In short
Peppermint oil is distilled from Mentha × piperita and is rich in menthol and menthone. It gives a fresh, cooling mint note.
What Peppermint Oil smells like
Peppermint oil is fresh, minty, cooling and mentholic: The Good Scents Company lists peppermint materials as minty, peppermint, mentholic and herbal, and a peppermint extract as sweet, cooling, herbal, green, minty and fresh. A glossary finds a sweet herbaceous tone and a faint camphoraceous edge beneath the menthol blast, and attributes a slightly woody, minty-sweet quality to menthone. Beside spearmint it is the cold, sharp, medicinal mint.
- Leading note
- Cool peppermint
- Clear facets
- Mentholic
- Supporting facets
- Sweet herbaceous
- Faint facets
- Camphoraceous
- Character
- Cold, fresh, sharp
What makes Peppermint Oil distinctive
The cold mint: menthol's chill with a sweet herbal body beneath it.
How Peppermint Oil is used
Used in fresh, herbal and masculine compositions in small amounts, and widely in oral care and flavours.
Typical role: modifier (used in small amounts to change the character of a blend); lift (adds diffusion and radiance, especially at the top).
How Peppermint Oil differs from similar materials
- Spearmint Oil
- Spearmint is warm, sweet and herbaceous; peppermint is cold, sharp and medicinal. (compared directly by a cited source)
- Cornmint Oil
- Cornmint smells similar but often stronger and more menthol-heavy; it is cheaper and sometimes passed off as peppermint. (compared directly by a cited source)
- l-Menthol
- Menthol is the cold sensation alone; peppermint adds menthone's minty, woody-dry note and a sweet herbal body. (compared directly by a cited source)
- Menthone
- Menthone is the oil's minty, woody-dry note alone, with little of menthol's cold. (compared directly by a cited source)
- Isomenthone
- Isomenthone is a single minty, camphoraceous ketone; peppermint oil is the whole oil, with menthol's chill and a herbal body.
An asterisk marks a difference that a cited source states directly. The others compare the published descriptions of each material. Smell varies with grade, supplier and dilution; compare them side by side on blotters before substituting one for another.
Formulation considerations
Dominant; even small amounts read as toothpaste.
Identity and classification
- Type
- Essential oil
- Origin
- Natural
- Odour family
- Aromatic / Green
- Note position
- Top note
- Physical form at room temperature
- Liquid
- Botanical source
- Mentha × piperita L.
- CAS number
- 8006-90-4
The CAS number was checked on 19 October 2026 against a PubChem substance record that gives it for this material. A natural material is a mixture, so it has no single formula; its composition varies with origin and processing.
Safety and compliance
This page is general information, not a safety assessment or a specification. Confirm identity, composition, IFRA status and allergen content from your supplier's documents for the lot you hold.
Materials it works with
-
Spearmint Oil
Essential oil · Aromatic / Green — minty, sweet, fresh, herbal
-
Lime Oil (Expressed)
Essential oil · Citrus / Green — citrus, green, zesty, aromatic
-
Basil Oil
Essential oil · Aromatic / Spicy — herbal, green, aniseed, fresh
-
Cornmint Oil
Essential oil · Aromatic / Green — minty, cooling, sharp, herbal
-
Menthone
Aroma chemical · Aromatic / Green — minty, fresh, herbal, cooling
Peppermint Oil is also suggested as a partner on the pages for Eucalyptus Oil, Isopulegol, l-Menthol and Wintergreen Oil.
Used in formulas and accords
Used in 2 published formulas
Peppermint Oil is an ingredient in 1 perfume formula and 1 base in the Formula & Accord Library.
Community formulas
RUŌOD House Originals
Original compositions by RUŌOD House.
Further reading
Questions about Peppermint Oil
Is Peppermint Oil natural or synthetic?
Peppermint Oil is natural. It is a volatile oil obtained from plant material by steam distillation or, for citrus peels, by cold expression.
What is the CAS number of Peppermint Oil?
8006-90-4, the registry number for the essential oil as a substance rather than a single molecule. It was checked against PubChem on 19 October 2026.
Which published formulas use Peppermint Oil?
Peppermint Oil is used in 2 published formulas in the RUŌOD Lab Formula & Accord Library: Eau de Cologne Base and Steam Razor. Each is listed with a link under "Used in formulas and accords" on this page.
Sources
- PubChem — substance 439395380, checked 19 October 2026.
- The Good Scents Company — peppermint odour category — odour database.
- Premiere Peau — Peppermint — published perfumery reference.
- Premiere Peau — Spearmint — published perfumery reference.
- Olfactory profile: the RUŌOD Lab team's synthesis of the published descriptions above, reviewed 26 October 2026. Evidence: more than one published description. Classification and the short description: revision 1. Descriptions of odour are judgement, not measurement.