Okay, the claims about sinus meds and other things may be exaggerated because the label tells that the active ingredients are primarily same as those in drugstore OTC.

But, for the most part, Mel is harmless "venture" -- far less consuming than the past schemes (this "scam" is an ugly word--Carmine Sabatini, "The Freshman", 1990) of Amway and *ahem* Nu-Skin... ?

Time to draw the circles...

However, I do question the practice of some Mel distributors who enroll members/customers in "standing order" (can easily stack up on a commodity that doesn't have a month-life use).

Tea tree oil, otherwise known as melaleuca and obviously present in most (if not all) Melaleuca products, has been shown to cause hormonal imbalance in boys. Young boys between four and ten years were being brought to their doctors with the complaint of breast growth. Tea tree oil and lavender oil were both found to be the culprits and once their use was discontinued, the boys returned to normal.

Researchers at the University of Colorado tested the oils with human cells in a laboratory setting and found they mimicked estrogen and blocked androgen production.

The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Granted the sample group was very small, but the lab findings were relevant.

The use of these oils seemed to affect the boys only when directly applied on the body in the form of shampoos, soaps and lotions. It is not known if household cleaning products would affect them.

Just to be safe, you might not want to use Melaleuca or lavender oil products directly on your children.

I know this isn't really MLM-related but when I saw the one poster comment on spraying the stuff on his small son I thought this info might be useful.

Yeah, I'd say it was a small sample. One. That's not ten, not three, but ONE. It appears tea tree oil is almost as dangerous as lavender, which appears to have affected TWO boys. A small sample, uh huh.

Ain't Google a wonderful thing?

[altmedicine.about.com]

[i:43a952d1fb]"One boy used a skin balm with lavender oil, another used a hair gel and shampoo with lavender and tea tree oil, and the third used lavender soap and lavender-scented skin lotion."[/i:43a952d1fb]

Ah, mea culpa. Google IS a wonderful thing; apparently more informative than my own newspaper and favourite science magazine, where I got this info from. The stuff you read had much more detail.

I wouldn't think I'd have to double-check science magazine articles or newspaper articles but obviously I do....

Nonetheless, those are three reported cases; maybe there are more out there that are not reported, or the parents figured it out prior to going to the doctor. Maybe still not something to be used freely on developing bodies.

And I didn't know that lavender was one of the culprits!

Thank you.

If you just look at their main site (http://www.stayinhomeandlovinit.com/) STAYIN HOME AND LOVIN IT you can see how they reel in stay at home moms and those that are vulnerable. It's the same as those late night commercials "I made $8,000 in one month! Go to 83makememoney.com!!!"

It's a disgrace how they target low income people to sell for them. MLM MLM

poseur

–noun, a person who attempts to impress others by assuming or affecting a manner, degree of elegance, sentiment, etc., other than his or her true one.

I knew a guy once whose only financial success was a brief stint in Melaleuca because he enrolled one sharp go-getter. When his enrollee dropped out, his Melalueca business promptly crashed and burned.

I find it amusing that a person can be a life-long failure, then list all his/her failures on a resume' and pass him/herself off as an experienced business person.

If you happen to encounter this person, you may want to ask for LEGITMATE documentation of past success.

Now don't get me wrong. Just because someone files bankruptcy doesn't make them a loser. But when one spends his/her entire life sponging off people, never succeeding at anything; has no assetts, and then presents him/herself as a well-rounded, experienced, successful business person . . .

And if they use the "I was sick a year" excuse, ask why a successful business person didn't have health insurance!

poseur –noun, a person who attempts to impress others by assuming or affecting a manner, degree of elegance, sentiment, etc., other than his or her true one.

I knew a guy once whose only financial success was a brief stint in Melaleuca because he enrolled one sharp go-getter. When his enrollee dropped out, his Melalueca business promptly crashed and burned.

Amusing that a person can be a life-long failure, then list failures on a resume' and pass off as an experienced business person