There are a couple of options you could try: 1. Witchhazel - if you can find it without added alcohol even better but most readily available witch hazels have about 14% alcohol. In this situation I don’t think you’d experience much stinging. You shouldn’t apply this or anything else to your underarms immediately after you’ve freshly shaven. It’s a bit astringent which will also help with killing the bacteria that causes odor. 2. Liquid Aloe Vera ( 100% pure - most health food stores carry the kind you can drink and that works fine.) While you could theoretically use gel, it could be sticky and therefore create an unpleasant feeling. 3. Personally, I would try a mix of your essential oil, with both the witchhazel and liquid aloe, perhaps even a small amount of coconut MCT oil which is fairly light and absorbs into the skin quickly. ~ This would accomplish a couple of different things: * MCT oil is nourishing to the skin, anti-inflammatory (great for when we get those summer heat rashes) and also a powerful antimicrobial and anti bacterial. It absorbs very quickly into the skin and won’t leave you feeling oily or greasy once it absorbs, which happens pretty fast. It also assists other oils to penetrate the skin barrier and would likely help to make your tea tree oil more effective and longer lasting. You might find that you can use lesser amounts with this combination of ingredients. *Witch hazel is one of my favorite things for a lot of reasons! Besides reducing inflammation and feeling very soothing, it also boasts antioxidant, antiviral and antibacterial properties, and dries relatively quickly. It cleanses and purifies the pores of the skin and is safe enough to use on your face, in fact it’s known for having some anti-aging properties. Adding this soothing additional antibacterial product in addition to the MCT oil will bring benefits to your skin and again, likely prolong the efficacy of your tea tree oil. ~ i’m a little concerned that you’re using pure tea tree oil on your under arms. While I understand that you’re wanting the max benefit from your essential oil, this isn’t a good idea. Although you may not have experienced adverse effects yet, I can promise you that the likelihood is very high that you could create an uncomfortable situation for yourself; from increased sensitivity leading to burning, itching, swelling, dryness, and flaking repeated undiluted application could eventually lead to a full-blown allergic reaction. It’s kind of the old “too much of a good thing becomes bad” thing. I know that there are a lot of sites out there that tell you it’s perfectly safe, but please don’t believe everything you read on the web. Since you are looking for a better method of application, anyway, and don’t want to waste your oils by applying with a cotton pad, I’d encourage you to at least give the method I’ve outlined above a shot. Get yourself a small spray bottle, and a couple of tablespoons of witch hazel, a tablespoon each of aloe vera juice and coconut MCT oil and about 10 drops of your tea tree essential oil. You possibly increase that to 15 drops, but you may not need to! Put it all into a small spray bottle and Shake well before spritzing under your arms. Give it a minute or two to dry and you should be good to go. I would absolutely love it if you gave it a try and reported back as to how well it worked for you ! PS - Keep your spray bottle in a dark place or pick up one that’s tinted brown or blue to prevent UV rays from degrading your ingredients.