How much peppermint oil do you need? 0.5%+
The effective peppermint oil percentage, by the vehicle-controlled trials, starts at 0.5%; no published dose comparison sets a ceiling.
This one works on contact: there is nothing to wait for.
how it was measured
Measured on Cooling and counter-irritant sensation from its menthol fraction; on contact, by mechanism.
What peppermint oil percentage is effective?
Floor 0.5%: 0.5% peppermint oil in sesame oil, twice daily for 2 weeks, reduced itch severity against an identical placebo oil in 96 pregnant women with pruritus gravidarum, triple-blind (Akhavan Amjadi 2012).
0.5%+
The trials, and what they used
- Undiluted or unstated peppermint oil beat petrolatum on the 5-D itch scale in 50 patients with hepatic, renal or diabetic pruritus over 2 weeks (Elsaie 2016), and a peppermint gel of unstated strength cut pressure-injury incidence against placebo gel in 150 ICU patients (Babamohamadi 2019), a different job.
- No dose comparison found.
- The oil is 30 to 55% menthol, so the cooling floor tracks menthol's, and the ceiling is sensitisation: peppermint oil is a documented contact allergen and the cosmetic use levels are set by fragrance safety, not by effect.
Is more than 0.5% peppermint oil better?
Nobody has measured it: no published dose comparison sets a ceiling for peppermint oil, so a percentage above 0.5% is above the trials' floor, not above a measured maximum.
No published dose comparison sets a ceiling for peppermint oil. A declared percentage above 0.5% is above the trials' floor, not above a measured maximum: the trials say from 0.5% it works, and say nothing about whether more does more.
What does the peppermint oil percentage on a label tell you?
A name that states a percentage ("Peppermint Oil 0.5%") is the only amount a cosmetic label ever declares, so it is the one number that can be read against the trials: at or above the 0.5% floor, or below it.
A name without a percentage leaves the position. The rules make a brand list ingredients in descending order of amount down to 1%, and in any order below it, so peppermint oil above the 1% line is at least 1% and peppermint oil below it can be any trace the brand likes. The floor the trials worked from is 0.5%, and a position alone cannot tell you whether a label reaches it.
The peppermint oil percentages in our catalogue
No product in our catalogue is sold on peppermint oil yet.
Read on
- Peppermint Oil: the glossary page what it does, who it suits, where it fits
Other actives with a dose the trials pinned:
- Niacinamide 2%+
- Vitamin C (LAA) 5%+
- Retinol 0.075 to 0.3%
- Salicylic acid (BHA) 0.5%+
- Lactic acid 8%+
- Glycolic acid 5%+
- Retinal 0.05 to 0.1%
- Retinyl Retinoate 0.06%+
- Tretinoin 0.025%+
- Adapalene 0.1%+
- Tazarotene 0.045%+
- Azelaic Acid 15%+
- THD Ascorbate 1%+
- Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate 5%+
- Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 0.0003%+
- Caffeine 2%+
- Benzoyl Peroxide 2.5 to 5%
- Tea Tree Oil 5%+
- Hydroquinone 4%+
- Bifida Ferment Lysate 10%+
- Thiamidol 0.2%+
- Cysteamine 5%+
- Menthol 0.1 to 5%
- N-Acetyl Glucosamine 2%+
- Alpha Lipoic Acid 5%+
- Ammonium lactate 12%+
- Acetylated Hyaluronic Acid 0.1%+
- 4-n-Butylresorcinol 0.1%+
- 4-t-Butylcyclohexanol 0.4%+
- Sphingomonas Ferment Extract 2%+