When it comes to highlighting your natural good looks, less is most definitely more—and tea tree oil is one of the finest ingredients around to streamline your holistic beauty routine. You’ll find almost countless tea tree oil uses, but its applications for skin, hair, and nails will bring out your healthiest, most radiant appearance ever.

Discover six unique ways tea tree oil benefits your appearance that work in harmony with your body and the entire planet.

What’s Tea Tree Oil?

Also known as melaleuca oil, tea tree oil is an essential oil that’s extracted from the twigs and leaves of the tea tree through the process of steam distillation. Not to be confused with the common tea plant, the tea tree, which carries the botanical name Melaleuca alternifolia, is native to Australia. It took on its popular name in the eighteenth century from sailors who used the leaves of this tree to make a tea that smelled like nutmeg.

One of the reasons tea tree oil is such a good topical beauty elixir is that it’s so naturally rich in a number of nourishing antioxidants and terpenes that encourage beautiful skin, hair, and nails—no matter what your hair texture or skin type might be.

3 Benefits of Tea Tree Oil for Skin

As a powerful essential oil, tea tree oil is best used when mixed into a carrier oil or other natural beauty product rather than applied directly on the skin. This means your bottle of tea tree oil will go a long way—and only a few drops will help bring about big changes in these four major ways:

1. Manage oily skin. Research shows that using tea tree oil for as little as 30 days helps tame the appearance of excess oiliness.¹ Simply mix a few drops into your regular toner, sunscreen, moisturizing oil, or clay masque, and say goodbye to that annoying shine forever.
2. Meet your fresh, clear face. Tea tree oil contains terpenes that deep clean to keep your skin clear, glowing, and vibranty healthy.^2,3,4 Mix 2 drops of tea tree oil per tablespoon of raw honey, and massage into skin for thorough cleansing that won’t leave your face feeling dry and stripped. Leave mixture on for a minute or two, then rinse with cool water.
3. Boost your makeup removing power. Beauty experts know that jojoba oil alone is one of the best makeup removers available. But when you occasionally need even more makeup removing strength, simply blend 4-5 drops of tea tree oil into 2 tablespoons of jojoba oil to clean the last remnants of the most stubborn makeup out of every last pore.

Benefit #4: Tea Tree Oil for Hair and Scalp

The deep cleaning magic of tea tree oil does wonders for tired tresses, leaving hair looking full and manageable—and keeping your scalp conditioned and comfortable as well.⁵ To bring out the shine, body, and bounce in your hair, add a few drops of tea tree oil to your favorite shampoo twice a week and wash hair as usual. For some extra scalp TLC, leave the shampoo/tea tree mix in for 3-5 minutes before rinsing out. When you crave a deep conditioning spa hair treatment, add 3 drops of tea tree oil to a tablespoon of argan oil, massage into hair and scalp, and leave on for at least 15 minutes before rinsing out.

Benefit #5: Tea Tree Oil for Lovely Nails:

There’s no need to resign yourself to brittle or discolored nails and rough cuticles when you’ve got tea tree oil handy:

• Pamper your fingernails from the comfort of home by mixing 2 drops tea tree oil into a half teaspoon of vitamin E, rosehip, or jojoba oil, and massage into nails and cuticles. Leave on for about a half hour, rinse with warm water, and moisturize as usual.
• Tea tree oil is also a wonderful way to keep your toe nails looking healthy and pretty.^6,7 Use the recipe above for everyday toenail conditioning, or to improve the appearance of badly cracked or discolored toenails, mix a few drops of tea tree oil with an equal amount of oregano oil and apply directly with a cotton swab in the morning and before bedtime.

Benefit #6 Around the House:

Tea tree oil is an amazing beauty treatment, but its benefits don’t end there. This refreshing botanical oil works wonders around your home in these three additional wonderful ways:

• Aromatherapy: Add a few drops to your diffuser for a gentle pick-me-up that won’t leave you feeling jagged.
• Laundry: Add a teaspoon of tea tree oil to your regular detergent during the wash cycle for fresh clean clothes and linens.
• Household cleaning: Mix 7 drops of tea tree oil with one cup of filtered hot water and ¼ cup of white vinegar for a gentle but effective all purpose cleaner.

Unfortunately, not all products that call themselves tea tree oil are actually the real thing. To make sure you’re getting a true, high quality tea tree oil, it’s important to read labels carefully. Look for a single-ingredient, sustainably sourced, cruelty-free product like Valentia Tea Tree Essential Oil that’s also free of sulfates, parabens, preservatives, synthetic fragrance, or artificial additives of any kind.

Including tea tree oil in your natural beauty routine helps reveal a clean, fresh, healthy radiance that you may not have seen reflected back in your mirror since childhood. Your newfound, authentic good looks will have you looking forward to stepping out into the sunshine to all the exciting possibilities each new day brings.

References:

1. Camila S, O., Ana Beatriz PP, S., Leopoldina L, F., Nadia RB, R., Anderson O, F., Marcos Antônio F, B., & Hudson C, P. (2016). Development and Preliminary Cosmetic Potential Evaluation of Melaleuca alternifolia cheel (Myrtaceae) Oil and Resveratrol for Oily Skin. Journal of Dermatology Research and Therapy, 2(4). doi:10.23937/2469-5750/1510032

2. Jooya, A., Siadat, A., Iraji, F., & Enshaieh, S. (2007). The efficacy of 5% topical tea tree oil gel in mild to moderate acne vulgaris: A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study. Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology, 73(1), 22. doi:10.4103/0378-6323.30646

3. Sinha, P., Srivastava, S., Mishra, N., & Yadav, N. P. (2014). New Perspectives on Antiacne Plant Drugs: Contribution to Modern Therapeutics. BioMed Research International, 2014, 1-19. doi:10.1155/2014/301304

4. Malhi, H. K., Tu, J., Riley, T. V., Kumarasinghe, S. P., & Hammer, K. A. (2016). Tea tree oil gel for mild to moderate acne; a 12 week uncontrolled, open-label phase II pilot study. Australasian Journal of Dermatology, 58(3), 205-210. doi:10.1111/ajd.12465

5. Satchell, A. C., Saurajen, A., Bell, C., & Barnetson, R. S. (2002). Treatment of dandruff with 5% tea tree oil shampoo. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 47(6), 852-855. doi:10.1067/mjd.2002.122734

6. Syed, T. A., Qureshi, Z. A., Ali, S. M., Ahmad, S., & Ahmad, S. A. (1999). Treatment of toenail onychomycosis with 2% butenafine and 5% Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil in cream. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 4(4), 284-287. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3156.1999.00396.x

7. Buck, D. S., Nidort, D. M., & Addino, J. G. (1998). Comparison of two topical preparations for the treatment of onychomycosis: Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil and clotrimazole. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 6(3), 167-168. doi:10.1016/s0965-2299(98)80022-8