Role of Essential Oils in Antibacterial Skincare

Role of Essential Oils in Antibacterial Skincare

Mighty Mānuka: New Zealand's UV Powered Superplant Reading Role of Essential Oils in Antibacterial Skincare 5 minutes Next Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week

More than ever people are flocking to natural ingredients for our everyday needs, from diets to home remedies and of course skincare. Essential oils have a big role in natural skincare, with innumerable benefits for our bodies and the environment. 

Role of Essential Oils in Anti-Bacterial Skincare

More importantly, they play a massive role in antibacterial skincare. That’s why you’re here, you’re looking to get your body and life back to nature right? Great! We’re going to tell you all about how to do just that with some incredible antibacterial essential oils.

First, we have to understand a bit more about why this is important.

Why is Natural Antibacterial Skincare Important?

As the world comes to terms with side effects popping up from chemical and synthetic products that are doing our bodies more harm than good, we are also waking up to the consequences of antibacterial and antimicrobial resistance that leaves our bodies unable to defend against bad bacteria and microbes. 

The problem is becoming so severe that infectious disease experts believe that topical antibiotics should not be used to treat common skin infections. In this context, the value of ancient, evidence-based natural remedies such as essential oils becomes obvious.” -- Dr. Suki Harding (BSc(Hons), PhD, MBA)

To put it simple, misuse or overuse of antibiotics is ruining our immune response, and overuse of harsh chemicals on our bodies is causing the good bacteria that keeps us safe to be killed off. This is causing extra-wicked skin infections to thrive and are harder to defeat, ones like Staphylococcus Aureus, and even minor infections to become major ones.

This is also ruining our skin’s ability to stay healthy and keep a youthful and beautiful appearance. 

Are There Good Antibacterial Skincare Options?

That’s where natural ingredients come in for antibiotic alternatives to antibacterial skincare, especially the benefits of essential oils. Even though essentials oil have been known for their healing properties and utilised throughout history to help treat many ailments, skin challenges, injuries and even mental issues -- we’ve veered away from the natural world. 

This has led to plenty of bad beauty and health trends and is now one of the main causes of antimicrobial resistance. But worry not! Essential oils are here to save the day and to help you take care of your body better, naturally.

What Exactly is an Essential Oil?

Essential oils are the wonderful byproduct of steam or water distillation from natural ingredients like flowers (camomile), leaves and branches (mānuka, tea tree), wood (sandalwood), and seeds and nuts (kakadu plum, hazelnut). Each category and ingredient has unique traits and benefits based on the chemotypes found within and where they grow. 

What’s a chemotype you ask?

It’s a fancy word for the distinct chemical attributes found in natural ingredients that give them their powerful health benefits. For instance, you may have seen the word triketone thrown around here, which is a chemotype found in mānuka oil that makes it an antibacterial superplant. Others like Thyme have thymol that help fight infections, or pinene found in plants like rosemary that give it the forest smell and relaxing properties. 

Which Essential Oils Are Antibacterial For Skin?

Of course, the purpose of this article is to get you up to speed with the role essential oils can play in your skincare routine. Many essential oils can be broken down into a few different categories based on their potential dermatological benefits.

  • Effective for bacterial, fungal and viral infections: 62%
  • Effective for inflammatory skin conditions such as dermatitis, eczema, and lupus: 20%
  • Effective for general skin maintenance such as wrinkles, scars and scabs: 18%

Though certain essential oils might be amazing for anti-aging or skin conditions like acne, they won’t help to fight off bacteria as well as others. It’s good to make sure you are getting essential oils that will help kill bad skin bacteria and help fight infections. 

The Most Powerful Antibacterial Essential Oil

We mentioned it earlier, but triketones found in essential oils like mānuka and Australian tea tree are some of the best antibacterial essential oils and alternatives to antibiotic creams, which has been a leading cause of antimicrobial resistance. 

But there’s one essential oil that rises above the rest with potent antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antifungal traits -- East Cape mānuka oil. 

Role of Essential Oils in Antibacterial Skincare image featuring ManukaRx East Cape Manuka Oil First Aid Kit for antibacterial skincare.

East Cape mānuka oil has the richest triketone makeup found in nature, making it a powerhouse for putting a stop to bacteria and germs. And though Australian tea tree oil is the poster child for essential oils, East Cape mānuka is up to 30 times more effective at killing bad bacteria.

Synergism Matters For Antibacterial

Though mānuka might be a superpowered plant, it can’t do it all. That’s where its synergistic skincare properties come in. Mānuka oil can work with other powerful oils so you can take advantage of a wide-array of health benefits, yet it also boosts the properties of other oils at the same time. 

So when you take a powerful ingredient like rosehip oil packed with Vitamin A and E, and combine it with mānuka oil, you get an antibacterial essential oil blend that beats back free radicals, helps promote skin cell production to heal better, and kills bad bacteria better than the rest! 

Read the in-depth report on essential oils in antibacterial skincare for more information, and explore the profound skin benefits to be had in our mānuka oil line-up today!

2 comments

Susanna H Lavallee

Susanna H Lavallee

you. Great!

you. Great!

Joy

Joy

Great article, have been using essential oils and making my own household cleaners, laundry detergents and skin care for several years now so very excited to add your manuka oil to my collection. Love the smell!

Great article, have been using essential oils and making my own household cleaners, laundry detergents and skin care for several years now so very excited to add your manuka oil to my collection. Love the smell!

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