Organic Skincare By Any Other Name...

Roses conjure up so many images – the quintessential English garden flower; the florists favourite - the lovers bunch of red roses, the friends bunch of yellow.

They are delicate, precious, expensive and smell exquisite.

It may take a lot of rose petals to make just a drop of Rose essential oil – making it one of the most expensive essential oils you can buy - but they are also a organic skincare dream product.

Roses have been used and written about for centuries. They have been used by the Greeks, the Persians, the Egyptians, the Romans and today,they still remain a key ingredient in some of the most expensive and famous perfumes.

Roses work on a physical and emotional level and across different cultures. In Ayurvedic medicine roses are cooling and used to treat tiredness, muscular aches and pains, excessive heat, pimples, digestive problems to name but a few. In the West it has been used as a tonic for the liver, heart and stomach.

And when it comes to natural skin care, roses mean more than romance…

The flowers and buds are used to produce essential oils, waters and infusions. Roses are suitable for all skin types including sensitive skins. Rose is balancing, soothing, calming, anti-inflammatory and harmonising but is also stimulating, astringent, toning, cleansing and antibacterial.

A strong infusion of Rose Petals helps to treat blackheads, acne and pimples. Due to their toning and mildly astringent properties, Rose petals are good for cleansing. It is precisely why I use a Rose Petal infusion in Sweet Cheeks natural face wash.

Dry, mature and sensitive skins will love the balancing and rejuvenating effects that roses can have on our skin – I have used Rose water and Rose essential oils in A Little Lift natural serum – which hydrates and moisturises dry and mature skins.

Rose water is a major feature of Freshen Up toner – it hydrates the skin and at the same time tones it. It also makes a great pick-me up due to its refreshing aroma. A few spritzes are enough to lift you from an afternoon slump!

So like its relative, the Rosehip, the Rose is another of those amazingly versatile natural raw materials which I come back to time and time again in my natural and organic skin care formulas.

Oh yes, and did I mention they smell wonderful too!