PEPPERMINT ESSENTIAL OIL
Known as one of the most versatile oils, today’s Ingredient Highlight is all about Peppermint Essential oil (Mentha Piperita). A perennial herb native to the Mediterranean, but also cultivated in UK, Italy, USA and Japan, it’s identified by its serrated leaves and small white or mauve coloured flowers.
This multi purpose oil is not only one of the oldest European herbs used for medicinal purposes, it has also been traced back to Chinese and Japanese folk medicine, and even Ancient Egyptian times, where they used the dried leaves.
The oil is known for its remarkable cellular stimulation properties, soothing sensation, and antimicrobial properties. Used cosmetically Peppermint acts as an astringent that closes pores and tightens the skin. Its cooling and warming sensations make it an effective anaesthetic that leaves the skin numb to pain and calms redness and inflammation.
So what are the active components that benefit us?
MENTHOL: Menthol has anaesthetic properties and is antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antispasmodic. It also gives automatic soothing sensation, and is perfect to heal rosacea, oily skin, puffiness or irritation
MENTHONE: Menthone is known to be analgesic, but it is also believed to show antiseptic activity. Its invigorating properties lend the oil its energising effects.
LIMONENE: Limonene is one of the most common terpene shown to possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-stress, and possibly disease-preventing properties.