Mint

Each species of mint has its unique subtleties, but it’s their typical fresh and energising scent that brings them all together.

What is mint?
Mint is a genus of plants that includes many different herb species. Fast growing and quite resistant, anyone with a herb garden knows that mint will spread everywhere very quickly if left uncontained. This fast propagation has allowed the spontaneous and natural creation of many mint hybrids over the centuries. At Lush, we use a few of these varieties, such as peppermint (Mentha x piperita), wild mint (Mentha arvensis, also called Hakka in Japanese), and spearmint (Mentha spicata).

What are the common benefits of mints?
Most mints contain menthol, in different proportions. Menthol is an aromatic compound that gives the herbs their distinctive scent. The stronger the aroma, the higher the menthol content. Extracts such as essential oils contain a lot of it as they are very concentrated.

Not only it is super fragrant, but menthol also has great properties for the skin, scalp and mouth such as:
– Antimicrobial
– Analgesic (pain-relieving)
– Cooling
– Preventing or slowing hair loss
– Stimulating but soothing
– Freshening for the breath

It’s all in the nuances

To harness the power of menthol, Lush uses wild mint oil and lots of peppermint – fresh, dried, in oil or absolute form. With these species, our products get a strong minty scent and a stimulating effect on the body and mind. Spearmint, on the other hand, has a very different profile. Indeed, it does not contain menthol but has high levels of carvone and limonene, giving the oil a still minty, but also anise-like and sweet scent, with citrus notes.

Where does Lush source mint?
Depending on the type of mint, sourcing information may vary. To find out more about each of them, browse your Lush product’s list of ingredients and click on the ones you are interested in. This should take you to a page full of details!