TEA TREE OIL! A MUST HAVE!
G’day Sheilas! Stylemama here, skipping through the billabong singing about Tea Tree Oil!
Did you know we have the Australian Aborigines to thank for our beloved Tea Tree Oil? Long ago, they discovered that using poultices made from the soil and waters that surrounded Tea Trees produced “mystical” healing benefits. Even today it’s still believed that such lagoons create magical healing waters.
Tea Tree Oil is my favorite essential oil. The natural healing properties and the cosmetic benefits are endless. Once you start using it you’re going to wonder how you ever lived without it. (As with any health or beauty product, make sure you do a skin test to check for allergies or sensitivities prior to use, always use 100% TTO, and don’t ever ingest it.)
The love affair begins…….
- Minor cuts & insect bites: 1-2 drops directly to the affected area. The anesthetic qualities take the sting out (immediately) while the antibacterial qualities prevent infection.
- Fungal infections: no one likes the word fungal, but into everyone’s life a little fungus must fall! Whaaaa???? Seriously, TTO will treat Athlete’s Foot and nail fungus. Several drops directly to the affected area 1-3 times per day, for two weeks. It can also be used to prevent Athlete’s Foot after a day spent at the beach or community pool. Apply directly to the feet and in between the toes.
-Stinky feet! 2-4 drops directly to the entire foot in the a.m. or added to any moisturizer you would use on your feet. When used daily it will eliminate odor. Add a few drops to your smelly shoes, allow them to air-out and this will decrease odor there too. The bacteria on our feet caused by sweating/moisture is responsible for that pungent scent. TTO’s natural antibacterial properties kill the germs that cause the stench. (Is that a commercial or what?)
- Body piercing: A few drops to the belly ring and belly button, and your button will heal quicker and cleaner than traditional treatments. For pierced ears, 1-2 drops directly to the area, twice daily for 4 weeks. You should also swipe the earrings with it prior to putting them on.
- Natural insect repellant: combine 1 part TTO to 10 parts water in a spray bottle, shake and apply all over your hot bod before going outdoors. Insects don’t like the scent, unfortunately some humans don’t either, but it’s effective and DEET free!
- Ingrown hairs: 1-2 drops directly to affected area 2-3 times per day until symptoms subside.
- Post-shave/waxing treatment (legs and pits): use several drops full strength if you like that super cool, tingly feeling, think of the old Sea Breeze Toner on crack. Or if you just want to prevent inflammation, ingrown hairs, and razor burn; add 8-10 drops to a large dollop of your favorite moisturizer, combine and apply all over entire legs, adjust amount for pits. (When adding TTO to existing beauty products, I prefer to add it to natural or non-scented products.)
- Eczema: 15 drops to your bath water, soak 10-15 minutes daily until symptoms subside. For maintenance, use the same system twice a week.
- Cold sores: 1-2 drops directly to cold sore at the onset of symptoms, 4-5 times per day for up to 5 days.
- Air freshener: 10ml of TTO to 1L of water in a ceramic plant spray bottle; shake and spray! It’s a nice clean scent that helps to naturally disinfect your environment by preventing the spread of germs that cause the common cold.
(As with all application methods, you will find the system that works best for you; diluted vs. full strength. You can dilute TTO by soaking a Q-tip in water or other essential oils such as, almond, lavender even olive and then add 1-2 drops TTO directly to Q-tip prior to application.)
- Hair loss! Several years ago I began to detect an overall thinning of my already fine (but full!) head of hair. I’m plagued with a few skin issues so I knew the scalp could be problematic too. I was unable to detect any visible issues but I opted to treat first and ask questions later. After much research, I selected Nizoral Ad for my base and mixed it with 100% TTO.
After the first wash, my scalp felt very tingly and super clean. After 4-6 weeks I thought I detected new growth, with a definite decrease in hair loss. Not bad. After about 4-5 months of using this mixture 2-3 times per week I was growing new hair! It wasn’t my imagination; my hair stylist couldn’t get believe all the new hair sproutin’ all over my noggin! It’s my humble belief that the TTO mixture “woke up” any hair follicles that were sleeping. However, this treatment is not for those looking for instant gratification. You must be exceedingly patient and very consistent. It’s also really important that you follow up with a salon quality conditioner, this system can be very drying.
I’ll leave you with my humble homemade recipe:
Fill one palm with a dollop of Nizoral AD then add 8-12 drops of TTO. Combine in the palm of your hand. (I don’t add the TTO directly to the Nizoral AD bottle because I’m not sure how the TTO breaks down inside the shampoo bottle.) Next shampoo and massage your scalp THOROUGHLY, do not skip any part of your scalp. Leave on for 5 minutes. Rinse well, finish with a salon quality conditioner.
Will this system work for everyone? Will it work with different types of shampoo? Maybe… hopefully. I can only share my personal success and my homespun recipe. I will say, I am very happy with the results and the fact that my children can’t stand the sight or smell of Tea Tree Oil means it MUST be working!
So, are any of you terrorizing your friends and family with Tea Tree Oil?
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Reviews
Hey there Stylemama - I can vouch for your Tea Tree Oil hair potion. I swear I even have a little fringe of new growth - and my hair grows slower than, well I ran out of a comparison, but you know what I mean. I have little shoots coming up everywhere - you should patent it or something. And as a follow up conditioner, may I suggest Frederik Fekkai for color-treated hair (in the pink jar). After a teensy application from the sample you sent, Victor, my hairdresser nearly fainted. 'What you do with your hair???' The same Victor who snorted at my TTO in the shampoo for thinning hair is now washing his fast-receding hairline in the same mix and looking at how to get Frederik Fekkai here.....oh the power of Meg's.....Much Love to you and The Girls!
Rie
Wow!! very cool... In beauty school we had tea tree shampoo.. it help get ride of dandruff!! It worked really good and smelled minty and great!! Thanks for all the fun ideas!!!! <3 <3 <3
It's great to know that there are so many uses for tea tree oil. I always thought that it was just used in products to clear blemishes/acne. Thanks for the tips.
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I LOVE tea tree oil! I have used it for my bad eczema, flaky winter scalp, dry heals, breakouts and as an insect repellant. This essential oil has become very "essential" in my daily life. It is a little miracle in a bottle - I can't say enough great things about Tea Tree oil. Yay!
i have a tea tree oil shampoo and i love it. it has such a natural smell to it and it helps out with my itchy scalp. it's great that there are so many uses and thanks for letting us know all this information. this is probably really good for my ingrown hairs!
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I have a bottle of Australian tea tree oil and I use it for all sorts of things. I put a few drops in with my baby shampoo and wash my makeup brushes with it, I put a few drops into my foot soak to kill any fungus, I have a tea tree oil body wash that I love. My skin is dry and eczema prone so I will have to try the bath thing. Great tips!
awesome thanks!Im going to try it with my regular shampoo. and see if it works... I feel my hair is thinning and I lose enough hair everyday to fill a wig!I will let everyone know if it works with other shampoos too!
Tan is Love
I LOVE TTO!I use it straight on blemishes sometimes, but also my face wash and scrub both have TTO in them, and I sometimes even mix it in with my moisturizer. It works so well, and the best part is it's natural!
I use either tea-tree oil or lavender oil as a natural blemish remedy. As soon as I can feel a pesky pimple starting to raise their head I dab a drop of oil on the end of a cotton tip.Within days the little greasy sucker is dried up and no longer threatening to bother me anymore!All hail tea-tree and lavender oils! :D
ooh I love the tip to put a few drops in stinky shoes! I've been working out like a fiend lately, so I might need this :/
BeautyAllThat, I too thought that's all that Tea Tree Oil was used for! (I'd seen those Burt's Bees tea tree oil roller ball sticks and thought about trying them, and I did try The Body Shop's Tea Tree Oil concealer, which didn't work for me at all in terms of concealing or in terms of helping my acne). Stylemama, thank you for sharing all of these other uses! I somehow have occasional armpit eczema which is really annoying, and stinky feet, so I'm really excited to try out tea tree oil for something other than acne! I'm bookmarking this article for sure. Does anyone recommend a particular brand or seller that isn't too expensive?
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hi there , the stuff is amazing, for anything that ails your skin. I haven't used it with hair products but now i am curious. I got into it because my little old lady pug(she is 16) has a persistent ear infectionthat has responded to absolutely nothing, Our vet threw up his hands and sent us to a doggie derm, she gave up as well. With nothing to lose we started to use tea tree oil in her ear. It has not worked miracles, but her ears are better than they were on anything else, and it is certainly cheaper.Can't say i am in love with the fragrance. It is sort of a smash of pine, ecalyptus and lysol. It really does smell sort of anaseptic. In a way this is good, because if people start to avoid you, you have too much on your face. It is far less toxic for any dermatalogical problem than anything else out there, works well for for foot fungi and burns too. Give it a try, it isnt too expensive about $10.00 for an ounce but lasts and lasts.
dotti, old but not dead yet, polymath still in training, makeup junkie and general overspender.
I thought it was just for blemishes... From time to time I experience a lot of hair loss, so it is nice to know i can rely on a home tried and tested recipe to keep to hair growing!
I'm a long-time lover of TTO, although I confess I use it far less on my face now that menopause has cured me of all traces of acne. But even I whose motto could be "if baby shampoo won't do it, tea tree oil will" never though of half of these clever uses. Thanks, mamma mia! And while we are on the subject of hair growth, thanks again for the Womens Rogaine tip -- I'm about 6 weeks out and just beginning to see some glimer of new growth. Or maybe I just need a stronger light bulb.
Stylemama, thank you so much for this blog post! I had no idea that you could use it in so many ways and also very interesting to learn that it is the Aborigines we have to thank for it. I have been thinking of getting tea tree oil for some time, but haven't been sure about how to use it so this comes in very handy indeed and now I know that I need it!
Tea Tree Oil is definitely something I cannot be without. I've been doing some experimenting with new skincare products this month, trying to cut down costs a bit, and broke out horribly. TTO to the rescue!Seriously, though, it is my little bottle of magic. And seeing the list of uses (had not thought about adding it to my shampoo, though that might perphaps help against my sebboreah) I suddenly understand why.Thank you for an excellent review. :D
Wow -- some great ideas here! Definitely going to try the insect repellent suggestion -- we've got plenty of bugs here in Florida, and it'd be nice not to get eaten alive. ;)
It's great to know that tea tree oil has so many uses (I had no idea!). I currently use tea tree oil for my blemishes and it definitely dries them right up! I also put some in my aspirin/honey mask when I have a breakout.
I am curious if this helps with acne scaring? I have heard whispers about using this for this purpose. I did a search for this online and could not find anything.
Ah, thank you so much for this! I have eczema and my hair is thinning, so I will definitely try the tea tree oil especially for these purposes. ::cross fingers:: I hope this alleviates the discomfort and works for me!
I really love and frequently use TTO too! :) I use it on any pimples I can feel coming up. I also frequently suffer from infected earrings. No idea why and no matter what earrings I use I get an infection. A couple of days using a bit of the TTO on them and they're back to normal!!
I love TTO! I use it when *grossness ahead* a pimple has accidently popped from vigorous washing or the like - i dilute it with water and apply to the area to prevent bacteria from spreading. And when I wax down there I mix a drop or two with moisturiser to prevent ingrown hairs.Love!
wow! I recently came back from sydney, australia! It was beyond great. Anyways,and my mom and I bought 3 bottles of tea tree oil. She uses it to numb this pain she gets in her tooth... I use it as a spot treatment on my face. But it is not amazing. I think TTO works best for oily skin, mine is dryish. I saw the tea tree line at the body shops and it doesn't seem to great. I remember hearing negative reviews on it & their bottle of tea tree oil is only 15%! So overpriced. But it is the only place I have seen it in the US.
Oh and thanks for the tips on TTO uses!
I also use TTO to clear up blemishes. It works amazing! I also like to use it on the edge of my eye socket to tighten the skin before I put my makeup on...but just on those really tired-cant-open-my-eyes mornings. :)
OH WOW! I never knew tea tree oil provided all these benefits!!!! I only heard that they treat pimples ok.I think i'll need to pay my local chemist a visit for some oil. It may be too late for my piercing, i have pretty sensitive skin and my four piercing went horribly wrong (well not that terrible but lots of scar tissues). I ended up taking three of them out so now I have one left. And there's a masssiveeee scar tissue. yuck!!! I can't get rid of it! my family doc said the only way is to get plastic surgery for my ear :\
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Its anti-fungal properties also make it a great EO to add to natural homemade cleaners for your home!!
I agree. TTO is AMAZING! I use it on my face to help with clogged pores, and I use it to treat my hypertrophic scarring on my piercings.
I NEED THIS! LOLLL!!!i'm having trouble with my ear piercings..They don't heal right and maybe this will help a LOT.THANK YOU! x))
I love love love tea tree oil! I use it Everyday on my face to help keep my skin looking lovely- it also helps to minimize pores!Ive never thought to use it for all those other things! I seriously am going to have to try some of these out!! I am looking forward to trying out the bug spray option- I hate bug spray but get bit up sooo badly all the time! I wonder how it works if you add to Skin so soft- which works as a mild deterrent for bugs! Seriously considering! :))Thanks Stylemama for highlighting an awesome-natural-cheap beauty option! : )
I also love tto! its great isnt it.. i use it on blemishes too, but my boyfriend says i shoudlnt since it is too powerful. I dont mind the smell either though lots of people cant stand the smell which is strange since i think it smells lovely and fresh. Thanks for all the other tips ive not thought to use my tto for.
makeup makeup makeup!!!!!!!
Tea tree oil has a ton of uses. It's also great for treating bug bites, especially mosquito bites. I've also been told that it can be used to clear up a yeast infection.
Oh, I knew TTO was good for fungus and such, and as an antibacterial, but I had no idea it would work for ingrown hairs.My boyfriend has been getting these a lot in random places. If he can stand the smell of TTO I might have to start rubbing it on his commonly affected areas -- Think where pants and such chafe when you work all day and sweat. Yeah.Very informative!
I had tea tree oil before (for spot treatment) and i wasnt blown away- but who knew you could use it in so many ways?! great tips i am going to buy one of these today-dont you just love multi purpose products!!! I think i should get a bottle for my bvest friend, boy do her feet smell!!!!!! (she doesnt wear socks so all her shoes are so stinky!!!)
I have used tea trea oil for as long as I can remember. My mother has always been into essential oils, so of course I fell upon the bandwagon many years ago. I probably have been using TTO since I was 10. I knew it was good for a lot of things. I have been using it on my face for many years. I used to have perfectly awesome skin, so I would use TTO in a homemade mask or scrub to refresh my skin, and keep any want to be skin irritation/acne away. After my skin became very acne prone I started dabbing TTO on my blemishes and it would heal the pain and dry them up. I like the feeling of TTO, it is very refreshing. i want to make some of my own toner with witch hazel and TTO, I bet that would really make my skin feel alive. I didn't know that it could help with hair loss though. That is very interesting. I think I'm going to try some TTO in my shampoo, not because my hair is thinning but because I think it would make my scalp feel awesome. I have to keep TTO in mind if any of my family members start losing hair.
I've never used tto before but thats very interesting that it works for ingrown hairs. I been looking for a product for that so maybe I will try this one out. Thanks for letting us know all the things it can be used for!
Omg! I just love tea tree oil.. I bought a bottle of this stuff for blemish and ance control and it feels so ice cool on your face.. AWESOME BLOG! ;)
Who knew tea tree oil was so amazing! It's helped me significantly with my eczema problem!
I am totally going to use your tips about the whole smelly feet thing. Rubber flip flops + 100 degree weather = not such a good smell :P Pretty much everything I've tried doesn't work. So this is worth a shot.I've also heard that this is great for your skin too. I've heard that it can clear up your skin. I've always wanted to to try tea tree oil for that reason as well.
WOW. this is so cool! i never knew tree tea oil can be used in so many useful ways!i'm definitely thinking about buying some of it for myself.thanks SO much for sharing! <3 <3 <3
xoxo
I've actually never used tea tree oil - but I guess I should try it sometime! It seems to be a powerhouse oil!! I've only ever seen it in acne-treatment methods and I never really trusted it because I tend not to use "all natural" products because I don't think they work as well - but I would love to try this for the other purposes, especially ingrown hairs!!
xoxo
Tea Tree Oil gets rid of eczema? That is so great to know because my mom suffers from it. I'll definitely tell that to her. :)
I now bestow the title of dame tea tree upon you for your services to the humble yet mighty tea-tree oil.Seriously you have to patent your hair growing remedy before the Donald reads this or he will be building another trump tower with your idea.Mabye this makes me one of the few but I actually like the smell of tea tree.I love tissard tree-tree and kahuna blemish stick it works on a pimple like a magic wand.If your girls start running when they see the tea -tree try one of these favourite mama lines on them."It's only for your own good""mom knows best""because I said so"
PotionPrincess♥
I use tea tree oil for everything! I even used it on my cat, Tango. When he was a baby he had a fungus all over his body. He was too little for antibiotics, so I mixed a little tree oil with water and sprayed him down with it. It worked!!!
Style Mama (or TTO Queen) - thanks for the many uses for TTO! Based on your previous comments about it, I am already a user and fan. It is great for the occasional toe nail fungus (ewwww) - and for hot spots on my dogs (and their stinky ears). I rarely get a pimple, but when I do, I use the TTO on it. I hadn't thought about putting it in shoes or using as a bug spray, but I'm going to incorporate this into my routine. I've been using Jason's but would be interested in knowing what other brands y'all have been using.Thanks!
Carole
wow never heard of it before but i'm a be in the look out for it
I love TTO and use it for lots of things, but didn't know it could help with in-grown hairs. I even use it (diluted) to treat a skin condition my dog has, much to the amusement of the vet!
I wish I knew about that in july when my body was eaten by moskitos like every 10 minutes I was living a nightmare they were even bitting my face and scalp !!!!ahhhaand I don't care if human would have hate my scent lol I was far from thinking that oil can help the skin after a piercing I am surprised like always on that website (lol)...and that oil helps hair too? I am sold !
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I love tto!!!
I live in australia and there is this place called Thursday plantation, you can buy all sorts of things, all with tto in it... From dog shampoo to lip balm, it's all there... And the place smells soo good lol
mmm.... need to re-think TTO.. threw out my Thursday Plantation TTO because I didn't get any results (ya, I was looking for instant gratification ;p) maybe I should get a new bottle soon... thanks for sharing!