6 Best Organic Tea Tree Oil Face Washes to Try in 2022

PUBLISHED: 03/09/2019 | LAST UPDATED: 07/05/2021

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Tea tree oil is often used as a natural and effective spot treatment. But did you know that it can also cleanse your entire face? It just so happens that organic tea tree oil is a fantastic natural face wash ingredient. It has antimicrobial, antiseptic and antibacterial properties, and also keeps the skin’s natural moisture barriers intact. When choosing a tea tree oil face wash, it can be tough to find an organic product that truly works. Many products are diluted, or falsely boast outrageous claims. In this article, we’ll tell you all about the scientifically-proven benefits of tea tree oil for your face, along with how to make sure you’re choosing a product that will stand up to its claims.

What Are the Benefits of Tea Tree Oil?
Tea tree oil is a versatile, natural oil which is suitable for a wide range of skin types and issues. While it’s primarily known for combatting acne and oily skin, it’s also effective against eczema and dry skin when heavily diluted (1). Tea tree oil not only kills blemish-causing bacteria, but it reduces inflammation, redness, and irritation. Tea tree oil dries blemishes quickly and accelerates the healing process, while reducing the risk of scarring. Some conventional acne treatments such as benzoyl peroxide can overly dry the skin, while tea tree oil dries blemishes without causing scaliness or flaking (2).

How to Use a Tea Tree Oil Face Wash?
Use your organic tea tree oil face wash morning and night for the best results. You’ll find your blemishes may start to reduce and pop up far less regularly. The overall clarity and texture of your skin could show improvement and sebum production may also become more balanced and healthy. One thing you’ll notice when testing tea tree oil products is a distinct, earthy smell. Undiluted tea tree oil is incredibly pungent and can even make your eyes water if you get it too close! But when diluted and added to a natural face wash, the smell reduces to a fresh aroma.

By regularly using an organic tea tree oil face wash, excess sebum is controlled (3), blemishes will diminish, and your skin will take on an overall smooth, soft texture and appearance. Tea tree oil cleansers reach deep into the pores to get rid of the dirt and dead skin that cause clogged pores and blemishes. If you choose a face wash with moisturizing properties as well as tea tree oil, your skin will not only be cleansed, but also balanced in terms of moisture and healthy sebum levels. Ingredients such as oatmeal extract and organic aloe vera promote moisture without adding excess oil.  This helps reduce existing breakouts, and halt future breakouts in their tracks.

How to Choose an Organic Tea Tree Oil Face Wash?
When purchasing a tea tree oil face cleanser, first consider your skin type and which issues you’d like to treat. If it’s to acne or oily skin, choose a tea tree oil face wash with aloe, oatmeal, or green tea (redness-soothing ingredients). Avoid ingredients such as alcohol and benzoyl peroxide (dries and disrupts the natural oil balance of your skin even further). You want to manage the oiliness and kill the bacteria, but you don’t want to totally strip the skin. Doing this may result in even more oil being produced in reaction to unbalanced sebum. When looking for cleansers, you’ll come across foaming, cream, oil, and gel-based face washes. If you have combination skin (oily and prone to drying) you could choose a cream cleanser to keep it balanced. If you’re really struggling with oil, a foaming cleanser with gentle ingredients could be ideal. The foaming formula will remove the surface oil, but the gentle ingredients will prevent over-drying. Avoid harsh, acne cleaners which tend to leave the skin so dry that you’ll need to pile on more product in order to re-balance.

To help you choose an effective, yet gentle natural tea tree oil face wash, we’ve combed through dozens of products. At the end of our meticulous process in which we put products through the gauntlet of testing and ingredient research, we ended up with the following list of sulfate, parabens, phthalates, petrochemical + mineral oil, synthetic fragrance + dye, PEG compounds, and ethoxylated ingredient free organic tea tree oil face wash products. Enjoy!