In today’s society, we have become more focused on finding more natural cures for our everyday illnesses.
What was once treated with a chemically engineered pill or ointment is now treated with a healthy blend of natural herbs, spices, and oils.
One such condition that falls within this category is skin infections.
Several studies over the years have concluded that a naturally occurring oil found in the Australian tea tree (not to be confused with a tea plant) called “tea tree oil” can be just as effective (if not more) at treating skin infections than chemically manufactured ointments.
Naturally, this revelation has led to a mass introduction of tea tree oil products in the natural health market.
Below, we’ll look at one of these products, Now Foods Tea Tree Oil, and determine whether it’s a suitable alternative for treating skin-related conditions.
What is Now Foods Tea Tree Oil?
For centuries, Australians have used tea tree oil to treat various skin-related conditions.
This was mainly due to the oil’s various natural properties, including:
- Tea tree oil contains antibacterial properties that can help cure internal infections located in places like the colon, kidneys, stomach, and more.
- The Journal of Applied Microbiology published a 2008 study that verified terpinen-4-ol’s ability to effectively destroy and prevent harmful microbes. (More on terpinen-4-ol in the next section).
- Tea tree oil has been found to help heal wounds, prevent scarring, and help treat skin burns.
- Tea tree oil has excellent antiseptic properties. It can be applied to wounds, fungi, open sores, and the like to help promote healing and prevent the onset of infection, sepsis, and tetanus.
- Along with its healing properties, tea tree oil also has nourishing properties that make it an ideal choice for general skin and hair care.
While the above properties can benefit everyone, we simply can’t all grow our own tea trees in our backyards and reap the benefits.
Therefore, we turn to manufacturers of tea tree oil. In this review, that manufacturer is Now Foods.
Now Foods’ product consists of 100% tea tree oil, taken straight from the Australian tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia).
What Are the Main Active Ingredients in Now Foods Tea Tree Oil?
100% Pure Tea Tree Oil.
Now Foods claims that it's tea tree oil is distilled entirely from the leaves of Australia’s tea tree. There are no chemical additives present in this product. Just pure 100% tea tree oil.
Minimum 30% Terpinen-4-ol
Terpinen-4-ol is the main active ingredient in naturally occurring tea tree oil. It’s this molecule that gives the oil all of its beneficial properties (antiseptic, antimicrobial, etc.).
Hence, the more terpinen-4-ol present, the more powerful and effective the tea tree oil product will be.
Maximum 10% Cineole.
Cineole is the second main active ingredient found in tea tree oil. And while it does share some of the same beneficial properties as terpinen-4-ol, it’s also a skin irritant.
Therefore, too much can actually cause skin-related issues. The lower the cineole content, the better.
What We Don’t Like About This Product:
We’d like to see even less cineole.
While 10% cineole is better than other brands, we’d personally like to see the maximum at 7%.
As we’ve stated before, the lower the cineole content, the lesser the risk of irritated skin.
Bad smell.
This particular brand of tea tree oil just plain smells bad.
If not masked with various carrier oils, this essential oil’s weird odor could be too much for some users.
What We Like About Now Foods Tea Tree Oil:
Very effective at treating acne and skin rashes
Reports from several consumers stated that after a few weeks of consistent use (usually 4-6), the Now Foods tea tree oil cured both their acne and skin rashes when other brands couldn’t.
Very positive results in treating nail fungus
Another benefit that really stuck out in all of the reviews we researched was that this particular product seems to be very effective at getting rid of nail-related fungus for both fingers and toes.