How to Make an Essential Oil

Peppermint Essential Oil

You will need:
• Peppermint
• Two-piece distillation kit• Ice water
• Small container
• Pipette
• Carrier oil
• Dark tinted bottle

Instructions:
The easiest way to make your own essential oil at home is through steam distillation. You’ll need a two-piece distillation kit. It’s easy to find one online for about $100 which should pay for itself rather fast, as buying essential oils can get quite expensive.

What you do is put your washed plant material, in this case peppermint, inside the big pot and cover it with water. It should be submerged, but only slightly. Secure it with the lid so no steam gets out except through this small valve. 

You then connect the smaller pot to the steam valve and place it on the stove. As the plant material boils, it will generate steam which will go through here and all the way through this coil. Because we’ll put ice water in here that steam will condense, turning from gas back to liquid only this time carrying with it the precious peppermint oil we’re after. At this point, you can probably begin to see the oil starting to form at the surface.

After about 20 minutes or so, you’ll have one or two glasses of water with the oil in a very thin layer on top. What you do next is take a pipette and gently gather the oil and place it in a smaller container. Then, use the same pipette to remove the water, which will stay at the
bottom as oil always floats to the surface. Repeat until all you have left is your essential oil.

Mix 7 to 15 drops of essential peppermint oil to a fluid ounce of carrier oil, depending on how strong you want it. Then, store it in a dark-tinted bottle away from sunlight to preserve its potency.

The process you go through is very much the same for any other essential oil including these other two – Lavender and Chamomile – which, besides Peppermint oil, I make sure to never run out of.

Lavender essential oil is great for anxiety, fungal infections, allergies, depression, insomnia, eczema, nausea, and menstrual cramps.

You can use Chamomile oil for inflammation and pain relief and for other conditions such as back pain, neuralgia, or even arthritis. Simply rub a few drops of it on your skin. I recommend German Chamomile as it’s been shown to be the more potent one.

Something not many people know is that this water that’s left after the essential oil is taken out is also useful. It’s called hydrosol. It shares many of the same properties as the essential oil, but it’s less concentrated and has a softer scent. Because of that, you can safely use it without diluting it. I like to put this in a spray bottle and use it as a Peppermint scalp mist to stimulate hair growth. You can use it for many other things too.

Dosing Instructions (for adults and children)

Apply a generous amount to the scalp and hair, ensuring the entire length of the hair is covered. Massage gently for a few minutes. Leave on for at least an hour or overnight for deeper conditioning. Wash off with a mild shampoo. Use 1-2 times a week for best results.

How Long Essential Oils Last and How to Store These Properly

Essential oils usually last for a few years and they do not go bad in the same way food does, for example. They do, however, change over time through a process called oxidation. That’s when the oil comes into contact with oxygen, ultraviolet light, or heat.

Keeping your oils in dark tinted dropper bottles and away from heat and sunlight extends their shelf-life. For the peppermint oil, I’ve just made keeping it like that will make it last for around 4 years.

The way you can tell your oil has oxidized is that the smell of the oil has changed, the color has changed, or it has become cloudy. If that happens, just throw it out and make a new
batch.