I have very oily skin, which also means that I have larger than normal pores. So a pore minimising lotion with tea tree to control oil and breakouts sounded like a great addition to my skincare routine.
I’ve since worked my way through the entire tube and in this post I’ll be giving my thoughts on The Body Shop Tea Tree Pore Minimiser and its performance and results.
The Body Shop Tea Tree Pore Minimiser
Ingredients
I only looked at the ingredients list as I was nearly finished with this product and it ended up explaining a lot of points that I had noticed throughout my use of it.
Aqua/Water, Glycerin, Alcohol Denat., Silica, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Isododecane, Talc, Pentylene Glycol, Sodium Polyacrylate, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Dimethicone/Bis-Isobutyl PPG-20 Crosspolymer, Bertholletia Excelsa Seed Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Phenoxyethanol, Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil/Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil, Xanthan Gum, Epilobium Fleischeri Extract, Disodium EDTA, Limonene, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Citral, Leptospermum Petersonii Oil, Tocopherol
From that ingredient list there were a few inclusions that surprised me, I’ll explain them in more detail below.
Pentylene Glycol is included in many skincare product however it has been know to cause skin irritation in people with sensitive skin. It’s also not recommended for consumption so avoid it in lip balms and lip products.
Even though this is the hero ingredient of this Tea Tree line, the inclusion of Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil and Leptospermum Petersonii Oil (Tea Tree oils) can be skin irritants as can any essential oil.
Limonene is another essential oil product that is a known skin sensitiser. While it can have strong antioxidant benefits and calm your skin it will also become highly volatile when exposed to air and become capable of sensitising skin.
Citral is a fragrance ingredient of various essential oils and therefore has the potential for skin sensitization, as with fragrances in skincare.
Performance
So after the ingredients how did this perform? Well as for its pore minimising properties I can’t say I noticed any reduction in the size of my pores or even a smoothing out of my skin texture.
I could not tell the difference after application between this lotion and any other cream. There was no blurring or smoothing properties; I was very disappointed.
On top of it not minimising my pores, its tea tree formula also did nothing for my oily, breakout prone skin. I saw no improvement in my blemishes or any reduction in my oiliness.
For all it was advertised to do I saw no effect on my skin. The only sensation this gave me was one of stinging.
At the same time as I was using this product, I was also wearing the tea tree mattifying lotion from The Body Shop. Both are from the same tea tree line, aimed at oily, blemish prone skin however the combination of both caused me to experience stinging and slight burning after their use. The feeling would fade however it left my skin feeling raw and unpleasant.
The Review
Overall this was an incredibly disappointing performance in that this lotion did not minimise my pores. It was also a worrying performance in that it caused my skin to react with a stinging sensation after application which I can only put down to its inclusion of multiple skin irritating ingredients. For a brand that’s marketed as being a more natural skincare line, their ingredients list was disappointing to me. I, personally, will be avoiding this line from now on.
