Does tea tree oil work for acne?
Short answer
Somewhat, for mild to moderate acne. In one small double-blind trial, 5% tea tree oil gel reduced pimples more than a placebo gel over 45 days, but it worked more slowly than benzoyl peroxide in the one head-to-head trial. The studies are few, small and short, and tea tree oil is a well-documented cause of contact allergy.
Does tea tree oil beat a placebo?
Somewhat: it beat a placebo gel, but the evidence is thin.
In one 60-person double-blind trial, 5% tea tree oil gel lowered lesion counts more than a placebo gel over 45 days. The other trials were small, short or had no control group, and the Cochrane review rated the placebo evidence low quality.
Is tea tree oil as good as benzoyl peroxide?
No: it worked more slowly in the one head-to-head trial.
A 1990 trial of 124 people compared 5% tea tree oil gel with 5% benzoyl peroxide lotion. Both reduced inflamed and non-inflamed lesions, but tea tree oil acted more slowly, and fewer people reported side effects with it. The trial was single-blind.
Studies:Bassett 1990
Does tea tree oil help adapalene work better?
Unclear: the one trial changed the gel as well.
A 2022 trial of 100 people found a gel combining adapalene with tea tree oil beat a marketed adapalene gel at 12 weeks. The two gels differed in formulation, so it cannot show that tea tree oil added the benefit.
Studies:Najafi-Taher 2022
Is tea tree oil safe for skin?
Mostly mild irritation, but allergy is well documented.
In trials at 5%, side effects were mostly mild dryness, itching or burning, and a review found them minor except at 25% or more. Tea tree oil has caused more published allergic reactions than any other essential oil, and oxidised (old) oil is more likely to trigger them.
Studies:Kairey 2023
How strong is the evidence?
Low: small, short trials, and reviews call it limited.
The largest trial had 124 people and the longest ran 12 weeks. Several were small, single-blind or had no control group, and some were supplied or funded by companies or tea tree industry bodies. Cochrane called the placebo evidence low quality, and a 2023 review rated the research poor to modest.
Studies:Cao (Cochrane) 2015Kairey 2023
See what Reddit recommends for acne →
Products Reddit recommends with tea tree oil
Ranked by how often Reddit recommends them. The trials tested tea tree oil at about 5% in a gel (one small trial used 20%), so check a product’s label for its percentage.
7 studies we read for this page
The answers above rest on these tea tree oil papers. We checked each one’s design, size and result against its PubMed record or full text. Lesion counts are the number of pimples, blackheads and whiteheads. ASI is the acne severity index, a clinician’s score of how severe the acne is. Lower is better.
Compared with benzoyl peroxide
Slower than benzoyl peroxideBassett et al. (1990) (opens PubMed in a new tab)Med J Aust
Both reduced inflamed and non-inflamed lesions significantly, but tea tree oil acted more slowly. Fewer side effects with tea tree oil.
Compared with a placebo gel
Beat a placebo gel at 45 daysEnshaieh et al. (2007) (opens PubMed in a new tab)Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol
Lesion counts and the severity index improved significantly more than with placebo (3.55 and 5.75 times more effective). Side effects were similar and tolerable. Cochrane judged this single trial low quality.
Other trials
Blend, not tea tree oil aloneMazzarello et al. (2018) (opens PubMed in a new tab)Clin Pharmacol
The blend beat placebo, and beat erythromycin cream on lesion counts and the severity index at day 30. Because it is a blend, it says little about tea tree oil alone.
Open-label, no control groupMalhi et al. (2017) (opens PubMed in a new tab)Australas J Dermatol
Mean lesion count fell from 23.7 to 10.7 over 12 weeks, with minor peeling and dryness. With no control group and 14 completers, it cannot show the gel caused the change.
Combined gel; vehicle differedNajafi-Taher et al. (2022) (opens PubMed in a new tab)Arch Dermatol Res
Total, inflamed and non-inflamed lesions fell significantly more with the combined gel (p < 0.001). The gels differed in formulation, so it cannot show that tea tree oil added the benefit.
Reviews
Cochrane: low-quality evidenceCao et al. (Cochrane) (2015) (opens PubMed in a new tab)Cochrane Database Syst Rev
Tea tree oil rested on one trial (60 people) showing fewer lesions than placebo, rated low quality. The review could not draw a firm conclusion.
Review: quality poor to modestKairey et al. (2023) (opens PubMed in a new tab)Front Pharmacol
More evidence is needed to confirm benefit for acne lesions and severity. Research quality was poor to modest, and side effects were minor except at concentrations of 25% or more.
More acne research from PubMed (5)
Show 5 more studies from PubMed
Efficacy and Safety of Melaleuca alternifolia (Tea Tree) Oil for Acne-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Phytotherapy research : PTR2026Meta-analysis445 participantsPositive
In a large review of 7 clinical trials with 445 people, tea tree oil put on the skin modestly reduced acne severity and usually caused only mild local side effects.
Essential oils as topical anti-infective agents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Complementary therapies in medicine2019Meta-analysisMixed
In a large review of clinical trials, essential oils for acne showed mixed results overall, with most studies doing as well as or better than a comparison treatment.
Evaluating efficacy, safety, and innovation in skin care applications of essential oils: a systematic review.
Frontiers in medicine2025Systematic reviewPositive
A large review of many clinical trials found that tea tree oil was effective for acne, but it did not give a separate result for tea tree oil on its own.
Tea tree oil: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials.
Forschende Komplementarmedizin und klassische Naturheilkunde = Research in complementary and natural classical medicine2000Systematic reviewNeutral
A large review of clinical trials found tea tree oil showed promising but not convincing results for acne.
Comparison of clinical and histological effects between lactobacillus-fermented Chamaecyparis obtusa and tea tree oil for the treatment of acne: an eight-week double-blind randomized controlled split-face study.
Dermatology (Basel, Switzerland)2014RCT34 participants5%Positive
In an 8-week trial of 34 people with acne, 5% tea tree oil put on the skin reduced acne, but it worked less well than the other treatment.
Research context, not treatment advice. Studies are about the ingredient, not any one product.
How we grade research for acne