I even sent hubby out to whole foods in a rush to get some!
Oh no! How much did you dilute it? I make it pretty strong… usually 3-4 drops in a small bottle cap (like from a plastic water bottle… not that I buy those or anything, haha) with water. So probably less than a tablespoon of water. See if that helps!
It’s good to know that there is such product like GSE that helps cure mosquito bites.Now I can be at ease in dealing with this horrible bites.Thanks to GSE.
Isn’t it nice that there’s natural cures out there that work so well? I don’t know what I would have done without it back when I lived in mosquito-city! (our old place in Hawaii)
A well known cure for us Australians is eucalyptus oil. The tiniest dab and the bite is gone, no itchyness, no welt and no horrible white chalky patch from the Australian chemist alternative Stingose. Eucalyptus oil is something every house should have – put it in your humidifier when you have a cold, or just a couple drops on a hankerchief will do the trick. You can use it for shiny hair, antimicrobial purposes in your laundry – sooo much. Plus it will usually be made by smaller, family based producers. My fave is Emu Ridge from South Aust. Get on it, it’s crazy good stuff!
Cool! I will try that this summer. Thanks, Rosyln!
Don’t get bit in the first place. Shower/bathe w/Avon skin so soft. They won’t come near you. Haven’t been bit in years.