This study proves your Victoria’s Secret perfume is basically bug spray

Heading out on a camping trip? Make sure you bring your perfume.

A recent study published in the Journal of Insect Science aimed to find the most efficient insect repellent, and included some tried and tested solutions like OFF spray. But the standout? Victoria’s Secret Bombshell perfume.

The study, which was conducted at New Mexico State’s Molecular Vector Physiology Lab, included the perfume to dispel the myth that fruity, floral perfumes attract mosquitoes.

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“There was some previous literature that said fruity, floral scents attracted mosquitoes, and to not wear those,” researcher Stacy Rodriguez explained in a press release. “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.”

Victoria’s Secret Bombshell perfume

To conduct the study, researchers put two species of mosquitoes in a container with a Y-shaped tube in it. At the end of one tube was the researcher’s untreated hand, and at the end of the other was their other hand coated with a repellent.

Scientists tested seven commercial insect sprays (both natural and DEET-based), a mosquito skin patch, a bath oil and of course, the Victoria’s Secret perfume.

ALSO SEE: What would the world be like without mosquitoes?

Journal of Insect Science

Turns out that the hand covered in Bombshell perfume attracted an initial 17 mosquitoes, as opposed to the untreated hand which attracted 61. What attracted the most mosquitoes, you ask? Turns out it was the skin patch, which attracted a whopping 68 mosquitoes – more than the untreated hand.

Otherwise the study results were fairly straightforward: as expected, the repellents that contained DEET were more effective than those that didn’t.

So, next time you head out into nature – make sure you don’t forget your favourite fruity perfume.