When you use the Peeq Pro tea tree oil cleanser, start by dispensing a couple of pumps onto your fingertips. Massage into your eyelids and the rest of your face, and either continue your cleansing manually, with a cellulose sponge, or with the Peeq Waiva. You should spend around 15 seconds massaging the cleanser into your eyelashes and lids to properly remove eye makeup, oils and biofilm particulates. Leaving the cleanser on for a minute is an optional step.
What is in the cleanser that makes it so great? Well, it contains both efficacy and sensorial ingredients. Efficacy ingredients make the product function as it should. Sensorial ingredients provide a pleasing experience through touch, taste, smell, sight, and feel (Do not taste the cleanser). Efficacy ingredients include both anti-infectives and other efficacy ingredients that protect the integrity and safety of the formula, and those that comprise the rest of the formula. Sensorial ingredients are typically botanical in nature, but may also be considered efficacy ingredients as there is some overlap between the two categories.
One of the key ingredients that is both an efficacy and sensorial ingredient is terpinen-4-ol, or the active compound in tea tree oil. Tea tree has been proven to kill Demodex mites and help prevent blepharitis, or chronic inflammation of the eyelids. In addition, it is a natural antimicrobial and has anti-inflammatory properties, likely due to its ability to damage the cell walls of pathogens. Once combined with the blend of gentle surfactants and other efficacy ingredients, terpinen-4-ol really starts to shine. Sodium c14-16 olefin sulfonate, the primary surfactant, is a gentle and biodegradable cleansing agent.. It is then combined with cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine and cocamidopropyl betaine, a thickening and foam-boosting co-surfactant and a bubble-and-viscosity-stabilizing surfactant, respectively. Finally, sodium chloride, chemically table salt, is added in a low concentration to thicken and stabilize the surfactants, turning them from a runny solution, to a the thick and luxurious foaming cleanser you know and love. Surfactants and tree tree compounds also help break up biofilms in the eye, which are secretions of proteins and lipids from bacteria that can clog oil glands and lead to chronic dry eye, improper tear salinity ratios, redness and irritation.
Another important ingredient is vegetable glycerin, which is a hydrating ingredient. It has been used in skincare for over 50 years and is found naturally in our skin. It helps to repair our skin’s moisture barrier due to its humectant properties, or its ability to draw water from the air and into our skin.
Finally, our sensorial ingredients. Lavender, peppermint and oregano essential oils add a pleasant scent to the product, but did you know that they also have skincare benefits? Lavender has antihistamine properties, which can reduce inflammation and lessen pain, like from a sore pimple. Peppermint delivers that cooling sensation that is so synonymous with the Peeq experience, as well as having antiviral and antibacterial properties that can soothe itchiness and irritation. Oregano is a powerhouse with many of these same benefits, as well as soothing rosacea and hyperpigmentation and having antioxidant properties that can help fight free radical damage.
The Peeq Pro foaming cleanser is holistic yet effective, and sure to leave your eyes and face clean and refreshed.
Bispo, P. J. M., Haas, W., & Gilmore, M. S. (2015, March 23). Biofilms in infections of the eye. Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland). Retrieved April 5, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4384075/
Carson, C. F., Hammer, K. A., & Riley, T. V. (2006, January). Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil: A review of antimicrobial and other medicinal properties. Clinical microbiology reviews. Retrieved April 5, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360273/
Savla, K., Le, J. T., & Pucker, A. D. (2019, June 9). Tea tree oil for demodex blepharitis. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Retrieved April 5, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6556368/