From zappers and catchers to candles and sprays, mosquito repellents come in many forms. But what about using essential oils to help fight the bite?

Karen King, with Sioux City's Mind and Body Connection, says don't panic if your cutters brand isn't cutting it, there's always natural ways to prevent yourself from getting eaten alive this summer.

May, June, and July, tis the season to be outdoors. But whether you're boating or having a bar-b-que you're breathing, creating a perfect recipe for biting bugs. A local naturalist says mosquitoes are attracted to heat and carbon dioxide.

"Every time you inhale oxygen you exhale carbon dioxide and so that's how they can sense where you are. And it's not just humans it's any animal that has blood," says Chris Anderson, Sioux City Naturalist.

To help keep mosquitos from sucking your blood King says essential oils are essential for summer survival. She says they cancel out or mask our CO2 scent. She found out cedarwood was a powerful repellent by surprise. 

"I was out in the garden all day long and there were other people coming to the garden. They were getting bitten by chiggers. It was a real bad year for chiggers. And I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting bitten, I mean, I was out there all day," says King.

King says some other oils to try are basil, eucalyptis and peppermint. But she says they're highly volatile and act quickly so be careful because, like medicine, they work differently on different people. She also says, above all, make sure to use therapeutic-grade oils.

"It's important that you're not getting perfume or getting oils that have been diluted or have pollutants in them. Therapeutic oils are usually regulated," says King.  

If you do get bitten, King recommends lavender to help stop the itch. 

"I use lavender like you would use Neosporin," says King.

To safely apply these natural oils on older children and adults King recommends using one teaspoon of vegetable oil to one drop of essential oil. Rub the oils together in your hands and lather like lotion. But it's different for babies....

"Babies, they get enough from your contact. You may want to maybe rub just a tiny bit of what you already have on your hand and rub that all over," says King.

King says make sure to test a small portion of your skin before all-over use. She says essential oils can cause either an allergic reaction or a rash from a process called detoxification.