It's a perfume. It's a bug spray. It's my new best friend.

A delicious-smelling perfume that’s also a bug spray? That actually works?

Shut the front door.

UPDATE June 2018: The manufacturer is no longer making this product

It’s true. As a mosquito magnet and a fan of artisan fragrances, I’ve found my new best friend. It’s called Aromaflage, and I would wear it even if it didn’t protect me from mosquitoes. That’s how good it smells.

Aromaflage currently comes in three different formulas: Original, Wild, and Sleep. I tried Original and Wild, and they are both lovely. Original hinges on vanilla and orange for a light, fun, tropical fragrance with a little grounding woodiness to keep it from being candylike or twee. Wild, on the other hand, is a deeper and more sophisticated scent, spicy and woodsy with a spa fragrance edge. I’d love to try Sleep, which includes a big dollop of lavender to help you dream. Way to kill two birds with one stone for camping trips, right?

All Aromaflage fragrances are based on a mixture of plant-based essential oils and vanillin. You can check out their How It Works page to read up on the rigorous research and testing that went into the products. They’re free of DEET, parabens, and other harsh chemicals and their testing claims it even repels mosquitoes that may carry Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, and Yellow Fever. (Although, according to the EWG, essential oil blends are “not effective” against Zika-carrying mosquitoes. So, maybe hope for fewer bug bites in general but don’t be so confident it will stave off Zika-carrying mosquitoes specifically. Because, better safe than Zika!)

In my experience though, it did work pretty well. I spent several hours a day reading on my front porch hammock this week — morning, noon, and night. (These are the sacrifices we make for our readers!) And I’m glad to report that I received only one mosquito bite, which for me, is about the same as winning the lottery. And it was after not applying Aromaflage for five hours. And it was on the bottom of my foot. Mea culpa.

You can purchase Aromaflage directly from their website or from our affiliate Amazon. Thanks to Aromaflage for the samples. Can I buy it by the gallon?