Do you love Victoria's Secret Bombshell perfume? Well, if you do, then you should know this. The perfume is more than just a fragrance, it could also be an efficient mosquito repellent, according to a new study.
Most people, if not all, hate mosquitoes because they carry diseases such as malaria and dengue. Moreover, they irritate the skin. For this reason, people tend to sleep under mosquito nets and mosquito repellents were created. Several new repellent formulas have hit the market in the past years, many with questionable efficacy, Popular Science reported.
This might have triggered a group of researchers to find which repellent is the most effective. Researchers at New Mexico State University opted to compare the efficacy of different repellents and perfumes, per Oxford University Press.
The researchers tested eight commercial repellents, two fragrances and a vitamin B patch that reportedly keeps mosquitoes away. To confirm the efficacy of the materials, the researchers placed a mosquito at the long end of a Y-shaped plastic tube with. One researcher who is prone to mosquito placed her two hands at the ends of both forked tubes. One hand was applied with the chemical being tested while the other hand was untreated. If the mosquito tends to shy away from the treated hand and move towards the untreated hands then the repellent worked.
The researchers learned that repellents that contained tied-and-true ingredient DEET were most effective. Cutter Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent worked as well. However, most of them including the vitamin B patch didn't make any difference.
The team was not surprised with the results involving the commercial repellents, but they were amazed at how mosquitoes reacted to the chemical fragrances they used. Avon Skin So Soft Bath Oil repelled mosquitoes for about two hours. Victoria's Secret Bombshell perfume proved to be an effective repellent as well, lasting even longer than the first fragrance tested.
The study invalidated previous understanding on how mosquitoes interpret scent. "There was some previous literature that said fruity, floral scents attracted mosquitoes, and to not wear those," said Stacy Rodriguez, a research assistant involved in the study. "It was interesting to see that the mosquitoes weren't actually attracted to the person that was wearing the Victoria's Secret perfume - they were repelled by it."
The study revealed that repellents with DEET are more effective than those without. They did not explain as to why the fragrances might have worked. However, since a bottle of Victoria's Secret perfume would cost you $52, then you'll be better off buying repellants with DEET to keep mosquitoes at bay.
The result of the study was published in the Journal of Insect Science.
