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Design Essentials

Peppermint & Aloe Soothing Scalp Tonic

Scalp treatment

  • Scalp treatment
  • Cruelty-free · PETA-listed
Size4 fl oz
Price$9–11 Good valuecommonly seen · 4 oz
Price / oz$2.50/ozat 4 oz
Where to buy4 stores · $8.99–12.00

Scent:

The ingredient list declares fragrance. What it smells of is not stated, and we do not guess.

“an aromatherapeutic scent that invigorates and calms the senses” — Brand page

Manufacturer page: designessentials.com

Personal fit

Is this right for you?

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  • Your goals, scalp, damage history, water, budget, and scent preferences all shape your plan.

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Lower cost than most scalp treatments

$2.50/oz at 4 oz — less than 87% of the 152 scalp treatments , which mostly run $3.22–20.64/oz.

Price and stores

Great for

Short ingredient listsfifteen ingredients or fewer
Tight budgetsit sits in the lower price tiers

Maybe skip if

this product carries a scent
Very dry or damaged hairit contains fast-drying alcohol

Whether this much richness is right for you depends on your strand thickness, porosity, and how easily your hair flattens — that is what the consultation works out.

What the formula actually does

Read from the label, not the marketing

Each row says where it comes from: F means we derived it from this product’s own ingredient list, S means it is a claim the brand makes that the formula neither confirms nor contradicts.

Slip and detangling Little

Nothing here is built to reduce combing force.

Oils and butters None

No oils or butters in the list.

Water-binding (humectants) None found

No humectants found — nothing here pulls water into the hair.

Needs detergent to remove No

Nothing here needs a detergent wash to remove.

from the formula stated by the brand reported by reviewers Scale: 1 dot low · 5 dots high, within this product type.

Ingredients that matter

The ingredients that change a decision

The workhorse ingredients plus anything lower down that changes a decision. These chips name what an ingredient does — they are not safety scores, and no ingredient here is rated good or bad on its own.

IngredientWhat it doesWhy it mattersChip
Alcohol Denat.Alcohol drying alcohol Speeds drying — and can read dry on the hair Drying
Hydroxypropyl Guar gum Natural hold and clump definition Holds
Camphor fragrance The scent — a large share of the formula at this position Fragrance
Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil botanical extract A trace plant extract Fragrance
Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Flower Oil — — Neutral
Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil botanical extract A trace plant extract Fragrance
Eugenol fragrance The scent Fragrance
Fd&C Yellow 5 colourant Colours the product, not the hair Neutral
What the list leaves out, and what it carriesFast-drying alcohol is in the list.
Full ingredient list (10)

US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order. Annotations keep three readings separate: the ingredient's general function, its role in this product type, and what its position can support.

  • 1 Alcohol Denat. · Alcohol
    General function

    Fast-drying alcohol used to make sprays set quickly. In leave-on products it can leave hair feeling dry, especially in high position on the list.

    Leading ingredient

    Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.

    May suitFine or easily flattened hair

    Evaporates on contact, which is how a spray sets almost instantly and leaves no weight behind it.

    May not suitDry, coarse, or high-porosity hair

    Porous hair gives water up easily as it is; a fast-evaporating solvent high on the list accelerates that.

    May not suitVery dry or highly damaged hair

    It evaporates quickly and takes some water with it. On hair already short of moisture, a formula built on a lot of it can finish drier than it started.

    PubChem
    • drying alcohol
    • solvent
  • 2 Hydroxypropyl Guar
    General function

    A modified guar gum used to thicken and give a slippery, cushioned feel.

    Leading ingredient

    Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.

    May suitCurls or waves needing flexible hold

    Gums thicken and set soft, which gives definition that bends rather than a rigid cast.

    May suitMaximum-hold styling

    A styling polymer dries into a film across the strands, which is what makes a shape hold instead of relax.

    • gum
    • thickener
    • polymer
  • 3 Camphor
    General function

    Produces a cooling, medicinal sensation on the scalp and contributes scent.

    Leading ingredient

    Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.

    May not suitFragrance-sensitive routines

    Declared fragrance. On a fragrance-sensitive routine this is the line that decides it, wherever it sits on the label.

    PubChem
    • fragrance
    • active
  • ▾Below about this point, order stops being meaningful — these are typically used at 1% or less.
  • 4 Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil
    General function

    Peppermint essential oil, used for scent and the cooling feeling on the scalp.

    Estimated lower-concentration zone

    It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

    May not suitFragrance-sensitive routines

    Essential oils are fragrance. Several carry constituents on the EU list of declared fragrance allergens, so a label with no fragrance line can still be a scented product.

    • botanical extract
    • essential oil
    • fragrance
  • 5 Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Flower Oil
  • 6 Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil
    General function

    Tea tree essential oil, used in scalp products for its sharp scent and traditional clarifying reputation.

    Estimated lower-concentration zone

    It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

    May not suitFragrance-sensitive routines

    Essential oils are fragrance. Several carry constituents on the EU list of declared fragrance allergens, so a label with no fragrance line can still be a scented product.

    • botanical extract
    • essential oil
    • fragrance
  • 7 Eugenol
    General function

    A clove-scented fragrance component listed separately as a recognised allergen.

    Estimated lower-concentration zone

    It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

    May not suitFragrance-sensitive routines

    One of the 26 scent components the EU requires to be named individually above a threshold. It is named because it is a known contact allergen, not because it is unusual.

    PubChem
    • fragrance
    • named fragrance allergen
  • 8 Fd&C Yellow 5
    • colourant
  • 9 FD&C Blue 1
  • 10 Sodium Benzoate
    • preservative

What the whole list adds up to

  • 4 fragrances
  • 2 botanical extracts
  • 2 essential oils
  • 1 drying alcohol
  • 1 solvent
  • 1 gum
  • 1 thickener
  • 1 polymer
  • 1 active
  • 1 named fragrance allergen
  • 1 colourant
  • 1 preservative

Ingredient list captured 2026-09-12. Formulas change — check the package in your hand when an ingredient matters to you.

Price · 4 oz

Commonly seen $9–11 Midpoint $9.99 · 3 stores · checked Sep 12
Good value under $31 Under $7.78/oz it costs less than three-quarters of the 8 products we score as doing the same job

Usually a good value. Most stores sell it under the $31 line, and products that do this job typically go for about $65 at this size.

Show the price ladder
Where we’ve seen it4 listings · 4 stores

Sorted by price per ounce. Dated observations from our research, not live prices. Direct store pages, no affiliate links. We don’t sell this product.

How we work this out
  1. 4 oz is the size stores list most often; every comparison on this page is made at it. Other sizes are shown in the Sizes row and the store list.
  2. Commonly seen is the middle half of current prices for the 4 oz at recognised stores — the cheapest quarter and the dearest quarter are left out, so one sale or one overpriced listing can’t move it.
  3. Good value under $31 comes from the 8 products we score as doing the same job as this one. A quarter of them cost less than $7.78/oz; at 4 oz that is $31. Under that line you are paying less than most of them.
  4. About $65 is what those same products typically cost at this size — the midpoint of their prices per ounce, scaled to 4 oz.

Formula

Formula score
0 of 10

It costs less per ounce than most scalp treatments, and the formula leaves out conditioning agents up front — which is part of what a scalp treatment is normally built around.

How the score is counted
  • 1 products we score as doing the same job cost less per ounce
  • Costs less per ounce than 87% of the 152 scalp treatments we’ve priced
  • No conditioning agents up front in the formula
  • No oils or butters in the working zone either
  • Conditioning agents up frontWhat makes wet hair comb through.3 pts
  • Oils or butters in the working zoneSoftens the strand rather than just coating it.2 pts
  • Slip for detanglingReduces the force it takes to comb wet hair.2 pts
  • A humectantBinds water into the hair.1 pt
  • A pH adjusterBrings the formula to the acidic pH hair prefers.1 pt
  • Fragrance kept out of the top eightScent as a finishing touch, not a major share.1 pt

The formula score is completeness for the job: the share of the systems this product type is normally built around that we can find in this list, weighted. It is not efficacy, not quality, and it never compares across product types.

Does the same job, for less

Same derived functions — what it cleans, conditions, coats or holds — at a lower cost per ounce. Scent, texture and where you buy it can still differ.

Taliah WaajidLowest cost per oz Hair & Scalp Oil With Vitamin E $1.25/oz $1.25/oz less
  • Budget
· Close function
Differs
  • 8 oz bottle
Compare

See more alternatives in the product library

These are functional neighbours, not personal recommendations — they are close on formula, not chosen for anyone. Get the one that fits your hair, routine, and budget

Suits every hair pattern

Final decision

Should you buy it?

Good for the right person
Best user

People who prefer a short ingredient list — for fewer ingredients to react to and a lower-priced option

Biggest tradeoff

Less suited to anyone sensitive to fragrance or very dry or high-damage hair

Best alternative if not

Taliah Waajid Hair & Scalp Oil With Vitamin E — for similar results at a lower price

We do not sell products or take placement fees. This page states what the formula and the prices show; the consultation is what matches it to a person.

Claims check

What the brand says, against what the formula shows

Claims are quoted from the brand. We only mark one supported, partly supported, or conflicting when the ingredient list actually speaks to it; everything else stays "stated by the brand", which is not a criticism — most claims simply cannot be read off a label.

0
SupportedBacked by ingredients
0
Partly supportedSome supporting logic
1
Stated by brandNo clear evidence
0
Potential conflictFormula works against claim
invigorates and calms the scalp

This is a marketing claim; an ingredient list cannot speak to it.

—

Stated by brand

Can’t be confirmed from label.

How to read this

We look at the first 10–15 ingredients and what they do in a formula — not marketing. If the list doesn't speak to a claim, we don't assume.

Reviewers

What people report

Recurring themes our researchers wrote in their own words from sourced reviews. We do not store or scrape star ratings.

Several customers report the product works well for protective styles like braids and twists, helping to maintain scalp health while hair is in protective styling

customers using product with protective hairstyles

Customers consistently praise the invigorating peppermint sensation and pleasant scent that makes the product feel refreshing and therapeutic to apply

customers describing sensory experience and application feel

Multiple reviewers report significant relief from scalp itching and irritation, including those with conditions like scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis

customers describing therapeutic scalp relief

Some customers report the product initially soothes but causes delayed itching or does not effectively treat severe scalp conditions like dandruff or psoriasis

customers noting limitations or delayed side effects

More from Design Essentials

How this page was made

  • Everything above is generated from our researched product record — identity, the ingredient list as printed, the brand's own claims, dated price observations, and review themes written in our researchers' own words. No part of this page is written per product.
  • The value band is a fixed label over two stored numbers: this product’s cost per ounce as a percentile of every product of this type we have priced, each at the size it is most often sold in, and how many products we score as doing the same job cost at least a quarter less per ounce.
  • Both scores out of ten are defined on this page. The formula score is completeness for the job, computed from a fixed per-format checklist shown beneath the gauge; the price score is cost per ounce against every product of this type we have priced.
  • The "Is this right for you?" panel reads only your own consultation answers, and it applies exactly the filters our recommendation engine applies. It is computed when you load the page and is never stored on it.
  • 4 sources consulted for this product (0 manufacturer or regulatory, 1 retailer, 3 editorial), last checked 2026-09-12.
  • Ingredient references are linked for 3 of 6 product-aware annotations on this page. Fit notes are conditional formulation guidance, not a conclusion about the finished product or about you.
  • We have not tested this product in a lab and we do not physically test your hair. Formula readings come from the ingredient list; behaviour claims are labelled as the brand's.
  • Ingredient order tells you relative amount only above roughly 1%. Prices are observations on the dates shown and change without notice.
  • Ingredient names link to our ingredient library, where each entry shows what it does, which product types use it, and where it usually sits on a label across everything we have researched.
  • This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
  • Formula readings: derivation v22. Record last updated 2026-09-12.

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