"What's In Your Beauty Pantry Doc?... Peppermint Oil!" by Dr. Phoenyx Austin

"What's In Your Beauty Pantry Doc?... Peppermint Oil!"

Peppermint oil is one of the first essential oils I ever used when I first started learning about aromatherapy. I've added it to hair care products, body butters, body oils, shower gels, and my humidifier. Overall I really enjoy the way peppermint oil perks me up, clears my mind, stimulates my thoughts and leaves my skin with a cool, tingly feel. Yes, that tiny little bottle of peppermint oil comes with quite a few beauty and health benefits. Like these:Beauty Benefits:

Controls oily skin: Peppermint oil is a natural astringent and helps control excess oil production in the skin. By controlling and eliminating excess oil on the skin, peppermint oil can help treat things like clogged pores, whiteheads, blackheads and acne.
Stimulates hair growth: Because of its ability to relax blood vessels and stimulate blood flow to hair follicles, peppermint oil has also been used in hair care products, specifically those for stimulating hair growth.
Keeps lips looking kissable and soft: Peppermint oil has a nice cooling effect on dry, cracked lips. And peppermint oil, because it stimulates blood circulation in the skin, can also help give your lips a nice plump and luscious look when added to lip balms.

General Health Benefits:

Clears sinuses: the menthol in peppermint oil can help relieve nasal congestion, as well as symptoms of colds, allergies, asthma and other respiratory conditions.
Relieves general muscle pain: peppermint oil has muscle relaxing effects and can be used directly on skin to relieve soreness and pain.
Relieves pain from burns and minor skin irritations: Peppermint oil can be used to help soothe the "burning" sensation from sunburn, skin inflammations, cuts, etc...

Aromatherapy

Peppermint oil can be used to relieve anxiety, stress, headache and depressive symptoms. I’ll occasionally burn blends of peppermint, lemongrass and lavender oils before I go to bed and while sleep. It's a great way to unwind after a stressful day.

Here's a tip: When applying peppermint oil to skin, you should first add a few drops of the oil to a cup of carrier oil like olive oil or sweet almond oil. Mix well and then use this oil blend on skin. You should avoid using pure peppermint oil (or any pure essential oil) directly on skin. Pure essential oils are very potent and can irritate the skin. So make sure you dilute in a carrier oil (or dilute in another mild, non-irritating liquid) before using on skin.Do you use peppermint oil? What for? What are some of your favorite essential oils?

Dr. Phoenyx Austin is a physician, author and media personality. Dr. Phoenyx’s new book, If You Love It, It Will Grow: A Guide to Growing Long Afro-Textured Hair is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes. Special autographed book copies can be ordered directly from her blog, DrPhoenyx.com. You can also find Dr. Phoenyx on Facebook and Twitter.