ANTI INGREDIENTS
Roots, tree nuts and flowers that our skin loves and bugs hate.
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We blend wildcrafted ingredients, distilled at our facility in Upstate New York, together with indigenous plant compounds from around the world, to deliver five methods of repellence — olfactory, bioelectric, thermal, pheromone and microbial.
MANKETTI OIL
Origin: Ghana
Manketti oil contains a rare fatty acid (alpha eleostearic acid) that improves skin elasticity and blocks UVA/B radiation. Its natural copper presence and water storage ability help keep skin electrically grounded, eliminating the pathways of static electricity that ticks use to hitch a ride.
VETIVER
Origin: Haiti
Vetiver is serious plant power. Distiled from the roots of the grass, the oil contains 300 different compounds. Vetiver covers a broad spectrum of insect types, proven to last longer than DEET in certain lab tests. The skin benefits are just as remarkable, with organic compounds like α-Vetivone and β-Vetivone that soften, smooth, firm and tone skin, as well as reverse and prevent free radical damage.
NAGARMOTHA
Origin: India
An Ayurvedic herb used in India for thousands of years, its repellence and anti-aging power is fierce but not widely known. Extracts are made from the roots and tubers of the Cypriol plant, and have demonstrated repellency of the entire mosquito vector in lab tests. Cosmetically, Nagarmotha is known to fight melasma, balance uneven skin tone, correct blemishes and prevent acne.
TONKA BEAN
Origin: Colombia
Tonka Bean seeds from the Coumaru tree are indigenous to South American rainforests and traditionally used by its people as an insect repellent. Phenolic fluorophores absorb light in the invisible spectra and refract outward in the visible spectra, giving skin a youthful glow and neutralizing harmful UV radiation.
SUMAC
Origin: New York
The dried fruits from Sumac have been used medicinally for centuries. Sumac is a natural preservative and a modifier that helps our serum evaporate slower and last longer. Its phenolic acids also make it an excellent repellent. High in antioxidants and caffeic acid, Sumac protects skin from oxidative stress, preventing fine lines and wrinkles.
MYRRH
Origin: Somalia
The cones depicted on the heads of the Egyptians in ancient hieroglyphics were said to be made of myrrh rendered with fat, which allowed it to melt slowly, covering their bodies as protection from the sun and insects. Made from the resin of the Commiphora tree, Myrrh oil has been used medicinally and spiritually since 1st century BC. We love using it on our skin, because it promotes cellular regeneration and slows free radical damage. Myrrh also repels the deer, dog and lone star tick.
ROSEMARY VERBENONE
Origin: Corsica
This ancient variety of rosemary is native to the Mediterranean where it’s found along the rocky coastline. Its unique composition of chemotypes make it a softer and gentler version of the herb, known locally as the “rose of the sea”. The compounds in Rosemary Verbenone work on the cellular level, inhibiting the skin’s production of proinflammatory keratinocytes that breakdown collagen and elastin. The high temps of the environment in which it grows, oxidize the plant’s terpenes to produce Verbenone — a natural organic compound that replicates anti-aggregation insect pheromones.
BLACK PEPPER
Origin: Sri Lanka
Insects hate Black Pepper, but your skin will love its stimulating and purifying effects. Did you know not all bugs can be repelled by scent? For example, the horse fly and deer fly use vision and thermoreceptors to find hosts. The piperine in Black Pepper repels insects with its unpleasant taste, so we use the tiniest amount of steam distilled Black Pepper as a contact repellent. In combination with the light refractive and cooling effects of other anti ingredients, this triple defense works for the most annoying of all bugs: the black fly!
WILD GERANIUM
Origin: New York
The geraniol derived from the Geranium plant has both long distance and contact repellency. We combine organic-cultivated rose geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) with wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) harvested from the edge of our woodlands near the rocky bank of an ephemeral stream. Rose Geranium helps maintain skin’s microbiome and natural balance of oil production.
SWEETGRASS
Origin: New York
A sacred grass used for purification and to light the puwagan in traditional Native American ceremonies, Sweetgrass contains the natural mosquito, flea and tick repelling chemical phytol. The plant’s anti-inflammatory phenolic acids soothe and heal skin, reducing the appearance of scars, sun spots and other skin imperfections.
