Ingredients by brand
What's in Badger repellents?
The 3 Badger products we've scored use 11 different active ingredients: Castor oil, Citronella oil, Cedarwood oil, and Lemongrass oil, plus 7 more.
By the Notch Wellness team · Updated July 20, 2026 · Reviewed against our scoring methodology
We make Notch, so we're not a neutral third party. Ingredients and concentrations come from each product's label; scores come from our published methodology.
Active ingredients in Badger products
Castor oil 10%
In 2 of 3 products
Listed as an inert ingredient permitted in EPA minimum risk (FIFRA 25(b)) pesticide products.
Citronella oil 4%–5%
In 2 of 3 products
The scent most people picture as bug spray, and one of the shortest-lasting actives in testing: roughly 15 to 20 minutes of full protection at the concentrations products use.
In 2 of 3 products
Better known for closets than skin. Its mosquito evidence is thin, but its cedrol component has a real, short-lived effect against ticks, which is where cedarwood products earn their keep.
In 2 of 3 products
Distilled from Cymbopogon citratus and dominated by citral, the aldehyde behind both its lemon scent and most of its bite. Among essential oils it is one of the stronger mosquito performers, giving roughly an hour to…
Rosemary oil 1%–1.5%
In 2 of 3 products
Rosemary oil is a fragrant blend of 1,8-cineole and camphor that products lean on more for scent and label appeal than for proven protection. The controlled evidence that it repels mosquitoes is weak.
Geranium oil 1%
In 2 of 3 products
Steam-distilled from Pelargonium and rich in geraniol and citronellol, so it behaves much like a diluted geraniol product. Badger and Natrapel build botanical sprays around it at roughly 1%.
Soybean oil 23%
In 1 of 3 products
Soybean oil is the rare fixed oil with real repellent data behind it: in a landmark trial a 2% soybean-oil spray outlasted every other non-DEET product tested. It anchors botanical sprays like All Terrain's Herbal Armor.
In 1 of 3 products
Peppermint oil (Mentha piperita) is a menthol-and-menthone oil found in many botanical sprays. It repels mosquitoes at high strength in the lab but only briefly, and it is one of the essential oils most likely to harm…
Geraniol 4.5%
In 1 of 3 products
A rose-scented alcohol found in geranium, citronella, and rose oils. Among botanicals it is unusual for having a clear dose threshold: useful above 5% in a lotion base, close to useless below 4%.
Cinnamon oil 4%
In 1 of 3 products
Cinnamon oil is rich in cinnamaldehyde and eugenol, and in one controlled screen it ranked among the strongest essential oils against mosquitoes, though still short-acting. Its phenol content also makes it a real…
Thyme oil 1%
In 1 of 3 products
High in the phenols thymol and carvacrol, thyme oil has a sharper edge against ticks than mosquitoes. It anchors tick-focused botanicals like Badger's Anti-Tick Spray at about 1%.
Every Badgerproduct we've scored
Open a product for its full ingredient list, protection time and review.
| Product | Active ingredient | Mosquito protection | Our score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-Bug Shake & SpraySpray | Soybean oil 23%, Castor oil 10%, Citronella oil 4%, Cedarwood oil 2%, Lemongrass oil 2%, Rosemary oil 1.5%, Geranium oil 1%, Peppermint oil 1% | 2 h | 65 |
| Anti-Tick SpraySpray | Geraniol 4.5%, Cinnamon oil 4.0%, Thyme oil 1.0% | 0.5–1.4 h | 65 |
| Bug Repellent Balm TinBalm | Castor oil 10%, Citronella oil 5%, Cedarwood oil 2%, Lemongrass oil 2%, Rosemary oil 1%, Geranium oil 1% | 0.2 h | 45 |