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Glossary
Peppermint oil
The skin reports cold, the thermometer sees nothing. That difference is the whole game, and right away the reason to be careful with this.
What is peppermint oil?
Peppermint oil is the volatile oil from the peppermint plant, Mentha × piperita. In sensation play it gets used on the skin because there it gives a sharp, cold and at the same time burning feeling that lasts for minutes. The Farmacotherapeutisch Kompas lists among its components menthol, pulegone, and menthofuran.
| What it is | volatile oil from Mentha × piperita, with menthol as the active component |
| What it does | stimulates the cold receptor of the skin; nothing actually gets colder |
| How it is used | diluted in a neutral carrier oil, on the trunk, back, or buttocks |
| Where it does not belong | mucous membranes, eyes, genitals, and the anus |
| Removing | with a neutral oil or a dry cloth; water spreads it rather than taking it off |
| Close family | candle wax, ice cubes, figging |
Why it feels cold without being cold
Because menthol flips the switch that cold normally flips.
Menthol works on TRPM8, the channel the skin registers cold with. In 2006 Proudfoot and colleagues established that menthol works as a painkiller through that same channel, and that can be read back in a review in Engineering in Life Sciences. The result is a sensation without an event: the skin reports cold while nothing cools down. Breathe over it, or an air current passing by, and the feeling shoots up.
That same review names a second property that is less innocent in the bedroom. Menthol makes the skin more permeable to whatever you smear on it: in one experiment the uptake of another substance rose about seventeenfold once 1.95 percent menthol was added. So anything you mix with this oil goes deeper.
What to watch for
Mucous membranes are the limit, and that limit is not negotiable.
How hard that lands can be read off something harmless. The Farmacotherapeutisch Kompas lists, for the ordinarily swallowed capsules, a burning feeling around the anus as a side effect that occurs in one to ten percent of users. That is after the detour through the gastrointestinal tract. Applying it directly is another order.
Beyond that, the American NCCIH reports skin rash and irritation as side effects of peppermint oil on the skin, and the Kompas records allergic reactions to menthol, from an erythematous rash to anaphylactic shock. So always dilute in a carrier oil, first test a small spot on the forearm, and stay away from the eyes: this is a volatile oil, so the vapor travels along.
Where this fits on this site
Sensation play with warm and cold belongs with what can happen during a BDSM date; what we use and what we skip, we agree beforehand.
Sources
- Pepermuntolie. Farmacotherapeutisch Kompas, Zorginstituut Nederland. The Dutch standard for medicine information. Provides the composition (Menthae piperitae aetheroleum, with among others menthol, pulegone, and menthofuran), the side-effect profile of the enteric-coated capsules with “burning feeling around the anus” in the common category (1 to 10 percent), and the reported allergic reactions to menthol: headache, bradycardia, muscle tremors, ataxia, anaphylactic shock, and erythematous skin rash.
- Peppermint Oil: Usefulness and Safety. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health. Government information based on published research. Provides that peppermint oil appears safe in the usual doses when taken and when used on the skin, that skin rash and irritation are the side effects of applying it to the skin, and that menthol does not belong on the face of infants or young children because it can affect their breathing.
- Menthol and Its Derivatives: Exploring the Medical Application Potential. Engineering in Life Sciences 25(9), e70039, 2025 (DOI 10.1002/elsc.70039, open access). Review article on menthol and its derivatives. Provides that menthol works as a painkiller through activation of the TRPM8 receptor, established by Proudfoot and colleagues in 2006, and the experimental result in which 1.95 percent L-menthol raised the skin’s uptake of quercetin about seventeenfold, because menthol loosens the skin barrier.
Related terms
- Candle wax. The same branch of play but with real warmth, and so with a real burn risk.
- Ice cubes. Real cold, whose signal peppermint oil only imitates.
- Figging. The other plant-based agent that burns, with the exact opposite placement.
- Abrasion. Scraping instead of stimulating, and why damaged skin should not get this kind of oil.
- Pinwheel. A mechanical stimulus on the same skin, and the tool you do not roll over it after this oil.
- Aftercare. Why you want something neutral on hand after this kind of play.
- Chemical play. The branch peppermint oil is a member of, with the other substances that open a temperature channel.
- Sensation play. The umbrella this oil falls under, with the rest of the stimuli alongside it.
- Temperature play. The practice with real warmth and cold in it, against the cold that peppermint oil only makes the skin report.
Frequently asked questions
What people still ask about peppermint oil.
What does peppermint oil do to the skin?
It gives a sharp, cold and at the same time burning feeling that lasts for minutes, without anything actually cooling down. The menthol in the oil stimulates TRPM8, the channel the skin registers cold with. An air current or a breath over it makes the feeling stronger right away.
Where should peppermint oil not go?
Not on mucous membranes, not near the eyes, and not on genitals or the anus. The Farmacotherapeutisch Kompas even lists a burning feeling around the anus as a side effect of the swallowed capsules, so after the whole detour through the gastrointestinal tract. Always dilute in a carrier oil and first test a small spot on the forearm.
Who can you turn to with questions about peppermint oil?
Victor, a gigolo, twenty-five years in BDSM and trained as a psychotherapist. On what does and does not belong on skin and how you alternate warm and cold, he is glad to think along. You can ask with no obligation through the contact form, or you first chat for free.
Related service
Warm and cold during a BDSM date
Play with temperature and sensation belongs with what can happen during an evening. What we use and what we skip, we agree beforehand. The service page covers how that preparation goes.
Learn more
Still have questions about sensation play?
I'm Victor. What does and does not belong on skin, how you alternate warm and cold, and where the limit sits: write whenever you like and I'll think it through with you. It costs nothing and you're not committing to anything.