Is Peppermint oil bad for hair?

The topical Virile Mane has Peppermint oil in it and someone keeps posting that its bad for all hair types. Just wondering if IH or anyone else knows anything about this?

chapat - Peppermint oil is not bad stuff as far as I am aware. Thousands use Dr. Bonner's soaps to wash their hair which contains this. Some claim it helps improve their hair. It inhibits DHT to a degree I believe also.

This thread is all about mints as topicals. http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=51580&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

One of the posts... "yeah, I think this is a similar problem encountered by people who used topical Licorice - it is said to be a relatively potent anti-androgen (at least, the glycyrrhizinic acid component of it), but it was shown in rats to remove a large amount of hair from their necks - it seems to be an epilatory. Only way to know for sure would be to try it on a small patch of head hair, but I don't think anyone in here is going to do that - certainly not me.
I am trialling it out on my left leg just to see what will happen - thinking of getting some peppermint oil myself, for the beard."

I just bought some. I'm going to try it on my left temple for a little while and see what happens. I've wanted to try it for a long time, but according to this thread the jury is still out on whether it's only an antiandrogen or if it's generally an epilatory. I would really like to get anyone who has good info to add to this.

I have read in other forums that it supposedly inhibits bodily hair but not the hair on your head, i do not know how true that is.

Did anyone mention whether or not they had tried it and gotten results from it?

Yanks - I honestly cant remember if people had tried it on their scalps I was more interested in the inhibitation of body hair. CS also made a small comment saying it would help scalp hair in the thread 'Scalpure ingredients (peppermint oil inhibiting hair growth???)' i would link you to it but i dont know how.

Yanks - Are you trialling peppermint oil on your leg, what are the results so far? Also are you shaving the test area or not?

Intothewest - I actually started that thread haha. The issue with trialing peppermint oil on body hair is that if it is in fact an depilatory(hair antagonist) as well as being a 5AR inhibitor and/or antiandrogen then the test wouldn't prove anything in regard to head hair. I think it's been well documented as an inhibitor of body hair, but I've read of no long term trials on head hair.
So I'm trying it on my left temple to see what happens. hopefully some others will do something similar so we can gather a consensus on whether it will help, hurt or do nothing.

Yanks wrote:Intothewest - I actually started that thread haha.

Haha, am a plonka lol.

I drank 2-3 cups of Peppermint/Spearmint tea for 3 months and saw an increase in body hair sheding, and less body hair overall (I am a pretty hairy guy). No different to head hair.

Peppermint-oil is an 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor [1]! This is one of the reasons why I believe that Dr. Bronners Magic Peppermint Soap is so useful for baldness. Dr. Bronners Magic Peppermint Soap will take all the oils off all parts of your body, leaving a nice tingly feeling. It contains jojoba oil which is said to be one of the best sebum-dissolvers around. It also contains vitamin-E to help combat inflammation and free-radical damage. It contains no synthetic chemicals and all of the oils in the product are organic!




[1] Activity of herbal extracts on the control of sebum secretion.

Not only does Dr. Bronners help benefit hair-loss, it also helps benefit a clean-planet! Dr. Bronners is eco-friendly. Their bottle is made from recycled-plastic and is 100% biodegradable, all of their oils are organic, and they do not test their product on animals... all things that earn points in my book!

I think we've finally discovered what misterE is selling! just kidding ...

peppermint is estrogenic - there was a lot of discussion earlier from GIBSON on this topic....

Well that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if used topically then right?

transdermal is usually always more potent and can exert systemic responses

misterE wrote: This is one of the reasons why I believe that Dr. Bronners Magic Peppermint Soap is so useful for baldness. Dr. Bronners Magic Peppermint Soap will take all the oils off all parts of your body, leaving a nice tingly feeling. It contains jojoba oil which is said to be one of the best sebum-dissolvers around.

misterE, can you give me a link to what the Magic Peppermint Soap looks like? Maybe one of these?

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/DRB014/ItemDetail?n=0
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/DRB004/ItemDetail?n=0
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/DRB009/ItemDetail?n=0

jk120 wrote:
misterE, can you give me a link to what the Magic Peppermint Soap looks like? Maybe one of these?

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/DRB014/ItemDetail?n=0
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/DRB004/ItemDetail?n=0
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/DRB009/ItemDetail?n=0

The first link is correct.

@Yanks: how did it go for you with the peppermint oil test?

I am tempted to apply it to my widow peak. Whatever the outcome, it's gonna be good. Either I fill it up or I nuke it for good

If memory serves me right, I think it was Michael Barry that played with peppermint & licorice. Those threads on another forum suggested that it would get rid of body hair and have the opposite effect on scalp hair. Also, remember reading something about slowing down the scalp hair cycles. A german company came up with a product that had peppermint & caffeine so it would counteract the slowing down of scalp hair follicles caused by the peppermint.

Personal experience though, I brushed my teeth with peppermint toothpaste for a few years & my beard & mustache hair lightened up in color & thinned around the mouth area confirming its antagonistic effect on body/face hair.

how do i make sure I get real and pure peppermint oil though?

most essential oil items on amazon have at least a 2% of reviews that say they must be diluted/impure or that their scent must be synthesized by some perfumists and contain nasty chemicals that give them headaches...