WITHOUT MENTHOL

📋 Quick facts

Quick Facts:

• Category: other
• Also Known As: Sans menthol

Proven Benefits At A Glance:

• A 2026 study tested menthol mouth rinse on female futsal players exercising in hot conditions
• Menthol alone produced modest improvements in mean sprint speed but not peak sprint speed
• Menthol reduced fatigue index and perception of effort compared to placebo
• Neck cooling outperformed menthol for most performance measures
• Combining menthol with neck cooling was comparable to neck cooling alone for primary outcomes

📊 Comedogenicity

🛡️ Safety rating

Safety tier is a starting heuristic from regulatory status and comedogenic rating, not a dermatological verdict — see our Terms for the full disclaimer. Research confidence reflects how many real cited studies back this ingredient, not the strength of their findings.

🌍 Regulatory Status

💧 Skin Type Compatibility

⚠️ Don’t Combine With

📚 Research & Evidence

🔬 The Science

Research on menthol as a cooling strategy for athletes in heat is limited. One 2026 peer-reviewed study (IRCT87477) examined menthol mouth rinse in a specific context: 25 female futsal players performing repeated sprints in a hot-dry indoor environment (about 34°C). Here’s what the research found:

#1: Menthol modestly improved average sprint time versus placebo (p=0.045), but this effect was smaller than neck cooling alone. #2: Menthol did not improve best sprint time—performance on the player’s fastest sprint attempt was no different from placebo (p=1.000). #3: Menthol did reduce fatigue index (a measure of how much performance dropped across repeated efforts) compared to placebo, suggesting it may help maintain consistency during repeated efforts.

#4: Menthol lowered ratings of perceived exertion (RPE)—how hard the exercise *felt*—compared to placebo. #5: Menthol combined with neck cooling reduced sweat loss and thermal discomfort more than menthol alone, though neck cooling by itself was similarly effective for the main performance outcomes. Importantly, menthol did not change core body temperature or heart rate compared to placebo, meaning the benefits appear perceptual rather than based on actual deep-body cooling. The study was conducted in a specific population (hijab-wearing female athletes) in controlled heat, so generalizability to other groups or outdoor conditions is unclear. The research base on menthol for skincare or general cooling is not represented in these sources.

📄 Related Research

Matched by search — not necessarily verified support for every statement above.

• Jafari A et al. (2026). Neck cooling, with or without menthol mouth rinse, improves repeated-shuttle sprint performance and perceived thermal strain in hijab-wearing female futsal players in hot-dry indoor conditions. a peer-reviewed journal.

🧴 Products Containing WITHOUT MENTHOL