Tea Tree Oil: The Smelly Archnemesis of Breakouts

I must start by saying that I am really, really unhappy with the smell of tea tree oil in general and consequently the smell of any and all tea tree oil products. I have been told by others that this is an issue peculiar to me and my olfactory sense, and that the smell of tea tree oil, although distinctive, is not nearly as offensive as I seem to think it is. That said, I must relate the story of how this smelly oil made it's way into my daily routine.

Several weeks ago the worlds largest zit took up residence on my forehead. I'm not exaggerating simply because it chose my head as it's resting spot. Children pointed at it and starred in curiosity before working up the courage to ask me what was wrong with my head. My father asked me what I hit my head on to get such a nasty bump. My mother prodded it to try to see if there was some sort of tumor growing in it. And I considered the possibility that I was growing a single horn out of my skull, like a slightly off centre unicorn.

Just as I was starting to make piece with my new appendage, I had coffee with a friend of mine. In the middle of the conversation I had to interrupt and ask her what foundation she was using, her skin, which is normally acne prone and generally suffering from at least one breakout at any given time, looked flawless. To my complete shock, she told me she wasn't wearing any, her skin had cleared up after using a new face wash and toner.

I had to know what these miracle products were so I could try them myself. So, she instructed me to purchase Tea Tree Oil face wash and toner from the Body Shop. Desperate to rid myself of the massive zit I went out and purchased the products immediately. There was a buy two get one free promotion, so I also purchased the Tea Tree Oil facial exfoliator.

Within days my ginormous lump was shrinking, and I haven't had any further breakouts or even solitary zits since I began using it, neither has my more acne prone friend. The wash and toner are a bit drying, but not terribly, and use of a good moisturizer fixes that right up. I highly recommend the face wash and toner both to anyone who suffers even from occasional breakouts. The facial scrub, however, I would pass on. It's not that it's not effective, I'm sure the tea tree oil is just as good, however, it's not a very good scrub. It's too abrasive to be a daily scrub, and it's too gentle to be a weekly deep scrub. The scrub falls somewhere in the middle right smack in the centre of uselessness. You'd be better served sticking to the normal face wash and then using an additional more abrasive scrub once or twice a week to exfoliate and remove dead skin.