I Bring These Brilliant Insect Repellent Wipes Everywhere I Go (They’re Travel-Friendly!)

Mosquitoes love me. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing, if there’s a mosquito anywhere in the vicinity, it’ll find me and have me for lunch. I’ve tried every random spray and remedy over the years, including wearing loose-fitting long sleeves when outdoors at night and avoiding mosquito-heavy areas, such as swamps and rainforests. 

But the reality is, mosquitoes can’t always be avoided — especially in my line of work as a food and travel journalist. The problem is, not only do mosquitoes love to bite me, but my skin also ends up with big, itchy reactions after being bitten. Forget about it being rather uncute and uncomfortable, it’s just plain unbearable.

After one especially mosquito-heavy outing (a scenic lobster bake by a lake in Maine during peak mosquito season) left me covered in bites hours later, I decided I had to get a lot more proactive in my repellent action and find a better solution than hiding out indoors for the rest of my life. The answer, it seems, was the simplest option of all — these travel-friendly mosquito wipes I discovered on Amazon.

The CoreTex Bug X 30 Insect Repellent Towelettes are individually-wrapped insect repellent wipes that are simply genius, and couldn’t be easier to carry and store. The formula is light, sweat-proof and easy to use — as simple as if you were using a makeup remover wipe, and has no greasy film or bug-repellent stink. But it works, it contains 30% DEET and repels not only mosquitos but also things like ticks, fleas, chiggers, and more. 

Because it’s not a spray, lotion, or gel, there’s no TSA issue. I stash them in my carry-on whenever I travel and even my purse whenever I’m headed out for the night to a rooftop event or dining outdoors. Then, you just wipe one on your arms and legs (the only place I don’t wipe is my face) and it lasts for hours. It’s advertised to last for around seven hours of protection, but I’ve had great results for hours longer, too, so if you find yourself in a jam and don’t have a second wipe after that time span passes, you might still be just fine.

These wipes provide repellent protection without being smelly like oils or sprays normally are. Additionally, a 50-pack is $49 — that’s less than $1 a wipe! It also comes in 25 counts or 100 counts (and the 100 count works out to around 75 cents a wipe!), so if you have a lifestyle that involves a whole lot of time outdoors and mosquitos are as fond of you as they are of me, you just might want to go bulk on this one.

Buy: CoreTex Bug X 30 Mosquito, Tick, & Insect Repellent Wipes, $48.99