Lavender and Tea Tree Oils May Help Reduce Unwanted Hair Growth

Pretty Lavender Plant. From //Rutger via Flickr

Pretty Lavender Plant. From //Rutger via Flickr

I was doing my usual research on my epic quest to find some kind of universal treatment for hirsutism.

It seems like everything works for some but not others. Laser hair was effective for me but for many others, desired results were lacking.

Electrolysis worked for me with certain hairs, but not others.

Waxing makes some ladies hair grow softer and lighter. Mine seems to return dark as hell and thick.

But this article posted on the U.S. National Library of Medicine details something I never heard of in my 18 years of suffering from idiopathic hirsutism.

Two groups women each had 12 participants. All suffered from mild idiopathic hirsutism.

One group sprayed a solution containing lavender and tea tree oil in it. The other sprayed on a placebo.

After 3 months, test administrators found no change in hormonal levels.

But they did find “statistically significant” decrease in hirsutism with the group who used lavender and tea tree oil.

I think this is wonderful news, especially with having both oils sitting in my home within immediate reach!

The study was conducted from folks at the Polytechnic University of Marche in Italy.

Now I have heard of lavender being useful in relaxing some androgenic conditions, specifically hair loss. Additionally, I have seen it listed as an ingredient on some herbal treatments that claim to reduce hirsutism.

Roots Herbal is an ayurvedic website that sells herbs and such for various conditions, including hirsutism. Here is a mix of herbs to treat hirsutism on their website (so they say.)

But the study at Polytechnic University of Marche was the first time I actually heard of lavender working against something like hirsutism.

I have never heard of tea tree oil helping with hirsutism until I read the article.

I certainly did immediately mix a solution of lavender essential oil in a bottle of tea tree. I shook it softly, took a cotton ball, dropped some of the solution on the ball and rubbed it around my facial hair.

It did not burn but the tea tree oil does have a pretty strong smell to it that dies off after several minutes.

Obviously, some time will tell if it truly is a treatment options for women like me with idiopathic hirsutism.

Wish me luck! If you give it a try (or have tried it) let me know of your results!

Here is a link to the Polytechnic University of Marche’s study again.

 

18 Comments

  1. Maria

    April 27, 2013 at 11:58 am

    Hey Mo! I just wanted to say, I love your blog :)

    Today I came across a beautiful lady and here it is http://25.media.tumblr.com

    Im so sick of society’s ideal woman’s body. Ugh.
    Have a nice weekend!

  2. TaoRN

    May 15, 2013 at 8:05 am

    Any updates? How long did the study say it took to see results?

    • reneleft01

      May 16, 2013 at 12:39 am

      Its early too for me but I think the study was done for several weeks…12 weeks I remember reading.

      • Bridgette Fultz

        August 16, 2013 at 6:26 am

        How about now?

        • reneleft01

          August 19, 2013 at 10:19 pm

          I think so! But I also use it in conjunction with Eflora/Vaniqa too. More so, it’s a great antiseptic for my facial skin.

          • Kirsty

            February 10, 2014 at 11:42 pm

            what mix of lavender and tea tree oil do you use. Is it 50/50?

          • reneleft01

            February 11, 2014 at 12:29 am

            you can do that. I would dilute it in water though. Essential oil like lavender may irritate some skin.

  3. Carol J. Alexander

    May 23, 2013 at 3:15 am

    Very interesting. I hope it goes well for you.

  4. tawnyak

    May 23, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    Very informative Mo. Not something I struggle with, but you are providing valuable information for your niche. It looks like you are doing a lot of much-needed research in order to inform and empower your readers.

  5. Aloted Omoba

    May 24, 2013 at 10:48 pm

    fingers crossed! hope this works for you

  6. Susan P. Cooper

    June 19, 2013 at 10:50 pm

    Thanks for sharing this. I don’t struggle with this at this time but you never know what the future may bring. I may need this at some point in time. :-)

  7. Heather Lee

    June 21, 2013 at 9:40 am

    You have a great resource here Mo. Really like your writing style too. Informative yet personal. Keep us posted on your results.

  8. M

    August 19, 2013 at 11:42 am

    I’m curious! Any updates?!

    • reneleft01

      August 19, 2013 at 10:22 pm

      I think my hair has slowed! But I also take Spiro in addition to tea tree and lavender oil.

  9. Anonymous_Hirsu

    October 27, 2013 at 1:47 am

    I have an important question which wasn’t adressed in this article or study, that is – where these women’s hirsu-hair epilated or removed before they applied the oils? Because I actually went out to buy Lavendel/Tea tree just for reading this article and I wanna know if I need to epilate everything before applying. What have you done and what have you other readers done?

    • Mo

      October 27, 2013 at 2:10 am

      I cannot speak for the women in the article obviously or even my readers, but I remove the hair like normally. I typically tweeze hairs that are bothering me or use an epilator. Then apply the oils. Or you could simply massage the oils in your skin routinely and remove the hair routinely as you usually would.

  10. disqus_DoHezOPGtO

    May 18, 2014 at 1:20 am

    any updates?

    • reneleft01

      May 19, 2014 at 1:24 am

      Not really. :( I don’t think it’s affective for coarser hairs. For thinner hairs, you may experience more success. It does at least smell lovely!




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