Rose Essential Oil and Aromatherapy
My childhood favourite, no flower can quite come close to the queen of flowers for beauty and fragrance. From tea roses to wild ramblers and show-stopping floribundas, roses just can’t be beaten. Few things surpass an afternoon wandering around David Austin’s rose garden, but for me it’s not just the beauty or fragrance that I love about roses; it’s the fact they’re so incredibly therapeutic, with a myriad of benefits for body, mind and spirit…
As an essential oil, rose is very underrated. It tends to get dismissed as just a sweet smelling oil, but it has so many other benefits. There is just something so wonderfully nurturing about rose; it’s uplifting nature helps to fight depression, stress and anxiety. In my mind, it’s the perfect oil to use if you’re feeling a bit blue, or work/family issues just seem to be getting on top of you. Try dabbing a few drops onto your pulse points or solar plexus, or adding them to an oil burner.
When you’re buying rose essential oil, do look out for rose otto, rather than rose absolute. Rose otto is steam distilled, while rose absolute may have been extracted using solvents. Our rose otto is diluted in jojoba oil, which is very close in PH to your skin’s natural oils, making it ideal to use if you’re creating your own facial oils or perfume oils. This fragrant oil comes from the damascena rose and we source it direct from Bulgaria’s ‘Rose Valley’, whose rose otto is acclaimed as amongst the best in the world.
Roses for skincare
Rose oil is often used in skincare products, though again do check that yours includes rose otto for the highest quality. Rose otto is well known for its ability to target fine lines and wrinkles, tone and soften skin and ease inflammation. It is a beauty treatment in a bottle! Our Replenishing Rose Face Cream combines rose otto with other skin elixirs, including rosehip oil, raspberry and pomegranate for potent skin nourishment.
While roses are often the star of the show, they can also play a valuable supporting role. At Akamuti, I tend to add rose otto or rosehip oil to a product whenever I get the chance! You’ll even find powdered rose petals in our Chocolate Marshmallow Face Mask.
Rose otto is a natural antiseptic, so it’s worth keeping a bottle to hand just to treat spots and grazes.
Rosewater is also extremely beneficial for skin. It makes a great toner, very calming to the skin, and surprisingly effective on blemishes. Ours is organic, and 100% pure – free from alcohol, additives and preservatives. We love to keep a bottle in our handbag as a refreshing spritz for the face and hair.
If you fancy trying out our bestselling rose products, including the Replenishing Rose Face Cream, you can find them on sale here: Replenishing Rose collection
Roses for romance
There is a reason that roses are associated with love, and Valentine’s Day in particular. Greek legend has it that Aphrodite presented a rose to her son Eros, the God of love. Even the most hardened cynic would find it hard to disagree that fresh roses are romantic, but did you know that the fragrance alone has been found to be an aphrodisiac? Roses were traditionally included in ‘love potions’ and it has been said that Cleopatra used roses to help in her seduction of Mark Anthony.
While I don’t have any plans to scatter rose petals half a metre deep around my home, like Cleopatra did, I will be happy to see them growing in my garden or waiting to be enjoyed straight from my rose essential oil bottle 🙂 I hope you share my love of roses, how do you enjoy using it?
Comments 4
Hello!
I’m planning to place my second order at Akamuti soon and I would like some advice about whether to get either the replenishing rose facial oil or the cream. Both sound great! But I should only get one of them. My complexion is the combination type, and I generally don’t get many breakouts. I wonder if these products would be too heavy for my skin–I have tried using coconut oil as a moisturiser before, but came away with small breakouts (perhaps I used too much). I like a cream/oil which is light and easily absorbed, and I love the rose/geranium scents. What would you suggest?
Author
Hi Mavis, Thank you for your comment 🙂 I would recommend the replenishing rose facial oil – it sinks in nicely and it won’t exacerbate any problem skin. The facial oil is nice and light too, just start with a few drops and apply more if you need to. We make it with organic jojoba oil which is fantastic for all skin types, including skin prone to breakouts. I hope you enjoy trying it out 🙂
Hello I am confused about the various rose oils. Should I buy the rose hip? Or rose oil? Or the red or yellow colour rose oil? I use your rose water spray and want an oil I can use to massage my mature skin and face. Please advise. Thank you jacki
Author
Hi Jacki, Thanks for your comment. Rosehip seed oil is fantastic for facecare and can be used in place of a daily moisturiser. It is made from rosehip fruits, rather than rose flowers. We recommend buying the red or orange coloured rosehip seed oil as it is more nutritious and contains more goodness, due to minimal processing. (Our organic rosehip seed oil is an orange colour). Rosehip seed oil may be used as a carrier oil too, this means you can add your own essential oils if you like but this is purely optional. Rosehip seed oil is perfect for facial moisturising so I would definitely opt for this one.
Rose otto essential oil is made by steam distilling rose petals, so it has a strong floral aroma and is usually diluted before use, as it is an essential oil. Rosehip seed oil and rose otto oil together would make an amazing combination! Our replenishing rose facial oil is a ready made product which combines both rosehip seed oil, rose otto essential oil and several other nourishing oils like golden jojoba and raspberry oil for an all in one moisturising power-house!
I hope this is helpful to you but please let me know if you need any more information.