peppermint oil wow!

[CCS]

Patagonia, you got to use it on just one side until you see a difference. It is the only way to know. I know lavender should help, just a question of how much. So I use it on both sides.

About the pharm people, do they just base it off body results, or did they do scalp hair? Maybe they took human scalp hair with FUE and put it on mice. Problem is the mice must have no immune system for that to work, and no immune often results in hair growth by itself.

 

[Newbaldy84]

ok bad news guys. I am stopping peppermint oil as of today. It has the same exact effect on my stomach. It makes my stomach growl I have to pee more often same as when I used flutamide. Conclusion: Natural doesn't mean safe

 

[ali777]

There is a quote from an article in the forum that states spearmint may be an anti-androgen if drunk as a tea. Is peppermint oil along the same lines as well??

I've been drinking 2-3 spearmint and peppermint teas a day for a while now. It's supposed to clean my system, etc. I'm not sure if it the stress of work, but I don't feel very horny since I started drinking mint tea. I think I'm over-analysing it :dunno: .

 

[Tdevil]

There is a quote from an article in the forum that states spearmint may be an anti-androgen if drunk as a tea. Is peppermint oil along the same lines as well??

It should be. I think peppermint is actually a hybrid of spearmint and some other plant.

 

[JLL]

There is a quote from an article in the forum that states spearmint may be an anti-androgen if drunk as a tea. Is peppermint oil along the same lines as well??

I've been drinking 2-3 spearmint and peppermint teas a day for a while now. It's supposed to clean my system, etc. I'm not sure if it the stress of work, but I don't feel very horny since I started drinking mint tea. I think I'm over-analysing it :dunno: .

I think I read a study where drinking peppermint tea resulted in lower libido. Nothing permanent, but it might lower testosterone levels or something.

 

[goata007]

I don't base my opinion on believes. You will miss a lot in life If you will keep that state of mind. I based it on the facts and what I see. The same exact effect I got from flutamide on my beard. As for your second concern about my sexuality ....my beard is very thick and antiandrogens make it easier to shave and reduce 5 o'clock shadow so you look clean shaven. The hair is still growing.
I started today using it on my head will keep you guys updated.

I'm want to slow my beard growth as well - really hate the 5 o'clock shadow. How old are you? and how thick is your beard? Also, how long did it take for the peppermint to slow the beard growth & thin it? I have thick beard and want it thin BUT don't wanna end up with patchy beard or very thin beard.

 

[Guest]

ok bad news guys. I am stopping peppermint oil as of today. It has the same exact effect on my stomach. It makes my stomach growl I have to pee more often same as when I used flutamide. Conclusion: Natural doesn't mean safe

Is that it then? So peppermint is no good? It has the opposite effect to what we want? I am confused, non scalp hair slowed down in growth but then you say it makes it grow.

 

[patagonia]

There is a quote from an article in the forum that states spearmint may be an anti-androgen if drunk as a tea. Is peppermint oil along the same lines as well??

I've been drinking 2-3 spearmint and peppermint teas a day for a while now. It's supposed to clean my system, etc. I'm not sure if it the stress of work, but I don't feel very horny since I started drinking mint tea. I think I'm over-analysing it :dunno: .

ali,

I _don`t _ think your imagining things.
If I remember correctly Michael barry commented on this exact thing happening to mint tea drinkers in some other country.... they reported some of the effects you seem to observe on yourself. appears to lower T levels.

I drink a few cups of black tea a day and have the opposite effect you have with mint tea...

became interested in it after the study M.Barry posted where there was a significant reduction in DHT levels on mice that where given black tea to drink.

"drinking black tea instead of water inhibited 72% of serum DHT on average in 16 mice. It increased serum testosterone by 34% in them on average"

http://www.gourmetstylewellness.com/interac...=48579&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=black+tea

 

[Guest]

I have read many comments from females who said drinking a couple of spearmint teas a day has fixed their minor to medium hirsutism (excess body hair) within a week because it lowers testosterone (but only free testosterone). In males, if there is less free testosterone in the body, there should be less DHT.

I'm guessing if spearmint can help with hirsutism and maybe baldness in men, peppermint could have results, although these results would be lower since peppermint is a hybrid of watermint and spearmint.

 

[Hecfield]

Is that it then? So peppermint is no good? It has the opposite effect to what we want? I am confused, non scalp hair slowed down in growth but then you say it makes it grow.

Anti-androgens inhibit body hair whilst encouraging scalp hair. The response to hair attained during or after puberty is basically the inverse of scalp hair. How good peppermint oil is at that isn't studied.

There is a guy on HLH who is claiming to have had good results of converting scalp vellus hairs into terminal hairs using a product called Virgin Hair Fertiliser, which is marketed to help traction alopecia in African originated women. That has peppermint in it, and its dead cheap. I've bought some, but its greasy as hell so I only apply it once or twice a week the night before I know I'm going to wash my hair. Doesn't smell great either.

 

[Guest]

Is that it then? So peppermint is no good? It has the opposite effect to what we want? I am confused, non scalp hair slowed down in growth but then you say it makes it grow.

Anti-androgens inhibit body hair whilst encouraging scalp hair. The response to hair attained during or after puberty is basically the inverse of scalp hair. How good peppermint oil is at that isn't studied.

There is a guy on HLH who is claiming to have had good results of converting scalp vellus hairs into terminal hairs using a product called Virgin Hair Fertiliser, which is marketed to help traction alopecia in African originated women. That has peppermint in it, and its dead cheap. I've bought some, but its greasy as hell so I only apply it once or twice a week the night before I know I'm going to wash my hair. Doesn't smell great either.

I will look into it, thanks. I drink peppermint tea, thats about it as far as peppermint goes.

 

[michael barry]

I seen this thread by a google fluke.


I was thinking about peppermint again, and how I'd like to test its effect on sebacous gland output.


I just pulled some sebutape strips off my forehead, hoping to see big fluridil result. There is -some- lesser size in the dots of sebum, but you have to look close. I swear that it seems to have had a bigger effect LAST week. Its been close to two weeks with the stuff. Ive been sweating some in the yard and at the gym...........maybe thats interefered with it. Even if that was it, Im not going to stop excercising and enjoying being outside. This is a dissapointing result.


Just about everything Ive tried with the sebutape has worked "a little", but nothing has really made a big difference in the amount of sebum secreted in 20, 30, or more minutes after "defatting" the skin (getting all the sebum off and starting off with dry skin before applying the tape) beforehand. Ive given everything at least 7 days to work before the first "test", based on Liang and Lau giving topical EGCG 6 days on the human forehead secretion test (they got a 70% reduction).



That got me thinking about peppermint again. I KNOW that stuff is anti-andrognenic. Ive seen it on my own face big time, and apparently another poster in this thread has also. I'd like to see how much sebum-reduction there would be with peppermint. So, Im going to order some and try it. I'll report back here with the results. If I get a "wow" result, I'll try and take a picture of the strips. Ive not gotten a "wow" result with anything via the strips yet though.




Ive noted one of the component parts of mentha piperta (the formal word for peppermint) is limonene. Believe it or not there is a hairloss patent for the usage of limonene as an alpha-five reductase inhibitor. There is another patent for the extraction of perillyl alcohol from limonene. Perillyl alcohol has been shown to degrade androgen receptors.
Limonene is presnet (in varying quantities) in several of the old essential oils that you see mentioned in "old" hairloss remedies like rosemary, lavender, sage, etc. Its also in orange and lemon oil and a few others. Ive seen limonene in L'Oreal Thickening shampoo, Alpecin shampoo, Garnier Fructis Fortifying shampoo and one other shampoo whose name I cant recall. It makes you wonder.

On Peppermint..........................I'd love to, and want to believe that its a great anti-androgen with no suppressive effect on hair, but I have to wonder that since its in so many shampoos...............................why isn't some sort of hair-growing effect noted with them. Maybe it does as much bad as it does good? Its in American Crew Thickening Shampoo, Tricomin Shampoo, Alpecin shampoo (as menthol), Jason's Tea Tree Shampoo, American Crew Citrus Mint Shampoo, Nioxin Shampoo, Paul Mitchell Tea Tree shampo, and several others. The "menthol" content of peppermint is extremely high. Spearmint has less than 1% menthol, but still has limonene. Spearmint was in one hairloss shampoo out of England a while back that was sold at Lipoxidil.



There really is no way to tell. If any of you used peppermint oil/water to reduce some unwanted body hair......................I'd only mix it up at a 1/40 ratio or less. That would be *plenty* strong enough. The right half of my beard, ,about two years later, still......if you look close......isn't quite as thick as the left. Thats what makes me wonder about it.

 

[Guest]

I always find your posts intresting Michael Barry, thanks and keep us updated in the future like I know you will.

 

[chore boy]

Too bad they're not more specific with which type of hair (scalp, beard, torso, etc - though they kinda suggest beard) but I stumbled upon this by accident and found it interesting. I've been using peppermint during my shampooing for the last month or so and have noticed that it signifigantly retards sebum secretion on my scalp and face (along with slower beard growth)... but also thought my "donor areas" appeared to be growing slower, as well. Although initially spooked by the slow growth in my donor areas, I've continued using it and could swear that the flesh-colored, diffuse balding area that is my head has appeared to be getting darker, equaling some type of ground gaining, I'd assume.

This article suggests to me that maybe the potent anti-androgen properties of peppermint might be the cause of the perception of slower hair growth on the sides of my head... or would that not be the case because peppermint inhibits 5ar (resulting in reduced sebum secretion) and is not an anti-androgen? I don't know...

-----------------------------

Effects of Sex Steroid Deprivation/Administration on Hair Growth and Skin Sebum Production in Transsexual Males and Females
E. J. Giltay and L. J. G. Gooren
Research Institute for Endocrinology, Reproduction and Metabolism, University Hospital Vrije Universiteit, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Address correspondence and requests for reprints to: Erik J. Giltay, M.D., Department of Endocrinology, Division of Andrology, University Hospital Vrije Universiteit, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: giltay@dds.nl.

To investigate androgen effects on the skin pilosebaceous unit, we studied 21 male-to-female transsexuals and 17 female-to-male transsexuals receiving cross-sex hormones. At baseline and after 4, 8, and 12 months, hair growth was evaluated by the Ferriman-Gallwey score; acne by the Leeds classification; hair growth rate, density, and shaft diameter by image analysis; and sebum production by Sebutape. In males, estrogens and antiandrogens reduced plasma testosterone to below 1.0 nmol/L. Though all parameters of hair growth and sebum production declined, facial hair growth continued. After 4 months, the decrease in shaft diameter had reached its maximum and seemed inversely associated with changes in hair growth length and density. In females, testosterone increased hair growth rate and sebum production. After 12 months, hairs on the cheek and abdomen had not yet reached diameters found in males. 5-Androstane-3,17ß-diol glucuronide levels were only weakly associated with hair growth and sebum production. In conclusion, administration of estrogens and antiandrogens affects length and diameter of hairs at different rates. In the virtual absence of androgens, hair growth continues but at a slower rate. In women, after 12 months of androgen administration, hair diameters have not reached values of adult men.



http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/conten ... /85/8/2913

 

[CCS]

I had no idea that a natural oil could work so well. I apply it to my beard and get the same results as with flutamide when it comes to thinning my beard and slowing hair growth. AMAZING. I hope I won't get systemic effects like I did with flutamide. BUt wow I am impressed.

Do you use essential oil or regular peppermint oil?

 

[CCS]

I had no idea that a natural oil could work so well. I apply it to my beard and get the same results as with flutamide when it comes to thinning my beard and slowing hair growth. AMAZING. I hope I won't get systemic effects like I did with flutamide. BUt wow I am impressed.

a while ago when M. Barry posted his peppermint oil experiment, I started using lots of it.... in a mix with other oils as a leave on topical for a couple hours a day... mixed with shampoos etc... and to my best appreciation it reduced the ammount of hair id see fall per day..... plus I loved the tingling feeling and clean smell of it....

but..... as soon as the epilatory issues of it came out...I stoped using it... too bad. I would really like some proof its safe for hair.

I used it in my shampoo for a few months. I did not notice anything bad.

 

[CCS]

You can buy limonene cheap. It is $35 per gallon for d-limonene, which is from citrus oil. l-limonene has a pine smell, and I think is the stuff in peppermint oil. I'm trying to find where to get it. Obviously the citrus stuff would be much cheaper since lots of peels are thrown away anyway.

 

[CCS]

Limonene constitutes about 322 varieties in plants, most notably citrus. If you were to buy Limonene either natural or synthetic you would be getting a mixture of L-Limonene and D-Limonene. This is the way it occurs in man’s laboratory and nature’s laboratory. These molecules are mirror images of one another left handed limonene (L- Limonene) and right handed limonene (D -Limonene) It is a hard to believe that molecules as similar as your two hands could be so different, but they are very different.

They smell different and taste different, but more importantly D-Limonene (The right handed one) is the industrial twin and the L-Limonene (the left handed one) is the medicinal twin.

D-Limonene is a popular industrial cleanser, degreaser and tire solvent (for recycling tires). D-Limonene is a powerful promoter of free radicals and is known to increase the likelihood of birth effects, but more importantly it blocks the beneficial effects of L-Limonene and other chiral essences in nature, many of which are lifesaving and life giving. L-Limonene can prevent the growth of cancer, suppresses the production of gall stones, reduces the risk and progression of Alzheimer’s, enhances memory, is a powerful anti-viral in the body, is anti-fungal and is a good sedative. Therefore using the twin Limonene as they occur in nature and in the lab is risky.

You don't want the lemon peel stuff. You want pure l-limonene. The limon smell is strong, so the peppermint only has one. Just an issue of what else in peppermint is so bad. I think I'll look into speariment.

 

[CCS]

synthetic forms are mixed. Natural forms are d-limonene in fruits, and l-limonene in pine and mint oils. l-limonene is what you want.

I saw a chromatagram of spearmint oil, and l-limonene was one of many peaks. It looked like 3%. Lavender has some too.

 

[CCS]

In oils of Siwa mint cultivated in the different locations, carvone was the main constituent; its content ranged between 42.23 and 57.61%, while limonene came in the second rank ranging between 26.15 and 34.83%. In contrast, oil of spearmint collected from the local market (grown in Cairo) was characterized by higher carvone (73.18%) and lower limonene (5.00%) contents. Siwa mint is a distinguishable type of spearmint regarding its oil content and composition.


pretty close. I eyeballed 3% looking at the peaks. It says here 5%. Damn I'm good.

But we want the Siwa mint. Good luck buying something so specific. Next I'm looking at peppermint.