Neem oil: a cure for acne?

Every couple of months, a new acne-fighting ingredient appears on the market. Be it tea tree essential oil, activated charcoal, jojoba oil or rhassoul clay... Each and every claims to be the most effective, natural, no side effects miracle worker. Being forever on the lookout for an acne solution suitable for sensitive skin, it's no wonder I was immediately sucked in when I first heard about neem oil.

Neem oil is a base oil extracted from Azadirachta indica (Neem) tree which is native to tropical climates of countries such as India, Burma or Malaysia. It's also called Indian Lilac in English and Muarubaini in Swahili, which means the tree of the 40, because the plant is said to treat 40 different diseases. All parts of the neem tree have medicinal properties, ranging from antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral to even antidiabetic, and have been a major component in Ayurvedic medicine for centures, especially for skin diseases.

I've been roadtesting the pure unrefined neem oil by Allafia for over a month now, dabbing it on pesky spots, bumps and scars. Here are my pros & cons:

The Good:
- 100% natural, sustainable and certified fair trade
- inexpensive (I paid about $7 for 24 ml) and readily available (e.g. at Whole Foods)
- has a variety of uses apart from fighting acne: it protects against chapping, cracking and itching due to dry skin and is said to repel insects
- has excellent antioxidant properties
- non-irritating
- moisturizes the skin beautifully
- brings inflammation and redness down
- soothes painful cystic breakouts
- speeds up the healing process

The Bad:

- the smell!!! Imagine putting a paste made of garlic and chives on your face and you'll get a pretty good idea of how neem oil smells like.
- consistency: at room temperature, it's mostly runny with some solid nuggets at the sides of the jar, making it difficult to apply topically on affected areas. It tends to move around and slide off a lot.
- doesn't absorb very well into my oily skin (it might be different if your skin is dry). There's no way I could use it under make-up and also due to the smell, I only tend to reach for it when I'm alone at home.
- packaging: while the glass jar is eco-friendly and ensures that the product won't get contaminated with plastic particles, it's not the most hygienic or travel-friendly. I've seen this product sold in dropper bottles and regret not buying that instead.

Will I repurchase? No. I might be a sissy, but I like my cosmetics, natural and organic included, to smell at least decent. Taking care of your skin should be a pleasure and not an ordeal! Also, I don't feel this performs any better than my jojoba-based Angel Face Botanicals Blemish Soother Spot Treatment which smells beautifully of lavender and bergamot essential oils. However, with scents being an individual thing, I'd recommend to check neem oil out in person; I know they have testers of it at Whole Foods. And, answering the question from my post's title... no, this is no miracle cure. Sure it helps a lot with hydrating and healing my skin issues, but for me, it doesn't prevent new spots appearing.

Hope that was helpful, lovelies! What are your favorite spot treatments? xxx