It turns out Victoria’s Secret perfume is a pretty good mosquito repellent

Skin So Soft saw 43 yellow fever/ 36 tiger at that same mark-but as for the “Bombshell” perfume, only 18 percent of the yellows and 17 percent of the tigers were biting at that point, making it (in this study) statistically effective.

Mosquitoes are known to transmit malaria, yellow and dengue fevers, and other diseases. Moreover, they irritate the skin.

And that was a massive knock against “natural” repellants that have become more popular lately.

The researchers tested how effective 10 commercially available products are in repelling the two common mosquitoes species, yellow fever mosquitoes and Asian tiger mosquitoes. One researcher who is prone to mosquito placed her two hands at the ends of both forked tubes. One end of the tube led to a researcher’s bare hand, the other end had been coated with a substance. If the mosquitoes avoided the treated hand and went for the untreated hand, the repellant was deemed effective.

Of the repellents tested, three of the sprays contained DEET as the active ingredient (Repel 100 Insect Repellent, OFF Deep Woods Insect Repellent VIII and Cutter Skinsations Insect Repellent), while four were DEET-free (Cutter Natural Insect Repellent, EcoSmart Organic Insect Repellent, Cutter Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent and Avon Skin So Soft Bug Guard). Non-DEET repellents had little to no effect on a few of the mosquitoes, except for the Cutter-brand Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent. However, majority including the vitamin B patch didn’t make any difference.

The team was not surprised with the results involving the commercial repellents, but they were amazed at how mosquitoes reacted to the chemical fragrances they used. While straight-up DEET reigns supreme as the most effective method of repelling mosquitoes, the next best thing is pretty surprising: Victora’s Secret’s Bombshell perfume.

The study revealed that repellents with DEET are more effective than those without. “There was a few previous literature that said fruity, floral scents attracted mosquitoes, and to not wear those”, said Stacy Rodriguez, a research assistant involved in the study.

AVON Avon Skin So Soft Enlarge victoria’s secret New study finds two fragrances including Victoria’s Secret Bombshell perfume, work well at repelling mosquitoes. “It was interesting to see that the mosquitoes weren’t actually attracted to the person that was wearing the Victoria’s Secret perfume – they were repelled by it”.

The fragrance may provide a temporary masking effect, the researchers explained.

The press release noted that three of the eight repellants (which have the DEET chemical) work the best.