Short answer: NOPE! Like most essential oils, peppermint essential oil is extremely potent and should most definitely be diluted before use.

If you’ve spent any time around wild peppermint, you know that this little plant has some potent chemistry. When I mow our lawn and some of our garden’s escaped peppermint gets cut, the perfume takes over the entire backyard! My Goldendoodle starts sneezing and coughing from the tingly-mint smell and can’t stop until she’s spent a good hour detoxing her nose in our living room.

And that’s just the fragrance. Peppermint essential oil is so potent that undiluted it will cause your skin to tingle or burn. It can cause your eyes to water and nose to run. Ingest it undiluted and it’s an intense diuretic. In fact, it's surprisingly easy to accidentally get too much peppermint in your system which can be potentially lethal.

That's because essential oils are intensely concentrated. For instance, it takes 220 pounds of lavender flowers to make a 1 fluid pound of lavender essential oil. For you math junkies out there, that's ~14 times the weight in flowers to oil. No wonder they can pack a punch!

That's why we discourage anyone from applying essential oil in its undiluted or "neat" form. Don’t get me wrong; peppermint is a truly miraculous little plant. But it’s definitely not something you'll want to slather on your body or gulp down with lunch. In fact, most beauty and health experts strongly recommend diluting peppermint essential oil with a carrier oil, such as Coconut, Jojoba, or Apricot kernel oil. This will allow you to reap the many benefits of peppermint without suffering from it’s more caustic side.

And the benefits are truly many! Besides its invigorating scent, peppermint is also an antibiotic powerhouse. Menthol in peppermint oil similarly inhibits certain strains of microorganisms. It has also demonstrated efficacy against certain bacteria. So, in my book, I’m all in for team peppermint. Just make sure you’re diluting it first. 😘

If you're looking to use peppermint essential oil for an at home DIY spa, be sure to use only a small amount of oil in your mixtures. For a safer bet, get products with organic, natural peppermint ingredients.

For peppermint enthusiasts like myself, try the peppermint tea tree body wash, foaming face wash, and body scrub. And for perfectly soft, hydrated lips, check out the organic peppermint lip balm and lip scrub.

We hope this helped you clear up any confusion you might have had about using undiluted peppermint essential oil.

Do you have any other ingredient questions? Ask in the comments below. If you hadn't noticed, we're obsessive when it comes to natural ingredients. 💁🏽‍♀️

Peppermint hot tea and cheers,

Jenny

P.S. You can read more about peppermint in this blog post.