Skin Care: Tea Tree Oil Question

velvetychocolate

I'm always 'oohing and ahhing' over fancy skin care stuff in the health food stores, and somehow Santa Claus put a bottle of tea tree oil in my stocking a few months ago.

I've never used tea tree oil, and the bottle I have is 100% pure organic tea tree oil and on the label, it suggests diluting with a 'carrier oil'.

Went to the Desert Essence website (maker of the tea tree oil that I found in my stocking), and I do see joboba oil listed there, but is that what they mean by a 'carrier oil' ???? If so, does anyone know how much tea tree oil to mix with the jojoba or other carrier oil?

Are there other carrier oils?

I'm kind of clueless about this, since I usually get stuff from drugstores, department stores, salons etc.

Thanks!

13 years ago

General

12 replies

Latest reply was from Fruitful

Meredith1953

Veteran

Usually a base or vegetable oil. Even olive oil is a carrier oil, canola, evening primrose. Lots of different ones.

13 years ago

Sarah A

Veteran

sweet almond oil is my favorite carrier oil. I have not used tea tree oil before so can't specify any amounts. You can even use olive oil if you have some on hand in the kitchen before getting carried away buying new ones.

13 years ago

Traci

Veteran

I use my tea tree oil straight, but in small quantities. I dab it on zits with a q tip. Friends of mine swear by adding a few drops to shampoo.

13 years ago

velvetychocolate

Veteran

I have lots of various types of olive oil here on hand ....(bit of a foodie)...maybe I'll try that? Just put a few drops of tea tree oil in a bit of olive oil then? In my kitchen - I have almond oil, walnut oil, sesame oil, macadamia nut oil, coconut oil and several types of olive oil.

I also have Mongolian Fire Oil, but somehow I don't think this would work well on my face...

I don't mind buying the proper carrier oil, just that I don't really know what that is, and how much tea tree oil versus "carrier oil" etc.

I think I might try the almond oil first - and if not (if I don't have any left in my kitchen), then I'll just go ahead and try with olive oil.

Thanks for the advice.

13 years ago

rae

(website)

Veteran

Any thin oil will do - different ones have different properties and will work with everyone's skin a little differently. If you look up the oil cleansing method, there will be a lot of carrier oils that people use for that purpose as well.

Are you using the tea trea oil for cleansing, or as a leave-on treatment? I usually do 2/3 castor oil to about 1/3 tea tree to 1/3 camellia oil for cleansing.

http://www.carrieroils.org/

13 years ago

velvetychocolate

Veteran

Thank you so much rae!! That's what I kind of needed to know - what a 'carrier oil' really is and if there's any real difference between them.

I wasn't planning on using the tea tree oil+carrier oil as a cleanser - just that I have some minor spots and wondered if maybe the tea tree oil might help a wee bit. It's not something I planned on buying, just that my sweet husband bought it and tucked it into my Christmas stocking, because he knew I was always 'ooohing and ahhhing' the frou frou skin care stuff at the health food store.

I might well end up utilizing the 'oil cleansing method' at some point. I was impressed with DHC's cleansing oil awhile back (sample), and although I realize this isn't exactly a 'green/health food store' type of thing, I've been amazed at how much my skin appreciates something as simple as Ponds Cold Cream at night. It all seems counter-intuitive - that you'd use something oily to clean and clear up skin, but if my experience with the seemingly greasy Ponds cold cream at night is anything to go by - then I'd say there's something to the idea of cleaning with 'oily' type cleansers.

In the meantime, I have this cute little bottle of organic tea tree oil that I was given as a gift, and just realized I couldn't just swipe it onto my face - apparently you need to dilute it somehow.

I'll be honest - I don't really know what to do with this tea tree oil, but figured I should at least try it for something.

I was kind of thinking I'd just sort of swipe it over my face after cleansing or something like that, but when I read "dilute with carrier oil" I was a bit stumped.

Thanks again for the link explaining the different carrier oils.

13 years ago

ManidipaM

Veteran

VC, just dab the oil on to spots in your case. And almond oil is a great carrier choice; but you could also dissolve it in some alcohol in case the oil feels too heavy --- thinning it out also helps it spread, if you're planning to use it all over the face rather than dab on the problem areas.

Most of your foodie oils should work just fine, by the way, barring sesame --- it's too viscous. I've used olive, coconut, sunflower, almond and also alcohol for my own tea-tree treatments, as well as dabbing undiluted for spot treatments.

13 years ago

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

VC, Tea Ttree oil is fabulous for clearing up blemishes. One of the best options out there, natural or otherwise, in my experience. Be careful if you have very sensitive skin, though. It is powerful, and the advice to dilute it is very sound indeed. I agree you could probably do small spot treatments with a q-tip, but only if your skin can take it. If not, I throw in another vote for sweet almond oil. Or rosehip seed. Jojoba could work well too.

13 years ago

Freckles

Veteran

Good luck VC. I've been dying to try to oil cleansing method but keep forgetting to buy the oils...duh.

I've only ever used it in the kitchen and in my son's humidifier...

13 years ago

Kari

Veteran

I use my tea tree oil straight (though now I'm using one that is mixed with vitamin e oil to minimize scarring) but jojoba oil is fabulous. Blends very well with tea tree oil if you need to dilute. I use jojoba oil these days to cleanse my face at night and remove makeup.

13 years ago

christieanne

Veteran

I use a tea tree labeled 15% water soluble. Straight tree tea is really strong and irritating to my skin. You could put water on qtip and then dab it in oil instead of a carrier oil. I like jojoba though as it seems to cause fewer breakouts on me.

13 years ago

Fruitful

Veteran

Hi Velvety, I don't use ti-tree oil for blemishes although a lot of people swear by it and it's certainly worth a careful try (I used to, but I have my own acne regimen going now and don't choose to tinker with it).

However I always like to have ti-tree oil on hand. It's a powerful antiseptic and antifungal. Of course it's strong and potentially irritating, but it's good for cuts and scrapes (can be used neat if not on a very sensitive area). I treated my baby's nappy impetigo by mixing it with some Vaseline, very successfully. I sometimes use it for household disinfecting or to get rid of unpleasant odours. I think it can be good for dandruff.

It can be used on pets but just be careful because someone's cat licked a lot of it off and got sick and had to go to the vet.

It is a powerful immunostimulant which is the main thing I like it for. If I am getting sick I sometimes massage diluted oil onto my feet, if it's a chest or throat thing I may also apply it there. It's absorbed by the skin on the feet and really kicks the immune system into action.

It sometimes helps the itch of insect bites (YMMV).

So, it's just great to have. My one caveat would be, essential oils are powerful. In the opinion of my naturopath, use should always be minimal and perhaps not become too routine, as essential oils do influence the endocrine and other systems. They are probably safer than some other things we are exposed to but that doesn't mean caution shouldn't be exercised. I am especially cautious about using them on my children. But that's my MO. Many people use them freely and regularly.

13 years ago

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