By Meg Hodson
If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you know that I lean toward healthy food choices and alternative medicine options occasionally. One of those alternative choices is becoming much more mainstream these days: tea tree oil. Do you use tea tree oil? What do you use it for?
I use it a lot in our household! Tea tree oil is a natural disinfectant, so I add it to household cleaners and sprinkle some in my kitchen sink. I love that clean, fresh smell that it lends, too. I also use it topically on skin to treat my children's eczema and for my husband's dry, itchy feet (sorry hon, the secret's out now!). It's great for itchy scalps and as a massage oil, too. I even wrote a blog post awhile back for an eco-friendly wasp spray that gets rid of them fast. I'm a fan.
I recently was given the opportunity to try out a new tea tree oil from Apothecary Extracts. It is a pharmaceutical grade oil. What does that mean? You are not getting a lot of additives and fillers in the oil; it is pure and undiluted and thus very concentrated. A little goes a long way.
Tea tree oil is a pure oil harvested from the leaves of a tree native to Australia. It was traditionally used by aborigines as a topical agent for the skin. It's gained popularity in the USA as a household cleaner. Little did I know that it could be used for a multitude of ailments beyond what I list above: acne, toenail funfus, lice, yeast infections, skin tags, cold sores, dandruff, ringworm, fleas, warts, psoriasis, and more. You can also make your own shampoo, lotion, soap, face cleaner, body wash, and toothpaste.
The tea tree oil from Apotheary Extracts has a pleasing scent that is not overpowering, like some tea tree oils are. I applied it to some problems areas that are recurring on my children with eczema and it noticeably helped in 2-3 days. It's not greasy feeling at all on the skin and absorbs fairly quickly. I even made a homemade air freshener with vinegar, distilled water, the tea tree oil, and a few drops of lavender oil. It's perfect for bathrooms and stinky shoes!
Want to win a bottle to try? I've got a giveaway for just that! You've must have an Amazon.com profile. Good luck!
I'd love to hear what you use tea tree oil for? What have been your successes? What did it not work for?
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