I love how versatile essential oils are. They contain hundreds of plant molecules, each helping our body, mind and Spirit in different ways.

Take Peppermint for example. It’s truly the Magician of essential oils, working in a myriad of different situations.

Mint was used by the Ancient Egyptians as a ritual perfume, according to the hieroglyphics in the temple of Edfu. In Ancient Greece and Rome, it was powdered and sprinkled onto beds, and also used to scent bath water. In more recent centuries it’s been used as a breath freshener to mask the smell of tobacco. It’s even been said (by Pliny) that the “very smell of it alone recovers and refreshes the spirit.”

Emotionally, Peppermint oil helps us to embrace new patterns and ideas, whilst spiritually it helps to open us to our natural intuition.

I had an amazing experience in one of my classes some 20 or more years ago. I was teaching students how to see auras, and I put a drop of Peppermint oil on a woman whose aura we were observing.

While the rest of the students were observing the changes in her energy field, one particular student was having a very different experience. He shared that after the Peppermint oil went onto her body, he suddenly saw her physical and inner beauty shining through and it captivated him. It was such a dramatic shift in perception that he was blown away, and is still using Young Living essential oils to this day, very much as a result of that initial experience.

Today, let’s deep dive into the many different ways we can use this single essential oil to support us both in body and mind. Enjoy!!!

Needing to Focus on a special task?

Whenever I have a big day in the office where I need my brain to be alert and switched on like a super athlete, I diffuse Peppermint and Lemon oil.

In a 1996 study, inhaling Peppermint oil was shown to increase mental accuracy by a whopping 28%, and helped people stay focussed on their task, even if it was boring and repetitive (1).

In fact, it produced a:

• 35% increase in typing speed, and a
• 7% increase in typing accuracy (4).

That’s huge! Can you imagine how much of a benefit this would bring to any workplace? The reason I’d add Lemon oil into my diffuser as well is because another study showed that diffusing Lemon oil in an office dramatically improved concentration and accuracy, resulting in 54% fewer errors (3). And when Lemon oil was diffused during exams, scores increased by up to 50%.

So my go-to for a productive day is to add 12 drops of Lemon oil and 3 drops of Peppermint oil in my diffuser. Why that ratio? It’s because Peppermint oil is so much stronger in aroma than Lemon oil, so having more Lemon and less Peppermint in the mix gives a more balanced aroma.

1. W. N. Denbar et. al. Compendium of Olfactory Research, 1996, pp 39-46.
2. Improved performance on clerical tasks associated with administration of peppermint odor by S. Barker et. al. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2003 Dec 97(3 Pt 1):1007-1010
3. K. Griffin, The Smell of Success, Apr 28, 1993. Chicago Tribune. 

Ready to mop your floors?

I confess, the smell of Peppermint oil is completely addictive to me. So the past couple of years, I’ve been making up a delightfully strong mix of Peppermint in my floor cleaning solution so my house smells phenomenal after it’s been cleaned. I had a new cleaner at my home last week, and she was in heaven from the smell!

Here’s my floor cleaning spray:

In a 500ml glass or PET plastic spray bottle, I add:

• 1 tablespoon Thieves Household Cleaner
• 50 drops of Peppermint oil
• Top up with water

And here’s my benchtop and “everything else” spray:

This gives me a wonderful contrast to the floor spray. In a 500ml glass or PET plastic spray bottle, I add:

• 1 tablespoon Thieves Household Cleaner
• 6 drops Lavender oil
• 6 drops Orange oil
• 6 drops Lemon Myrtle oil
• Top up with water

Feeling Hungry?

It’s interesting how we get into habits around our eating. I noticed a couple of years ago that my plate needed to look full for me to feel I was eating a proper meal. That was in no way tied to how much I felt like eating – it was a purely visual cue. As a result, I was eating more than my body actually needed (especially of an evening), and putting on weight.

When you add emotions into this, that’s a whole other layer of complexity. I’ve observed at times how I’ll be tempted to reach for something sweet or savoury when I’m in emotional turmoil. Some people lose their appetite when they’re upset, but I notice that mine accelerates…and of course, if this continues, weight gain is a natural by-product.

So would it fascinate you to know that in 1998 Dr. Alan Hirsch studied over 3,000 overweight volunteers. All they were asked to do was to inhale Peppermint oil 3 times into each nostril whenever they felt hungry.

This study was so effective that these participants experienced a significant weight loss using this simple technique!

Peppermint oil doesn’t actually cause weight loss. Its aroma stimulates the limbic region of our brain, which is directly associated with our emotions and our feelings of satiety. By balancing these centres, we are less likely to overeat for our body’s needs, so weight loss is the natural by-product.

Feeling Angry?

Being angry while driving is not a great combination and has been the cause of many car accidents. In a 2023 study on aggressive driving patterns, researchers discovered that inhaling Peppermint oil significantly reduced aggressive driving behaviours by almost 20%!!!

Increases in alertness and decreases in stress were also observed. The scientists concluded that aromatherapy (in the form of Peppermint oil) could be adapted into the use of car fresheners in order to reduce driving aggression.

Aroma of the essential oil of peppermint reduces aggressive driving behaviour in healthy adults, by Mark Moss, Jasmine Ho, Sophie Swinburne and Anna Turner. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental. 17 February 2023

Going on a long drive?

In a 2009 study on drivers, scientists concluded that the aroma of Peppermint reduced both anxiousness and tiredness while driving. Drivers were “less frustrated, and perceived the drive to be shorter.”

Wow – I love that the smell of Peppermint oil made a long drive feel shorter. What an incredible gift!!!!

Scientists concluded that “Given the above results, it is reasonable to expect that the presentation of certain odours while driving may produce a more alert and conscientious driver, and minimize the fatigue associated with prolonged driving.”

In a 2022 study, three essential oils were trialled against driver fatigue. These were Peppermint, Lemon and Lavender oil.

The results showed that all three essential oils had a wake-up effect on driving fatigue, however the best results were from an 80% concentration of Peppermint oil.

Note from Artemis: I never dilute my essential oils unless I’m putting them on young children, the elderly or very sensitive skin…or if it’s a very hot oil like Cassia. So when it comes to Peppermint oil and driving, I’d be sniffing it straight from my bottle, or using a portable car diffuser.

Effects of peppermint and cinnamon odor administration on simulated driving alertness, mood and workload, by Raudenbush, B., Grayhem, R., Sears, T., & Wilson, I. (2009). North American Journal of Psychology, 11(2), 245–256.

Research on the Effect of Olfactory Stimulus Parameters on Awakening Effect of Driving Fatigue by Bangbei Tang et. al. (2022) 6th CAA International Conference on Vehicular Control and Intelligence (CVCI)

Feeling like some exercise?

There are some amazing studies around Peppermint oil for increasing energy levels and fitness. There’s one particular research experiment that I love, which was done in 2001. 20 male and 20 female athletes participated in this. They had a piece of tape placed under their nose, with 2 drops of Peppermint oil on it.

After receiving the Peppermint oil, they:

• Ran the 400 metre dash faster
• Had stronger hand grip strength, and
• Were able to do more pushups before they reached exhaustion.

Enhancing Athletic Performance through the Administration of Peppermint Odor, by Raudenbush, B., Corley, N. and Eppich, W. (2001). Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 23, 156-160.

Feeling like some breath freshening?

In addition to diffusing Peppermint oil and using it in my household cleaner, my other way I love to use it is as a breath freshener. I put a drop on the back of my hand, tilt my hand so the drop begins to run, then I lick the corner of the drop. Check in to see how you feel after this. If you like the sensation, lick the whole drop off.

You’ll feel that vibrant “whoosh” up your sinuses from the Peppermint oil, and a wonderful breath-freshening experience. Even if I don’t carry toothpaste with me when I’m out and about, I always have a bottle of Peppermint oil in my handbag. After all, I never know when I’m going to meet a gorgeous man who I might want to kiss!

Feeling Hot?

Did you know that Peppermint is wonderful for cooling us down? Put a drop on your wrists, under your feet or follow the instructions above and use it as a breath freshener. The side effect is that the outside temperature will feel like it’s just dropped by 5 degrees!!!

This is a fantastic tip for those hot and humid Summer days, when you just want to feel coooool.

Feeling like some Chocolate?

If you are, why not make it super-scrumptious by adding in some essential oils as flavouring agents. I’ve always loved mint chocolate, so one drop of Peppermint oil added to a hot chocolate or into some melted chocolate which is then poured into moulds is one of my go-to’s for a sweet treat.

One drop in a hot chocolate is sometimes a little strong. In that case you can simply dip a toothpick into the Peppermint oil, and swirl it around in your hot chocolate for a milder mint flavour.

The following section is for our Australian Readers:

In Australia, some of our essential oils are listed with the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) so that we can make certain claims about their benefits. Peppermint oil is one of these.

We therefore have 2 different bottles – a white labelled bottle (which allows us to talk about these health uses), and our regular bottle (which allows us to talk about diffusing, emotional and culinary uses of Peppermint oil).

It’s exactly the same essential oil in each bottle. This is simply a requirement to be compliant with the TGA. We refer to the white-labelled bottles as our Wellness oils.

The following claims are related to our Australian Wellness Peppermint oil, and refer to traditional aromatherapy uses.

Feeling a headache coming on?

Both Lavender Wellness oil and Peppermint Wellness oil relieve headaches, and Peppermint Wellness oil even reduces the symptoms and duration of mild migraines!

That’s why if I ever have a headache coming on, I have this 3 step ritual:

1. Apply 2 to 3 drops of Valor oil on the back of my neck to help relax the tight muscles. You can add the same number of drops of Frankincense oil over the top as an optional extra.

2. Place 1 drop of Lavender Wellness oil on each temple.

3. Place 1 drop of Peppermint Wellness oil into your palm. Rub both palms together, cup your hands over your mouth without touching your face, and breathe in the Peppermint aroma for 5 minutes.

It’s no wonder that in a research study back in 1996, a 10% Peppermint oil solution in ethanol was found to be as effective in reducing headache intensity as 1000mg of Paracetamol. Wow!

Effectiveness of Oleum menthae piperitae [Peppermint oil] and paracetamol in therapy of headache of the tension type, by H Göbel 1, J Fresenius, A Heinze, M Dworschak, D Soyka, Nervenarzt, 1996 Aug;67(8):672-81

What about a toothache or menstrual cramps?

Both Lavender Wellness oil and Peppermint Wellness oil are natural analgesics, meaning they relieve pain (including toothaches and mild rheumatic pain).

Peppermint Wellness oil can even relieve menstrual pain. With menstrual pain, it’s lovely to apply the Peppermint Wellness oil as a warm compress. Simply moisten a towel under warm water, add a drop or two of Peppermint Wellness oil, and place it over your belly. The moisture in the compress drives the Peppermint Wellness oil in deeper and the warmth helps to sooth tight muscles.

How about tummy upsets?

Yes, you guessed it. Peppermint Wellness oil is our best friend. That includes morning sickness and motion sickness. Simply carry it in your car and inhale it on road trips.

Peppermint Wellness oil helps to stimulate bile flow, which is great for overall digestion. It can also be used on its own or in combination with Lavender Wellness oil for colic and wind pain.

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