Lemongrass essential oil - Mom fail!

So I read that lemongrass essential oil can work as a mosquito repellent. Mosquitos LOVE me so I was excited to use this oil as a repellent. About 6 months ago, I dabbed some on myself before I went to an outdoor mountain bbq, and I had zero mosquito bites - hooray! So this year, my family and I were out watching fireworks on the 4th of July and we could see mosquitos flying about. I put the oil on myself .... and my kids. I was fine, but a minute later, my kids were screaming and saying that their skin was burning. I felt terrible!

Our neighbor (who's front yard we were in) invited us in and I remembered that water won't work to get the oil off (because water and oil separates), but olive oil will work to dilute the oil. So, my neighbors and I dabbed olive oil on my kids (you could see where I had dabbed the essential oil) and within a minute my kids were both calmed down and fine. I'm so glad that worked and that we were still able to stay out and see the fireworks (I was initially thinking we would have to leave and go bathe the kids).

Lesson learned..... kids skin is so much more sensitive than adults skin is. Essential oils are amazing, and potent, so remember to always, always, always DILUTE the oils with a carrier oil (like fractionated coconut oil or olive oil) BEFORE applying to kids' skin. But there is good news.........none of us had mosquito bites that night, so the lemongrass oil really does work!