oh dear....just to add to the saga, have just tried neem oil, bought from the local health shop (thanks to the recommendations of eeyore and stripee) and apparently its a get-it-off-my-skin-oh-god-the-burning type stuff. i've developed a nice angry red rash where i tested it. lovely.
so ruling out:
deet - doesn't work
citronella - ditto
avon skin so soft - allergic
neem oil - apparently
very allergic
loosestrife flowers - hayfever
bog myrtle - ditto
cigars - cancer risk
midge nets - don't work against clegs
and finally
plastic bubbles - these will quickly puncture or i'll suffocate
i'm now down to accepting that the horrible bugs will get me no matter what, and resigning myself to a lifetime of angry welts. sigh.
thanks for all the suggestions....
sarah
p.s. why am i allergic to the ones that don't have deet, and yet deet is fine (but doesn't work)?
p.p.s. not blaming eeyore or stripee in anyway for current angry rash - its my own fault! crummy genetics have made me a ticking bomb, apparently, of waiting to pounce allergies.