Thank you for giving me a whole week off, Bare Beauties!  Nantucket was wonderful!  (I’ll post some pics soon.)  I am refreshed and ready to get back to work!  Here we go!

It is officially summer, or as we call it in Charleston, mosquito season.  Mosquitoes “love me”, and I am sure many of you are in the same boat, and the poor kiddies, I can’t even…

I absolutely refuse to wear toxic-chem insect repellant (DEET, the #1 ingredient in conventional repellants, is linked to serious neurological and central nervous system damage).  To avoid looking like I have chicken pox or full-body-cystic-acne, I end up making various excuses to go inside at summertime cocktail parties and cookouts (I forgot a napkin, I need to check my phone, I have to use the ladies room, again….).  That is, until I met Gigi Collins, who created BeniBugOff.

Gigi is a true renaissance woman.  Actress, musician, medical esthetician, and Hollywood makeup artist are all occupations that grace her resume.   A girl after my own heart, she prefers things natural, but effective.  While shooting The New Daughter under buggy conditions here in Charleston, Gigi formulated BeniBugOff, a natural insect repellant, on her days off.  She brought it to the set and the cast and crew loved the smell, but more importantly, it worked and it wasn’t loaded with dangerous toxins.

BeniBugOff is handmade in small batches with a proprietary blend of eight organic essential oils; it’s also anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and naturally deodorizing, making it a great multi-use product.  It is safe for kids and pets and the scent is light and fresh.  Also, it isn’t sticky or greasy.  Cost: about $5 for 1.5 oz.  Purchase it here or at Whole Foods.