With the expanding cosmetics and skin cleansers market, we have witnessed a sharp decline in people using good old soaps. However, some are still in demand when the bath gels and facial foams flood the stores. With the various other benefits, tea tree oil soap is one of those natural ingredients soaps that keep your skin clean and calm.
The essential oil extracted from tea tree leaves is added to this soap, making it special. This oil is extremely beneficial for your skin because of its antimicrobial properties, which make it effective against acne, eczema, and inflammation.
At SkinVeteran, we are a team of experts assisting our readers to maintain healthy and youthful skin. This article will put forward some of the top-notch benefits of tea tree oil soap for your skin.
What Is Tea Tree Oil Soap? (Chemically)
The tea tree soap contains essential oil from Melaleuca alternifolia tree from Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. The following ingredients make up this oil.
- Terpinene-4-ol
- 1,8-cineole
- α-terpineol
- α-pinene
- γ-terpinene
- p-cymene
These compounds have potent antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fungal properties. It is why people in ancient times used it for colds, coughs, and inflammation.
Initially, people living in Australia and New Zealand started employing tea tree oil in the soap to enjoy its various benefits for the skin. However, now it is available all over the world in undiluted form. You can buy its soap from trusted brands or can make your own at home.
Benefits of Tea Tree Oil For The Skin
Terpenes in the tea tree oil are compounds with various functionalities. And on the grounds of those, tea tree oil soap has the following benefits for your skin.
1. Alleviates Acne
Tea tree soap contains a class of compounds called terpenes, which have strong antibacterial properties. Most of the essential oils possess a few terpenes, but tea tree oil is abundant in them.
According to a study, terpenes, while attacking bacterial cell membrane, can kill bacteria. Therefore, applying a tea tree oil soap to your face or body can prevent and diminish acne.
Also, studies have found that employing Aloe vera gel on your face and then washing it off with tea tree soap can eliminate acne vulgaris.
Hence, both being natural products can be more useful than commercial acne treating creams. Moreover, they also can help fight antibiotic resistance, a critical issue today.
2. Diminshes Eczema and Dryness
Eczema is a common skin condition with multiple causing factors where your skin gets dry, itchy, red, and bumpy. Also, it becomes more prone to bacterial and fungal infections.
The tea tree oil soap can help your eczema in two ways. First, it reduces dryness and itchiness by moisturizing your skin, which results in soothing. Secondly, the antimicrobial features of tea tree soap benefit you by preventing infections during eczema.
However, you should not completely rely on tea tree oil soap for treating eczema. Please consider visiting a dermatologist and using the soap with prescribed medication.
3. Reduces Inflammation
We encounter various types of inflammations, but the more common of them is contact dermatitis. When you contact a chemical, pollen, pollution, or a germ that is an allergen, you may face dermatitis.
Multiple human and animal studies have suggested using tea tree oil or soap to the skin, facing inflammation (dermatitis). They confirmed that tea tree oil soap reduced inflammation better than other standard medications. It is because the natural ingredient, terpinene-4-ol, in tea tree oil has potent anti-inflammatory characteristics.
4. Prevents Underarm Odor
There are a few places on our body where the number of bacteria remains higher than others. Our underarm and pubic parts are two of those sites. Due to rubbing, the temperature on these two spots remains slightly elevated. And your body sweats to dissipate the heat there.
The underarm odor is not because of the sweat glands but the bacteria. They convert the secretions of the glands into a compound that smells bad to us.
Employing tea tree soap on your whole body, especially on underarms and pubic areas, will kill those bacteria. Therefore, this soap can work as a deodorant for you.
5. Quickly Heals Wounds
If any mishap happens to you and leaves wounds and cuts on your body, using tea tree oil soap can help. In a study, Miss Linda shares her experience that she needed stitches in the area where her tooth had poked through her lip during a motorbike accident. She, as a nurse, employed tea tree oil on the cut as an antiseptic agent.
Due to this essential oil’s analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, her wounds healed fast than she expected them to be. As a professor and medical nurse, she advises people to use tea tree oil soap for better-looking skin.
6. Can Help With Dandruff
Tea tree soap may be beneficial in reducing the itchiness, greasiness, and lesions that are sometimes associated with dandruff and other skin conditions.
A 2006 study tested 5% tea tree shampoo, and outcomes showed it is effective against dandruff. Using tea tree shampoo resulted in a 78% reduction in fungal growth.
Tea tree soap inhibits Malassezia’s growth, a fungus that resembles yeast in its characteristics. Under favorable circumstances, it grows higher in number, causing various skin conditions.
How to Make Tea Tree Oil Soap at Home?
The expert pharmacist at Skinveteran, Ifsha Akhlaq, has put all her efforts together to formulate the best tea tree oil soap for you. It is easy to execute at home and cheap as well. So, follow these steps to make your tea tree soap and enjoy its benefits.
- Buy an undiluted tea tree oil and glycerine soap (you can use Peers soap also) from trusted brands. Plant or vegetables based glycerine soaps are organic.
- Use the double boiler method (video) to melt the 30g glycerine soap until it converts into a liquid form.
- Add 6 to 7 drops of undiluted tea tree oil into the glycerin soap liquid.
- You can also add 5g aloe vera gel to enhance its antimicrobial and moisturizing properties.
- Let the mixture cool for 2 minutes.
- Finally, transfer the mixture liquid into the soap mold and let it solidify for 1 to 2 hours.
Side Effects of Tea Tree Soap
Overall, all of the essential oils, including tea tree oil, are safe. However, in some instances like the following, you may face some repercussions.
1. Allergic Reaction
Consider looking at the chemical composition of tea tree oil soap when buying because if it contains lavender oil, you may face complications. Tea tree oil can cause an allergic reaction in some people in combination with lavender oil, such as contact dermatitis. And it can result in rashes that are red, swollen, and itchy.
2. Hormonal Changes
The products containing both lavender and tea tree oil can induce hormonal imbalance in young men. Gynecomastia, or abnormal breast growth in boys, has been observed in some cases due to this combination.
Bottom Line
Tea tree oil use has been rising worldwide since the last decade because of its multiple skin benefits. People are employing it in various forms, of which the tea tree soap is one. Studies have validated that you can use this soap as both facial and body cleanser to prevent acne, inflammation, bad body odor, and even dandruff.
