ZenGest Softgels food supplement dōTERRA | 60 softgels

A natural hybrid of water mint and spearmint, peppermint is grown for its high menthol and menthone content. Menthol is what produces the immediate sensation of freshness, whether the oil is diffused or applied to the skin.

dōTERRA distils it in Madagascar from fresh, undried rhizomes, which preserves a rounder aromatic profile. The zingiberene it contains brings that recognisable spiced warmth, at once pungent and sweet. It is the ingredient that gives the blend its comforting character.

A biennial of the European and Asian countryside, already prized by the Romans. Its carvone gives a warm aroma, somewhere between aniseed and rye bread, with real depth. It lays down the base note on which the other spices settle.

Its eight-pointed, star-shaped fruits dry in the sun before being distilled. The anethole they contain gives that immediately recognisable liquorice aroma, sweet and enveloping. It brings a sweetness that tempers the brightest oils.

The leaves are the better-known part in cooking, but it is the seeds that are distilled here. Their linalool gives a soft note, faintly floral and woody, a long way from the sharpness of the leaf. In a blend it acts as a binder: it softens the spices and keeps the whole from turning too biting.