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Used as traditional medicine by Aboriginal populations, tea tree oil is an essential oil that is obtained by steaming leaves from the Australian tea tree. It is commonly used in soaps, lotions, and lip balms, and its strong antibacterial and antifungal properties have led to its common use to treat everything from athlete’s foot, nail fungus, and insect bites, to getting rid of lice.
Tea tree oil is great for your skin. Firstly, it has antibacterial properties, so it can help treat conditions such as acne and eczema. It also has anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antifungal properties. Tea tree oil has strong antioxidant properties, making it great for reducing damage from free radicals. It supports skin healing and skin cell turnover, making it a secondary preventative for dark spots and scarring.
While most people can use tea tree oil without problems, in some people it may cause skin irritation, rashes, itching, burning, redness, and dryness. When using it, bear in mind that it is an essential oil, and therefore must be used with a carrier such as a jojoba or almond oil or it can cause irritation to the skin in fully concentrated form.
It is not suitable for delicate or sensitive skin, as it may cause irritation. Our skin quiz will let you know if you need this ingredient, and if it’s the right choice for you.
Oily skin occurs when the sebaceous glands in the pores are producing more oil, or sebum, than necessary. Sebum is natural in all skin as it keeps the skin moist and healthy. Over production of sebum can be caused by hormones, genetics or could even be a result of dry skin over-compensating by producing extra oil, in order to retain some measure of moisture.
Oily skin can also be caused by using the wrong products for your skin type. For example, if you are using overly drying soaps and astringents for your skin type, your skin may respond by over producing oil to compensate, as mentioned above. This can create an unfortunate cycle of using harsh soaps to eliminate oils, but instead exacerbating the problem.
On the other hand, overly oily makeup and products can also cause oily skin.
Ingredients that help exfoliate dead skin cells to keep pores unclogged and increase new skin cell production, such as Vitamin A/Retinol, glycolic acid, and salicylic acid, are good for treating acne as well. Benzoyl peroxide is a topical agent for fighting bacteria and unclogging pores. It is one of the longest-used medications to keep oily pores clean and healthy. Jojoba oil is also good for fighting bacteria trapped in oily skin and maintaining a moisture barrier to prevent over-production of sebum.
Tea tree oil may be effective for oily skin, but there are many other factors that may affect whether this ingredient would work on your skin or if there are better ingredients that may work for you. Take this skin quiz to find the best ingredients for your skin and build your skincare routine.
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