Product Spotlight: Forest Mint

Looking for something new to add to your Organic collection? Look no further! Forest Mint, also known as Wild Mint and Horse Mint, is another time-honored medicinal plant with great healing power. Found all over the globe, along the edges of lakes and forests, it is a gift from the deep, moist soil of the woods. Let's jump right in!

What is Forest Mint?

Take a stroll through the edge of a lovely forest with Amrita’s Forest Mint. Forest Mint (mentha silvestris) is native to Europe and Asia, as well as parts of Africa and South America. Amrita’s Forest Mint is grown in the flat, river-filled expanses of farms in Albania. It is then gently steam-distilled, creating a golden-toned essential oil. It also has nasal clearing and mind refreshing properties.*Forest Mint has a bright, fresh, woody aroma reminiscent of Peppermint and Rosemary, with just a hint of Spearmint. This chill member of the mint family has the mind clarifying and skin cleansing properties of Peppermint without the sharpness of its scent.*

What are the Therapeutic Benefits of using Forest Mint?

If you lived in 17^th century England, chances are good that your family had a copy of Nicholas Culpeper’s widely popular The Complete Herbal folk medicine manual. Maybe your mother would have opened it up when family members had a cough or headache, nausea, stomach cramps or bad breath.* Since Peppermint is from the tropics, people of this time period enjoyed Forest Mint tea from native woodlands instead!

Culpeper, a Doctor and Apothecary, was committed to bringing medicine to the common people. He translated medical texts from Latin, and wrote in plain English for his countrymen. He inspired a generation of Puritans who, later in the 1600’s, brought his compilation of herbal wisdom to New England. Dr. Culpeper’s The Complete Herbal, a comprehensive catalog of plant remedies, is still in print today!

Forest Mint has been part of household medicine kits for hundreds of years. Taken in tea it helps coughs, colds, indigestion, nausea and headaches.* Culpeper even recommends it, with wine (in moderation of course!) for women in labor.* In a compress, it relieves wounds and swollen glands.*

How would you use Forest Mint?

For a soothing massage, mix 1-3% dilution (5-15 drops per tablespoon of carrier oil) with Jojoba or Hazelnut Carrier Oil and feel the blend soak into painful or spasming muscles and bruises.* If you’re feeling a bit worse for wear, Forest Mint can help you take deep, cleansing breaths.* In addition to the delicious nurturing we experience through massage, Forest Mint gives relief from those common aches and pains we all know too well!*

You can also apply Forest Mint topically, in a blend with a carrier oil, to the abdominal area to help stomach cramps and indigestion.* We all need to give our tummies some loving touch, and a gentle massage with the essence of Mother Nature’s comforting herbs amplifies healing!*

Forest Mint takes you to the wild forest, where Nature is always energized and whole.* If you are looking for an easier way to use Forest Mint, then look to Amrita’s skincare! Amrita’s Mint Facial Crème is ideal for nurturing blemished skin, and repairing gentle skin from the scourge of acne.* The antibacterial qualities of Forest Mint help restore your skin’s healthy, radiant glow.*

Continuing on the plan to detoxify and clarify your skin, try Amrita’s Healing Facial Serum and Healing Facial Mask.* Forest Mint, with its regenerative, soothing and balancing qualities, is part of these unique formulas for putting your best face forward!*

How to Blend with Forest Mint

There are several different options when using Forest Mint. If you have a fever, try blending it with Lemongrass in a carrier oil, and placing drops of the blend on your temples and collarbone.* Or, blend Forest Mint lightly with Lemon, like applying soothing cup of tea topically to your pulse points!* For relief from cough and to ease breathing, mix with Sweet Eucalyptus.* Forest Mint will soften the sharpness of Eucalyptus and give the added benefit of calming upset tummies.*

Here are a few DIY recipes for you to try in your nebulizer:

Well known and loved for centuries all over the world for its simple medicinal power, Forest Mint is an essential ingredient for your medicine cabinet. Whether you use it in a massage blend, diffuse it in your bedroom, or blend it with complimentary oils, you will feel a sweet connection with our ancestors who treasured this humble, healing plant.

Happy Blending!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.