Kill Bugs, Not your Brain Cells, With This Natural Bug Killer...Review and Giveaway Courtesy of EcoSMART!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

Recently I was contacted by a lovely company called EcoSMART, and they kindly sent me their products to review AND offered a giveaway for all you lovely readers...isn't that...lovely? Why yes, it is, and it is lovely because...

YOU GET TO KILL BUGS!

SAFELY!

So, let's talk about it shall we? Then I will offer you many chances to win these products and try them yourself mmmkay? Yay!

I received the Safe Picnic Value Bundle to review for organic home pest control. This included a 24oz home pest control spray, two 6 oz insect repellents, and a 14 oz can of flying insect spray.

I had read the long list of positive testimonials on their website, and about their commitment to safety and using natural, organic pesticides, so I was eager to try the the sprays out in the summer, and as soon as the mosquitoes started ganging up and mercilessly attacking my son, I knew it was time!

The insect repellent had, to me, a rather strong alcohol smell at first, but that quickly evaporated and what was left was a mild lemongrass scent that beats the smell of DEET any day! It is not greasy or overpowering, which is important, and it is especially nice that I am not spraying my kids with chemicals! You do have to use quite a bit of it; I found that a general spray around the body still allowed those skeeters to do some damage. However, a full spray on all parts of skin exposed seemed to do the trick. I would give this product an 9/10 and would recommend it for days when you're at a picnic or BBQ.

The home pest control did not fare so well for me, and that would mostly be due to the scent. The testimonials on their website were full of positive comments regarding the scent, but, for me, it was way too strong. The oil that I didn't care for is listed as peppermint, but smells more like a wintergreen scent to my nose. Because of this, I couldn't even spray it inside my house and instead used it outside. I sprayed this around some ants that were invading my patio, and while it deterred them for a while, they soon walked right over the barrier. Then I sprayed it right onto the ants. This seemed to irritate them more than anything, and did not kill them. In fact, they seemed to clean themselves off and went on their merry way! I was a little shocked by this, since many testimonials said this product worked great for them. Needless to say I am now scared of the ants on my patio, and I sleep with one eye open. It could very well be I needed to spray more but, again, the scent was too strong for me, and I didn't care for it lingering, even outside. I would give this product a 6/10, based on my aversion to the scent and the ants not being affected by it, as far as I could tell. (They could have wandered off and died, but, I didn't stay outside to verify that.)

The flying insect killer faired better, and I found that it kills flying creatures, of all kinds, on contact; the spray killed the huge nasty houseflies that are nearly impossible to swat or catch or spray, which is nice because then I am not screaming my head off as a huge fly zooms from one end of the house to another, trying to take me down along the way. I also had a strange bug infestation in a plant outside, so I sprayed the snot out of the plant and bugs. While it killed the bugs I saw, they kept coming back the next day, but the daily spraying didn't seem to affect my plant too much, so I at least felt like I was keeping tabs on the crazy critters. I also sprayed it on a wall of gnat-like pests impeding on my kids' play area. This got rid of them, but of course being outside they just showed up again once the spray dissipated. But again, the scent, which is key to it's power, was not my thing. I am more of an autumn, warm, apple-cinnamon type girl, so this scent is pretty much the opposite of what I enjoy, and so I couldn't even bring myself to use it in my house. If you love wintergreen scents you will like this I am sure. I would give this a 7/10, since I am pretty convinced this product will kill smaller, soft-bodied flying insects easily.

Overall: I am impressed that EcoSMART uses natural oils to repel and kill bugs, which is a great alternative to the dangerous chemicals out there, affecting the health and safety of our young children and pets. I like the thorough explanations of the products on their website and the history of the company, and it seems to be that they are on to a very good thing! I would use the insect repellent again, because I feel it did the job, it had a pleasant scent that didn't linger or leave a residue, and it is much safer than the chemical products out on the market. Thank you to EcoSMART for this opportunity and for their concern for our young ones and healthier living for all!

And now, it's your turn!

You get a chance to try these same products from the Safe Picnic Value Bundle yourself! Here's what to do:

1. Visit EcoSMART and then come back here to comment on what you like about the company and which product interests you most.

2. You may tweet this giveaway, ONE PER DAY, through the length of the giveaway (equaling 10 entries) say, "visit @insanitykim and win this giveaway and kill bugs naturally with EcoSMART " with a link to this post. Come back here with the tweet link for each day you tweet it.

3. Blog about this giveaway, with a link to EcoSMART and to this post. Come back here with the link to your post and receive 5 entries. You may blog about this once.

4. Please leave me a safe way to contact you in your comment.

NOTE: This giveaway is open to the continental US only...but hey, I lived in Alaska, so I know there's nothing there to scream about and kill, and Hawaii, sorry y'all...

Otherwise, wooohooo!

This giveaway begins TODAY, Wednesday, July 7, 2010 and ends Saturday, July 17th, 2010 at 12pm EST. At that time I will use the trusty ol' Random Number Generator (RGN) to choose a winner. The winner will have 3 days to contact me, and if they do not, I will use the RGN to choose a new winner.

So get to it y'all! I SO hope you win! Yeah, you, reading this, right now... I hope you win!

I provide reviews and giveaways as a packaged deal, I do not provide review only or giveaway only posts. This blog requires compensation, and all shipping costs paid, for review/giveaway packages in the form of receiving the review product for me and/or my family, not to be returned. I give exception to any independent business owners of handmade items, as found on Etsy, and I will host giveaways for such business owners without the need for review and/or compensation.

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