GET OFF ME!
According to a study by Consumer Reports in 1993, repellents containing N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, commonly known as DEET, warded off mosquitoes for seven-and-a-half hours, 40 percent better than all other repellents.

Biologists believe DEET blocks mosquito receptors that help them home in on carbon dioxide and lactic acid, hindering the insect's ability to detect animals to feed upon. If you're wary of prolonged effects of exposure to DEET, which, according to Duke University research, revealed rare cases of brain cell damage, Consumer Reports recommends products containing 25 to 35 percent DEET for adults, 10-percent for children and none at all for infants two months and under. For all uses, apply sparingly, wash it off when you get back inside and don't use sunscreens containing DEET, as people tend to lather themselves in sunblock several times a day while out in the sun.

If you can't even imagine handling a repellent with DEET in it, the runnerup in the study were products containing Avon's Skin-So-Soft oil. And in the June 2007 issue, Consumer Reports listed several non-DEET alternatives.

Oil of lemon eucalyptus, found in the brand Repel Plant Based Lemon Eucalyptus, has 26 percent lemon eucalyptus and held its own against three repellents with seven-percent DEET, fending off mosquitoes for five to six hours and ticks for around eight hours. Repellents containing the chemical picaridin, such as Cutter Advanced Sport, did the job for an average of almost three hours against the skeeters and 11 to 12 hours against ticks.

Consumer Reports also experimented with botanical repellents containing soybean oil, geranium oil and oil of peppermint, and found that Bite Blocker Outdoor Extreme worked best, generally confusing mosquitoes and ticks for two hours.