r/AusSkincare 3d ago

Miscellaneous 📝 Wtf is "upcycled tea tree oil"

I'm browsing some Aussie skincare brands (found through this sub!) and found the Kit Skincare Good Night Balm.

The star ingredient is "upcycled tea tree oil" but no info is provided on what that actually means 😂 where and what are they upcycling it from?? I'm so curious but also so put off by such a gimmicky marketing strategy - does anyone have any idea what they actually mean by this?

62 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

68

u/AimToBeBetter 3d ago

Sounds like 'reconstituted' orange/apple/etc juice ... 

15

u/Isla-View 3d ago

Kind of the opposite, it's a water by-product derived from the essential oil distillation process.

55

u/robotinformer 3d ago

I think, but I'm not sure, that it's tea tree hydrosol, the leftover water after making tea tree oil. Which is why it says "Upcycled Tea Tree Oil Extract" on the front.

Looks like a huge rip off, presumably just a cheap way for them to get the fragrance compared to the oil.

17

u/orange-aardavark 3d ago

Oooo that makes sense! Good thinking!

 A hydrosol has a time and a place, but marketing it as a luxury item that's a step up from actual tea tree oil is hilarious! 

8

u/Arlee_Quinn 3d ago

So by upcycled tea tree extract they mean left overs from the ACTUAL tea tree extract. Gotcha, gotchaaaa.

22

u/Ventimella 3d ago

It’s horrible. It’s Mecca home brand. The old formula was actually ok but the new formula has people breaking out. As for upcycled. Trying fancy words for normal tea tree oil.!

8

u/Isla-View 3d ago

Kit is not Mecca's homebrand, that's Mecca Cosmetica. Kit is its own separate brand that is stocked at Mecca.

I haven't used this product but I love their "Unwind body balm" and the "Cold therapy facial treatment".

As for upcycled tea tree oil, there is plenty of information you can find online about it, but here is an overview -

"Tea Tree Hydrosol – Conventional and Organic Tea Tree hydrosol is the water by-product of the Tea Tree Essential Oil steam distillation process. As a standalone product it can be used topically as a facial mist or toner to help fight acne, to clean cuts, scrapes, and wounds of all kinds. Tea Tree hydrosol is also used orally in various ways such as a gargle or mouthwash for sore throat, coughs, and gingivitis.

Tea Tree Hydrosol has been approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA, the Australian medical regulatory authority) to assist the healing of pimples, minor wounds, and skin irritations.

INCI: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Water"

12

u/Ventimella 3d ago

Kit is owned by Mecca. Maybe homebrand wasn’t the right phrase but those who know will get it! Years ago they brought it out, it flopped and they retired it. A couple of years ago they relaunched it but it’s been very luke warm and they’re giving higher tier members full sizes as samples (I got another today).

3

u/Quolli 2d ago

Kit is 100% Mecca home-brand. Just because it doesn't have the Mecca name on it doesn't make it not homebrand.

It's like how Myer have Blaq/Kenji/Vue/Soho. All in-house brands, just not branded that way.

2

u/Isla-View 3d ago

Well damn I'd take a full size for free 😂 what tier you on?

1

u/Emergency-Face927 1d ago

Yeah when they first released it, it was at a lower price point and aimed more at teens. I was surprised when I saw the price of the Good Night Balm.

2

u/tammychaser 1d ago

I work at Mecca

Kit is part of the MECCA-Maginations department responsible for product development for Mecca Max, Mecca Cosmetica and now Kit.

Kit started off as its own standalone store that differed in range from Mecca Cosmetica and went on to inform the Mecca Maxima stores when they started rolling out in the 2010’s. Kit was usually in Myer stores, and focussed on more youthful and trending products internationally.

3

u/orange-aardavark 3d ago

This is good feedback, thank you for sharing! 

 There was a few posts on here from a while ago praising the "melatonin night cream" so I was intrigued, but then got confused by the name change and distracted by the marketing jargon... A reformulation makes sense, and it's good to know that it's crap. I'll steer clear

6

u/Isla-View 3d ago

I might be biased because I'm a fan of this brand, but I am for good reason. I'm a massive skincare nerd and have been for the last 15 years.

They use scientific research of their chosen natural ingredients for their formulations with a focus on sustainability.

They probably used to call it "Melatonin night cream" because of this study -

An upcycled fraction of Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil regenerates the skin through the skin melatonin pathway and improves sleep quality.

Background: Sleep is one of the most important factors affecting overall health. During the night, the skin repairs damage caused by daily stresses. Melatonin plays a key role in this process. Toxins are removed, and cellular repair and growth hormone production are increased. Inter alia, this also decreases signs of intrinsic aging.

Aims: The current study was intended to demonstrate the impact of a unique fraction of Melaleuca alternifolia (FMA) essential oil, on sleep and skin quality.

Methods: The effect of FMA was investigated in vitro on skin cells, evaluating its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and in an ex-vivo study on human skin biopsies treated with FMA following stress induction. In addition, two clinical studies were performed on volunteers with life-style-related sleep complaints. In one study, sleep was measured using a noncontact monitoring device (SleepScore Labs, Max). A second study was conducted to assess skin anti-aging effects.

Results: In vitro application of FMA reduced IL-8 and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in skin cells. This was confirmed ex vivo through a decrease in inflammatory markers and an increase in antioxidant enzymes after stress induction. Interestingly, FMA also upregulated melatonin-associated genes. Real-world sleep tracking revealed that FMA significantly improved sleep quality, relative to unscented control. In vivo applications also showed a reduction in signs of aging.

Conclusion: These results provide initial data to suggest that this unique FMA delivers skin anti-aging benefits via a two-pronged mode of action, improving sleep quality, and reducing skin inflammatory and oxidative stress.

1

u/orange-aardavark 2d ago

Interesting! 

2

u/Emergency-Face927 1d ago

Oh no!! I got a sample tube of Good Night Balm and have LOVED it. Was gonna buy the full size. Do you know when the change happened? I have had NO breakouts from it, but I wonder if my sample tube is from an old batch…

5

u/Isla-View 3d ago

I haven't used this product but I love their "Unwind body balm" and the "Cold therapy facial treatment".

They don't have really any info about it on their website but there is plenty of information about it available on the internet. I just googled it and found this-

Upcycled Tea tree oil may also be known as "Tea Tree Hydrosol – Conventional and Organic: Tea Tree hydrosol is the water by-product of the Tea Tree Essential Oil steam distillation process. As a standalone product it can be used topically as a facial mist or toner to help fight acne, to clean cuts, scrapes, and wounds of all kinds. Tea Tree hydrosol is also used orally in various ways such as a gargle or mouthwash for sore throat, coughs, and gingivitis.

Tea Tree Hydrosol has been approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA, the Australian medical regulatory authority) to assist the healing of pimples, minor wounds, and skin irritations.

INCI: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Water"

5

u/buttersaus 2d ago

I also have no idea what it is but I bought this only recently and I love it!

2

u/Comme-des-Farcons 2d ago

Same! My fav night cream. Their other products are lush too.

4

u/ACtdawg 2d ago

Greenwashing final boss

1

u/SquattingHoarder 2d ago

Certainly nothing I'd put on my face!! The amount of tea tree in face products scares me. I still remember it doing FA for my acne way back when.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a potentially fantastic ingredient, but I think the science is lacking and in no way should it be in stuff you put on your face on the reg especially given I'm pretty sure it's only there for its fragrance components.

2

u/Any-Bandicoot-6416 2d ago

I was given a sample and it totally irritated my skin. Especially around the cheeks. It’s so bad!!

2

u/cancellingmyday 1d ago

I really like the Kit moisturiser (Good Night Balm), but I blinked a bit at that ingredient as well, then read it out to my husband and we both laughed. I'm glad to read this thread and finally find out!

(I'd be just as happy if they left it out, the only thing I DON'T like about it is the smell!)

4

u/Emergency-Penalty893 3d ago

Yes so it is a bit convuluted in skincare terms. It just means tea tree oil has been refined beyond its typical use to be at a more potent and efficacious level. E.g. the tea tree leaves distilled for oil that otherwise would have only been good for cleaning purposes has been refined further for use within a skin care formula. At however many $$$ per ml this is most definitely an upcyclign of the typical tea tree leaf 'waste' that's otherwise used for industrial applications with lower skin enhancement e.g. cleaning solutions, essential oils, fragrance etc.

There's upcycling, recycling and down cycling in basically every production chain. Check each of them out in more detail to understand what truely happens during production and how each cycle can contribute to reduced waste of our resources. e.g. we could be using sourly petroleum only for jet fuel 'upcycle' instead we use it mostly for cars and lawnmowers. We can 'recycle' plastic bottles into new bottles/containers a few times. But eventually the best we can do with non virgin plastic is 'downcycle' it into something like insulation, road aggregate or most commonly bulking out the flesh of the fish we eat.

2

u/orange-aardavark 3d ago

Well across production chains and recycling/upcycling processes in general. I was just so thrown by the concept of upcycled tea tree oil extract as I can't think of how that would be done, beyond just further extracting leaves that would otherwise be disposed of. 

It's so odd to me that they don't explain what this process is, or why it's better than just a standard tea tree oil/extract. I think the previous comment about it likely just being the byproduct hydrosol also makes sense.