What is Rose Oil?
Rose oil is most famous for its heady, exotic and sensual aroma and is the most popular oil for use in luxury cosmetic products. It is known as the lover’s oil and is seen to represent love and beauty (particularly feminine beauty). It is one of the earliest known aromatic oils and its usage goes back to Ancient Persia around 500AD, though it is in fact mentioned seven thousand years ago in an ancient Ayurveda text. Its virtues have been extolled by many from Dioscorides, the father of medicine, to the Emperor Nero.
What is its origin?
Rose oil (most commonly from the species Rosa damascena or Rosa centifolia) is obtained from vast quantities of the flower’s petals, commonly bred in Bulgaria or Turkey. It can be obtained by the common method of steam distillation as rose otto, which is the preferred method for its use in aromatherapy or through solvent extraction and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction as rose absolute.
What does it smell like?
Warm, floral, specifically dense, fine with honey notes, specific for Bulgarian Rose oil. The oil from centifolia roses is lighter than the deeper spicier scent of the damascena rose.
What is it good for?
Rose oil is renowned for its soothing, harmonising and mood enhancing properties, helping to emotionally stabilise those suffering from grief, hysteria, depression or anger. It is also known for being a potent aphrodisiac, enhancing the libido and even helping to cure frigidity. It is good for skincare rejuvenating, toning, restoring and purifying skin and especially benefiting those with dry, sensitive or mature skin. It has a tonic and astringent effect on the capillaries just below the skin surface, which makes it useful in diminishing the redness caused by enlarged capillaries. It is good for detoxifying the liver and helping with hangovers. It is believed to help balance female hormones, regulate the menstrual cycle, and ease the discomforts of PMS and menopause. It is also used to treat genital-urinary infections.
What are its particular benefits?
Rose oil is one of the best oils for women to use due to its calming uplifting properties and positive effects on the female reproductive system, as well helping women during their monthly cycles and during the menopause.
Rose oil has the highest frequency (320 Hertz) of all the essential oils on the planet. This in itself is an important factor. It means that the fragrant molecules of the rose oil, on inhalation or application, are able to quickly penetrate and travel the infinitesimal pathways of the body, rapidly energising every cell and delivering its calming properties.
Who is it not good for and what are the side effects?
Rose oil is not suitable for pregnant women or children. The scent can be overwhelming so it is important to dilute rose oil.
How can it be applied?
Rose oil when mixed with carrier oil is popularly applied as a massage oil, it can also be applied as part of facial or used in the bath.It is also commonly used in vaporizers.
See also Aromatherapy and Aromatherapy Massage.
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