10 Essential Oils for Bug Bites + DIY Mosquito Bite Relief Roller Recipe

Erika Bragdon is a Certified Essential Oil Coach from the Essential Oil Institute 

Updated June 3, 2019

Mosquito bites and other itchy bug bites are a frustrating part of warm weather when you would otherwise be enjoying a blissful time camping, at your child’s game, hiking, or other outdoor activity. Luckily there are effective essential oils for bug bites that work well to help relieve itching and irritation.

I’ll share the best essential oils for mosquito bites along with an easy DIY mosquito bite relief essential oil roller blend recipe in this post.

I have always been super sensitive to mosquitoes bites. I swell up quickly and a single bite will bother me for days. Two of my children are the same way. A few years ago, I turned to essential oils for natural mosquito bite relief and I was amazed at how easy and effective it is.

Not only do essential oils work quickly to relieve itching, irritation, and swelling from bug bites on myself and my kids, but in 9 out of 10 times, we only have to apply the essential oils once and the itch never comes back to bother us again! That’s way better than some of the non-natural itch relief methods we’ve tried in the past.

If you’ve wondered what the best solution for mosquito bites is, essential oils are an effective home remedy.

Of course, the easiest way to deal with mosquito bites is to avoid them in the first place. I have several natural ways to repel bugs, including our homemade mosquito repellent spray.

But mosquitoes bites still happen on occasion – often when we get busy and forget to apply our DIY insect repellent lotion.

When itchy bug bites do happen, from mosquitos or other pesky insects like black flies, gnats, etc., you might wonder what essential oils will work the best.

Let’s talk about that now. Below you’ll find a list of the top 10 best essential oils for bug bite itch, along with their Latin names (some essential oils are called by different names, so this will help you make sure you’re finding the same essential oil mentioned in this post), plus safety recommendations.

Essential Oils for Mosquito Bites

If you’ve wondered what essential oils are good for mosquito bites, here are 10 of the most popular.

1. Lavender essential oil

Latin name: Lavandula angustifolia 

Lavender essential oil is one of the most well known, popular oils and that’s because it has many amazing benefits. Lavender is great for itchy bug bites because it helps to soothe and has the potential to reduce itching.

It’s one of my favorite essential oils for bug bites and we use it all the time.

Safety: Lavender is generally well tolerated.

2. Basil essential oil

Latin name: Ocimum basilicum

Basil essential oil is another of our favorite essential oils for mosquito bites because it can help calm inflammation.

Safety: Basil should not be used during pregnancy and it is also not recommended for use in those who have epilepsy.

3. Tea Tree (Melaleuca) essential oil

Latin name: Melaleuca alternifolia

Tea tree essential oil is great for itchy skin.

Safety: Tea tree is generally well tolerated.

4. Frankincense essential oil

Latin name: Boswellia sacra

Frankincense essential oil is wonderful for calming and soothing.

Safety: If you have a blood clotting disorder, check with your medical provider before using Frankincense.

5. Roman Chamomile essential oil

Latin name: Chamaemelum nobile

Roman chamomile essential oil is soothing and great for rashes and other skin irritation.

Safety: Roman chamomile should not be used during pregnancy

6. Patchouli essential oil

Latin name: Pogostemon cablin

Patchouli essential oil may be helpful for irritation, plus it’s a great essential oil for repelling insects too.

Safety: Patchouli essential oil may have some drug interactions, so check with your medical provider before using if you are taking any prescription drugs.

7. Eucalyptus essential oil

Latin name: Eucalyptus radiata

Eucalyptus essential oil can be helpful for wounds, so if you have an especially irritating mosquito bite, this essential oil may come in handy.

Safety: Always dilute eucalyptus well and do not use near young children’s faces.

8. Coriander essential oil

Latin name: Coriandrum sativum

Coriander essential oil can be helpful for itchy skin and rashes.

Safety: Always dilute well before using topically.

9.  Ylang Ylang essential oil

Latin name: Cananga odorata 

Ylang Ylang essential oil is very soothing for painful, itching skin irritation. It’s also calming and soothing in general.

Safety: Do not use excessively as some sensitive people have experienced nausea and headache.

10. Holy Basil essential oil

Latin name: Ocimum sanctum

Holy basil essential oil has wonderful soothing and calming properties for irritated bug bites.

Safety: If you have a blood clotting disorder, check with your medical provider before using holy basil.

BONUS 11. Helichrysum essential oil

Latin name: Helichrysum italicum

Helichrysum essential oil is wonderful for any kind of skin damage and may help with scarring etc. It’s one of my favorite essential oils and I’ve seen a huge difference in wound healing when using it personally. While it is more expensive, Eden’s Garden offers a more affordable option and a small bottle will last a long time.

Safety: Helichrysum is generally well tolerated.

Essential Oil Roller Bottle Recipe for Bug Bites

Now that you know the best essential oils for bug bites, here’s our favorite “Anti-Itch / Bite Relief” essential oil roller bottle blend for relieving mosquito bites.

I love this “Bite Relief” essential oil roller blend because it’s:

• no mess
• handy for travel
• easy to apply
• no-waste (compared to a spray bottle)

You simply roll this mosquito bite relief blend over the bite and within a minute or two, you can experience relief.

Please read my Essential Oil Common Sense Safety page before using this essential oil recipe. I am not a medical professional and the information presented here is merely for educational purposes and not intended to replace medical advice. Do your own research, consult with your medical provider, and decide what is safest for you and your family.

You’ll need:

• lavender essential oil
• melaleuca (tea tree) essential oil
• basil essential oil
• optional: frankincense essential oil
• optional: roman chamomile essential oil
• 10 ml roller bottle
• carrier oil – I use fractionated coconut oil

Note: I love Rocky Mountain Oils and Eden’s Garden for essential oil brands. (I used to use cheaper brands from Amazon, but these two brands are more effective in my opinion and still affordable.)

How to Make this Roller Blend for Mosquito Bites

While you can simply dilute these oils with your favorite carrier oil and apply as needed, it’s not very practical to carry whole bottles of essential oils and a carrier oil on-the-go.

So that’s where this essential oil roll-on recipe for bug bites is perfect. It’s great for on-the-go use and combines these three amazing essential oils into one simple blend.

Note: this blend has more essential oil drops than is sometimes recommended for children, but I’ve found that a higher dilution rate (less oils) doesn’t work as well. Feel free to decrease the drops if you are more comfortable with less. I have included a baby-safe recommendation too.

Step 1: Add the essential oils to your roller bottle

Add 10 drops of lavender essential oil, 5 drops of tea tree essential oil, and 5 drops of basil to your 10ml roller bottle.

Optional: if you want to include frankincense and chamomile (2 more great essential oils for bug bites), try this blend: 6 drops lavender, 5 drops chamomile, 5 drops frankincense, 2 drops tea tree, 2 drops basil.

For a baby-safe blend, try 3 drops of lavender essential oil.

All three of these oils are fairly gentle and some people even use them “neat” (without diluting), however, I don’t recommend using any oils “neat” because they are very potent and a carrier oil will make them safer AND help them go even further.

Step 2: Fill with a carrier oil

Fill your roller bottle with fractionated coconut oil or your desired carrier oil

Step 3: Cap and shake well. 

Firmly and carefully push the roller ball into the bottle. Top with the cap and shake to combine the essential oils and carrier oil.

Step 4: Label your roller bottle

Don’t forget to label! You can use masking tape and marker or a label maker.

How to use this roll-on for the best bug bite relief

Simply roll this onto any mosquito bites (or other itchy bug bites) when you need relief. You should experience relief within just a couple minutes.

You can apply 3 times a day as needed. But as I mentioned before, we usually only need to apply this once (twice at the very most.)

I’ve been amazed at how effective this simple mosquito bite relief remedy is, plus because it’s all-natural, I can use it without any worries on my kids.

My 4-year-old niece gets bitten up a lot by mosquitos too and her mother was equally impressed when we used this roller blend on her. (My sister ordered her own roller bottles and now makes this blend often as she loves how effective it is for reducing irritation from bug bites.)

If you’ve been looking for an all-natural way to relieve mosquito bites, then this is a great option. Essential oils for mosquito bites can be very effective and be a better option than many of the typical insect bite relief ointments and sprays available.

Don’t feel like buying the essential oils and making your own blend? This “Don’t Bug Me” natural repellent from Herbal Energetics both repels and soothes bug bites. You can read more and buy it here.

Related Posts

If you liked this mosquito bite relief essential oil blend, you might also like our homemade anti-itch relief cream for bug bites, along with this “itch relief stick” for bug bites, two more creative home remedies for itchy mosquito bites.