Ode to Tea Tree Oil

It began with a favorite face wash, but now one Herb Companion staffer looks for tea tree oil in everything.

September 12, 2008
By Jessica Sain-Baird 
tea tree oil face
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Tea tree oil is great for the face, and that's just the beginning.
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Choosing a perfect face wash can be intimidating. There are probably hundreds of products to choose from – and how do you pick the best? Should you trust the perfectly complexioned celebrities in a product’s advertisement? Do you pick the cheapest, the most expensive, the one with the most attractive bottle?

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It’s these daunting questions that always made me skeptical of what products to trust; and quite frankly, made me hardly care at all to find out.

Then I bought the Body Shop’s Tea Tree Oil Foaming Face Wash, which is $13 for a 5-ounce bottle that will last several months. 

The key to this face wash’s success is the tea tree oil inside. According to our article "Herbal Skin Care for All Ages," tea tree oil, when used externally, kills the bacteria associated with acne. It also has a refreshing aroma that makes waking up at 7 a.m. a little easier.

But your face isn’t the only beneficiary of tea tree oil, which is also known to be "particularly useful for treating or preventing fungal and bacterial skin infections," according to another article "Herbs for an Ouch."

It also aids in mouth care: According to another of our articles, "Smile!," tea tree oil "fights the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease." And as one of our staffers finds, tea tree oil works like magic with itchy bug bites.

It began with a love for my newly acquired face wash, but I’ve found the benefits of tea tree oil are everywhere! Is tea tree oil in any of your favorite products, or do you have any other uses for this wonderful essential oil?

– Jessica is an editorial intern for The Herb Companion.

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  • KC Compton 3/15/2009 5:29:33 PM

    Well, I'm not qualified to give medical advice and I'd sure say not to fool around very long with a spider bite or a staph infection.

    However, I've used tea tree oil in a very strong concentration directly on my skin for infected insect bites before and it was effective. Just get regular tea tree oil and dilute it with purified water (I'd boil the water and let it cool to the touch, then add tea tree oil at a concentration of about a teaspoonful to a quarter cup of water). Soak the bite several times with this warm mixture -- and do it frequently. If it were me, I'd do it every couple of hours until the redness began to fade, then cut back to every four hours, etc.

    But again, don't fool around too long with it. Staph is nothing to mess around with.

    Best of luck, and let us know how it goes!

    K.C. Compton

  • nicole 3/13/2009 5:30:20 PM

    I am wondering if there is any difference between the different products that are on the market, such as, tree tea oil ointment vs. tree tea oil cream. Can you use both of these on sores? I am just not sure! I have a tea tree antiseptic Ointment that my neighbor gave. I was bitten by a spider and it turned staph. I wanted to replace this jar and found it hard to find the exact same thing. When i looked up ointment it says not to be used on open skin. I did finally purchase a jar that is tree tea oil cream, the instructions on that are apply to affected area, but lists not to be used on broken or irritated skin. I am confused and love what it has done for my sore till now, just need to replace, so i have it around, and finding it difficult to understand, what do I buy?

  • mdgardengurl 10/5/2008 10:27:28 AM

    I use a Tea Tree oil soap for daily bathing (face included). My skin has never been in better shape. It even healed and prevents recurrence of a yeast rash that prescription creams failed to help. Every home should use this!

  • Rosemary 9/16/2008 10:50:15 AM

    Tea Tree Oil is one of the most excellent antiseptics ever! It is completely natural and should be a staple in EVERY SINGLE household!

  • Taylor Miller 9/16/2008 10:49:40 AM

    Hey, I tried this on a bit of my toothpaste, and WOWEE! Crazy. Cool, but I don't know if I can do it again, haha.

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