Peppermint oil, mint extract at home
I often find peppermint oil or mint extract in homemade skin care recipes. Good, non-synthetic mint oil is expensive, despite the fact that it grows like a weed - often you cannot remove it from the beds. Therefore, I suggest using a simple method for producing mint oil at home from your own raw materials.
The resulting extract can be used not only for cosmetics, but also for rubs, teas and pies. Using the same recipe, you can make extracts from most herbs, for example oregano oil .
How to make peppermint oil
In order to obtain mint oil, you need vodka and fresh or dry mint leaves. The amount of ingredients depends on the jar in which the mint extract will be infused.
- Dried or fresh mint leaves
- Non-premium vodka (we will let the alcohol evaporate at the end)
- Paper napkins or coffee filters
- A jar or bottle with an airtight lid.
- Mash the leaves so that the essential oil molecules are released from the damaged plant cells. We do not use the stems.
- Fill the jar with mint, not compacting it too tightly.
- Fill the jar with vodka, close it and shake well.
- Place in a cool, dark place for 6-8 weeks (some people think 3 days is enough).
- Strain the infusion, put a thick napkin, cloth, filter paper on the neck of the jar - the alcohol should evaporate through it. Leave it like this for 2-3 days. The alcohol will evaporate and there will be a slight loss of essential oil, but you will end up with a nice homemade extract.
A sediment often forms at the bottom of the jar, but I don’t filter it.
Extracts can be prepared with vegetable glycerin. Glycerin “extracts” are ideal for cosmetics, but vegetable glycerin is rarely found on the market - it must be ordered in specialized stores. This is not always convenient. And it is prepared in exactly the same way as an alcoholic extract, only it is infused for 3 to 6 months. Pharmaceutical glycerin from petroleum is not very good for the skin, so I advise you not to use it.
Update 05/03/2017. The harm of “non-vegetable” glycerin is a marketing myth. Any glycerin has an absolutely identical molecular formula and one way or another does not penetrate into the deep layers of the skin. When I wrote this article, I had little interest in reliable sources and did not pay due attention to scientific publications. I’m trying to improve; in articles from the last 6-8 months you can find links to sources. Thank you for being my readers!
