Rose in Skincare - Here's The Verdict

Today, there's tons of hype in the health and beauty industries surrounding products that contain rose petals, rose fragrance, or rose essential oils. And it's easy to see why - when it's done right, rose can feel and smell refreshing, rejuvenating, and downright luxurious. Plus, it can supposedly have lots of amazing effects on the skin and the brain.

But what arethose benefits, who do they actually work for, and where can you find products that truly contain real deal? Plus - where did it all start and how can you actually sniff out a fake?

We did the research, and we've got some answers.

The History of Rose In Health and Beauty

As you might expect, using roses in health and beauty products is nothing new. In fact, roses have actually been used for cosmetic purposes for over 5,000 years:

• Ancient Egyptians used to boil down roses to make healing balms and cosmetic products. They even infused the scent into their oils to create perfume and to cleanse and protect their skin.
• According to Greek legend, roses were created by the tears of Aphrodite - the Goddess of Love - and the blood of her lover, Adonis. This legend was later adopted and changed by the Romans, who attributed it to Venus. In the following generations, roses became extremely popular among the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans as symbols of vanity, as perfume, as adornments for weddings, and even as remedies used to keep illness at bay.
• In the 10th century, Persians invented steam distillation, the process that is still used today to create rose essential oil.

Though there were lots of other uses and developments, this steam distillation process was a major game-changer when it came to rose use in health and beauty.

And it was a hard thing to accomplish.In fact, at the time, it took around 30,000 rose petals to extract a single ounce of rose essential oil - and, as with any beauty product, this difficult meant major demand and major cash.

In part due to this exclusivity, the rose's popularity expanded throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and growing or using rose products became a major status symbol.

All of this leads us to the power and the benefits of rose products today.

Rose Today: Understanding the Skincare Benefits and the Varieties

Today, it seems that rose is more popular and ubiquitous than ever before. And its uses are extremely versatile: essentially every part of the rose plant contains rich nutrients that can be used for cosmetic and beauty purposes.

Overall, though, rose can moisturize the skin and stimulate collagen without irritating sensitive skin.

Rosewater

Created quite literally by steaming rosebuds in water, rosewater has lots of beneficial effects on the skin. Specifically, it can soothe redness, hydrate, and decrease inflammation for sensitive skin - which is why it's often used as a daily face mist and as a light, on-the-go product.

Rose-hip Oil

The oil pressed from the seeds of certain rose bushes, rose-hip oil is incredibly rich and yummy for the skin.

It contains vitamin C, vitamin A, AND anti-inflammatory fatty acids, which can be considered the ultimate beauty trio when it comes to skin health and rejuvenation.

Vitamin A, in particular, contains natural retinol and retinoids, which can encourage skin cell turnover and inhibit the melanin production that causes brown spots. Plus, both vitamins A and C can help boost collagen formation and combat sun damage.

You can find rosehip oil in Cloud Whip everyday face cream, and in All In eye cream.

Rose Essential Oil

Since the process of distilling rose essential oil is so difficult and resource-intensive, it can be difficult to find products with real, high-quality rose essential oil. Luckily, the oil itself packs a punch, and just a few drops can yield major benefits.

Like what?

Well, rose oil has tons of antioxidants, vitamins - including vitamins A, B, E, C, and K - and minerals (specifically potassium and iron), all of which combine to make it a great antiseptic, an anti-inflammatory, and a moisturizer. If you're looking for a rose oil product to get started, look for products that contain high-quality Damascus rose extract like the No Plans clay mask. It contains Damascus rose flower extract, which is known to reduce redness and promote cellular hydration. It also has antioxidants - including rosehip - kaolin clay, MSM, and wild geranium. This combination creates an effective mask that maintains hydration while effectively detoxifying the skin.

How to Spot the Real Deal

Since the rose extraction and distillation process can be somewhat involved, many companies avoid it altogether and take the synthetic route instead (yikes!). So how can you tell if you’re being duped? Just take a whiff!

With over 300 unique molecules, the rose flower has the most complex chemical constitution of ANY flower. That means that its scent is impossible to mimic and that you’ll be able to easily sniff out a fake.

If it doesn’t smell like it came off the vine, it probably didn’t.