As you probably already know, our scents are crafted to bring the outdoors into your homes, but we have one exception. Each spring, we release our Citronella candle to keep your barbecues, camping trips, or backyard patio drinks bug-free, without overpowering the natural scents around you. It features two essential oils made from hard working plants that give off a scent mosquitos and other insects don't like—but thankfully, we do.
Citronella oil is extracted from the stems and leaves of different species of lemongrass and though it smells good and has been found to repel mosquitos, there's another oil in the mix doing more work.
Many people are surprised that even better than citronella at repelling insects is oil of lemon eucalyptus. Because of the empirical evidence behind this aroma it's actually lemon eucalyptus that is the driving force in our Citronella scent and in your backyard bug bite defence. It's extracted from the Australian-native lemon eucalyptus tree's leaves. Interestingly, the smell we most often associate with citronella is actually coming from lemon eucalyptus. You can read more about both (and some other natural bug repellents) here.
Our version of citronella is traditionally sharp and citrusy, but balanced by salty kelp oil that we distill in house. These are poured as a limited release for the slice of warm weather we get here in Newfoundland—if you're elsewhere, you probably have a larger window for Citronella-filled days. Get 'em before they're gone here. Currently available as part of our early summer collection: large, small.
(First photo by Krista Wells of Georgestown on my Mind)