This study highlights the possibility of botanical insecticides, especially the essential oils like garlic and ginger, as sustainable substitutes for synthetic chemicals to enhance the value of combining efficacy with ecological and environmental concerns in pest management programs. In this work, the efficacy of essential oils, garlic (Allium sativum) and ginger (Zingiber officinale), was evaluated individually and in the mixture with mineral paraffin oil against the 2nd instar larvae of cotton leafworm (Spodoptera littoralis) and fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) under laboratory conditions. Also, the impact of these oils on some detoxifying enzymes and the repellence effect in tested insects was investigated. The results indicated that the efficacy of Z. officinale against S. littoralis was greater than that of A. sativum (LC₅₀ = 14523 and 35265 ppm, respectively). Also, the efficacy of the mixture Z. officinale with mineral paraffin oil was greater than the mixture of A. sativum with mineral paraffin oil against S. littoralis (LC₅₀ = 4734 and 8680 ppm, respectively). While the efficacy of A. sativum was greater against S. frugiperda than that of Z. officinale (LC₅₀ = 11058 and 15278 ppm, respectively). Also, the mixture of A. sativum with mineral paraffin oil was more efficacious compared to the mixture of Z. officinale with mineral paraffin oil against S. frugiperda (LC₅₀ = 4847 and 5561 ppm, respectively). In general, the mixture of essential oil and mineral paraffin oil was more efficacious compared to the effect of essential oil alone. All treatments caused inhibition of glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity in treated larvae of S. frugiperda compared to the control. But acetylcholine esterase (AchE) was activated with all treatments except the treated larvae by Z. officinale oil compared to the control. Whereas glutathione S-transferase (GST) and acetylcholine esterase (AchE) were activated in treated larvae of S. littoralis by all treatments. Furthermore, no repellent effect was found in both insects when exposed to both essential oils and their mixture with mineral paraffin oil. Thus, the mixture of A. sativum with mineral paraffin oil and the mixture of Z. officinale with mineral paraffin oil can be used as promising insecticides against S. frugiperda and S. littoralis, respectively.