For a limited time, use the promo code: BEN20 to get a 20% discount on a 15 ml bottle of Peppermint essential oil from our friends at Rocky Mountain Oils. The code is good through February 8, 2020.
I often refer to Peppermint essential oil as my “happy” oil. It just makes me smile when I smell it. I add it to nearly every blend I diffuse, and it’s the first essential oil I reach for when I have a headache, feel sick to my stomach, or need a quick pick-me-up. It just makes me happy.
Along with lavender essential oil, I have found peppermint to be one of the most versatile of essential oils. It’s properties make it useful for so many different needs. For example, did you know that peppermint essential oil:
- Is an insect deterrent and relieves the itching from insect bites
- Is anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial
- Is useful as a digestive aid
- Fights colds and flu
- Relieves pain for sore muscles and aching feet
- Treats headaches, anxiety, stress, and mental fatigue
- Provides relief from allergy symptoms
- Improves alertness and concentration
- Improves hair health
- Freshens breath and reduces cavities
Again, just like with lavender, I carry peppermint essential oil with me practically everywhere I go. If I need a quick pick-me-up, I just open the bottle and inhale it. If I feel a headache coming on, I place add a couple of drops to a carrier oil and rub it into my neck and shoulders. During allergy season, it is in my diffuser daily in a blend with lavender and lemon. Peppermint essential oil is just something I don’t ever want to be without.
While Peppermint essential oil is a wonderful essential oil in its own right, combining it with other essential oils can make it even more powerful and useful. Below are five ways I use it to create blends and products to make my home more natural and to help support my own health. These recipes are very simple to make and some of my must-haves to keep on hand at all times. They are portable for travel, and make great gifts as well.
5 Simple Must-have Recipes Using Peppermint Essential Oil
A Note of Caution: Peppermint essential oil is not recommended for use for children age 5 and under. Eucalyptus and Rosemary (found in the pain relief and headache blends below) are also not recommended for children under the age of 10. Please use these oils with caution around your children.
Pain Relief Oil
- 1 oz (30 ml) Trama oil (substitute with Jojoba if not available)
- 8 drops Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) essential oil
- 5 drops Frankincense (Boswellia carterii) essential oil
- 5 drops Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) essential oil
Combine the Trauma oil and essential oils in a 1 oz (30ml) glass bottle. Massage it into sore, tense areas as needed.
Trauma Oil is made by infusing a carrier oil (usually olive oil) with arnica, St. John’s wort, and calendula. It has amazing pain-relieving benefits in its own right, and using it in conjuction with essential oils will take your blend to a whole new level. It’s a pricey oil (though you can make it yourself), but is worth the investment if you deal with frequent or chronic pain. If you don’t have Trauma oil on hand, any carrier oil will do. Jojoba is my personal preference.
In addition to its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, Peppermint oil has the benefit of relaxing muscles while Frankincense’s anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties add a powerful aid to reducing inflammation, pain, and soreness, and rosemary increases circulation to the area while also working as an analgesic. Together, they work magic for painful joints and muscles. I love this blend for tense shoulders and necks.
Minty Orange Lip Balm
3 tablespoons organic coconut oil
1 1/2 tablespoons beeswax pellets
1 1/2 tablespoons shea butter
10 drops Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) essential oil
10 drops Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) essential oil
Add beeswax beeswax pellets to a clean Pyrex measuring cup, and place Pyrex into a pot of simmering water. Stir as needed to melt. Add butter to the beeswax and melt, followed by the coconut. Remove oils from water pot as soon as melted and add essential oils. Stir gently to combine. Carefully pour mixture into lip balm tubes (use a lip balm tube tray if you have one) and let set at room temperature for about 30 minutes before applying lids. Lip balm will be ready to use in a few hours (place in refrigerator for quicker ready time). Yield: 15 tubes
Lavender-Mint Foaming Hand Soap
- 2 oz castile soap
- 4 oz distilled water
- 2 tsp carrier oil (jojoba, olive, argan, fractionated coconut, sweet almond, grapeseed – any will do)
- 20 drops Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) essential oil
- 20 drops Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil
Pour water into bottle first and then castile soap into a 8 oz foaming soap bottle, add carrier and essential oils, screw on the lid, and shake gently. The bottle is partially full on purpose, both to leave room for the pump and for the air your soap needs to foam.
Unlike many soaps, this one will not leave your hands feeling dry. They will feel clean and moisturized, and the scent is heavenly. And of course, both Lavender and Peppermint have anti-microbial properties.
Nausea Relief Personal Inhaler
7 drops Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) essential oil
4 drops Lemon (Citrus x limon) essential oil
2 drops Ginger (Zingiber officinale) essential oil
Add essential oils to your personal inhaler. Inhale as needed for nausea due to motion sickness or illness. Peppermint oil has been associated with a reduction in breast milk production, so use with caution if you are breastfeeding. Essential oils are not recommended for the first trimester of pregnancy. This blend also works well in a diffuser as is, or as a tummy rub when added to 2 tablespoons of a carrier oil.
Headache Relief Roll-on
- 10 ml jojoba wax
- 4 drops Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) essential oil
- 2 drops Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus radiata) essential oil
- 2 drops Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil
- 2 drops Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) essential oil
Make this blend in a 10 ml roll-on bottle by adding the essential oils first and then filling the bottle to the shoulder with jojoba wax. Roll blend onto neck and shoulders for headache relief.
This is a blend I have been making for a few years now to help manage chronic migraines. I’ve shared it many times and have had so many positive comments back about how well it works for others. The addition of Eucalyptus maybe mean that it will also work well for sinus headaches due to congestion. It is also useful for tension headaches due to the anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxing properties of both Peppermint and Lavender, as well as the increased circulation provided by the Rosemary. This blend also works well in a personal inhaler or diffuser (minus the jojoba). For a personal inhaler, increase the number of drops by one each.
Precautions
Never use essential oils undiluted, in the eyes or mucus membranes. Do not ingest unless working with a qualified practitioner. Keep essential oils away from children. If applying an essential oil to your skin always perform a small patch test to an insensitive part of the body (after you have properly diluted the oil in an appropriate carrier oil).
For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
