How many of us love natural alternatives for treatments that can dry the skin out (like benzoyl peroxide)? I know I do! So this week's ingredient spotlight is the amazing tea tree!
Tea tree does of course come from a tree, however it is a different plant than the plants that produce tea leaves like the kind you put in your boiling water. While those leaves are meant to be used internally (and sometimes externally) in order to reap the benefits, the tea tree plant's oil is meant to be used topically for more uses than you ever imagined!
Tea tree is super antiseptic, making it great to use on cuts, burns, and even allergic reactions to reduce inflammation. Some people even put it in their hot bath to reduce things like coughs and bronchial infections/irritations.
But for beauty purposes, tea tree is like the holy grail that no one knew how to find! It is becoming a much more popular ingredient now, and we have finally decided to give a natural alternative a chance and make our skin stunning.
Tea tree can be used for athlete's foot to reduce itching and inflammation, so this can be thrown in your shoes in a powder or apply the oil topically to soothe the skin.
It has also been known to be used on the scalp to treat dandruff, so to keep your scalp from flaking, try a shampoo or conditioner with tea tree! It'll keep your hair strong and save you from flakes!
But I think what we all want to know about tea tree: what can it do for the skin?
Tea tree has been found to be an amazing anti-inflammatory that can reduce acne! It has been found that while it will not work as quickly, tea tree is a much more natural way to treat acne in the same way as 5% benzoyl peroxide gel. How crazy is that? It's much more gentle on the skin than benzoyl peroxide, keeping the skin healthy and bright while fighting redness and post-acne scarring.
All in all, tea tree is a do-it-all ingredient that you can find in oil form at your local Whole Foods store, or you can just order it online! Careful though, you might get addicted to using it for just about everything!
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