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lol, SJ, I think I like that kid!!!

Being a biker that used to attend a run & camp out every weekend I always carry Absorbine Jr. They make a convenient size small dab on bottle. My ex-got stung by a wood bee (nasty SOB's they are) dabbed on the A Jr. and in 20 minutes the welt was gone and he couldn't feel it at all.

I got stung at least 15 times by yellow jackets while mowing in the bushes one time and again in 20 minutes ........... no pain or welts at all. Same thing with a small scorpion.

Ok now I am scared!! lol I dont dig noseeums!! They are the ones that cause great grief. Well I guess I will make sure I have some OFF and I work with an Avon lady so I will get some Skin So Soft.
My concern is being a fair haired, light skinned chick from Michigan the sun being so hot down there and wearing any oil on me, I will be visiting that local clinic that isnt open all the time! LOL
But if I get stung by one of those bee's, right after I stab myself with the EPI PEN I may be there anyway...hehehe
Does the OFF and SKIN SO SOFT work for the sandflies/fleas? I guess you all dont sit on the beach there either? Ya know I have this theory, if I drink enough of the Rum Punch I wont care much about the noseeums!!

~Kat

correct!
always treat from the inside out.

Any product with Picaridan works for me. Cutter Advanced is Picaridan based and won't smell or melt things like Deet products do, and it's pretty inexpensive.

Avon makes a combination sun screen/bug gunk that works well. You can find it online.

I've found that Skin So Soft is useless for sand fleas. I guess if you left it in a thick enough layer it might but that would be pretty awful.

I'm in the shuffles mosquito magnet category and have gotten mosquito bites every time I've been in San Pedro, no matter the time of year. All of the studies I've seen show that nothing is as effective as Deet. That said, I agree with Islenut that it smells horrible and it can really eat through plastic, not to mention completely ruin a manicure!! Additionally the manufacturer recommends you wash it off as soon as possible after coming inside and I wouldn't think it would be at all safe for the ocean environment. Skin so soft on its own is pretty much worthless according to the studies and my experience, but I hear Avon now makes it with some Picaridin mixed in - haven't tried that. Cutter Advanced with Picaridin has turned out to be the best compromise for me for mosquitos - it doesn't work for the sand fleas/noseeums. You have to reapply it more often than Deet (about every 2 hours) but it doesn't have the nasty side effects. It runs about $6 a bottle. I still use the Deet sheets at night when the bugs seem to be the worst for me.

OFF worked fine for me on noseeums, but I guess everybody is different. Somebody told me that the bugs leave you alone after you have been there for a couple of weeks, but I don't know why. Maybe they are related to the timeshare vendors and only feed on tourists.

The strangest thing is that my first trip here (in Dec) I returned looking like a leper (and the spots took months to go away - red with white circles). Now that I live here in Tres Cocos, I feel them biting (they are a light brown color) usually get fired up around 5 - 6 pm each day, but hardly ever any evidence (we build up immunity?)

Also, Avon's skin so soft seems to work well.

While on St. Croix I was told that yes you do build up an immunity.

After years I have finally built up a bit of an immunity to mosquitos but not sandflies/fleas. I guess I'm not that lucky.