Spotlight Herb: Rose Petals, Hips,
Hello everyone! Carol here, owner of Green Magick Apothecary. Welcome back to our blog series all about herbs, their history, and their common uses. This time, I’d like to do a special post in honor of my mom’s birthday, which is today. Many of you know I lost my mom about three weeks ago, and I’m still very much grieving that loss. I originally was going to post about this herb the week before she passed, and I had done all of the research and drafted a lot of it when I had to drop everything and go to Texas and have a last conversation with my mom before she deteriorated further. I was lucky that I was able to see her and kiss her forehead and tell her how proud I was to be her daughter, many times we don’t get that chance. Anyway, because she was heavy on my mind that week and every week since, I had planned to talk about one of my mom’s favorite herbs that is most famous for its beautiful blooms and its scent: Roses!
-A note about my mom: My mom loved roses. She often had silk roses around the house because she loved their appearance, and hated to watch real roses wither. When she missed their scent she would often sprinkle rose essence on them so they smelled nice too. I would often catch her on our walks stopping to smell a particularly beautiful rose bush that was growing close to our path. She sometimes made her own herbal tea, and in it she always included rose hips. She would eat the hips dry sometimes when she was craving some vitamin C. When I moved into a house as an adult that had an out-of-control rosebush in the yard, she taught me to prune them properly and what time of year to do it, to get the best growth. In her later years, she often shared pictures of her huge pink knockout rosebush she had in her front yard. A lot of what I know about plants is due to my mom. We took “nature walks” when I was small and she often pointed out wild herbs and told me what they were for. This post is for her. Happy birthday, mom.
Roses are revered worldwide for their beauty and are popular in gardens and flower arrangements because of their versatility; they come in hundreds of varieties, colors and can be scented or unscented. Roses originate in Iran, and have been cultivated for over 3,000 years. As far back as the 6th century BCE, the rose is written about in ancient Greece. In ancient Rome, the rose was used in festivities, and the petals were consumed as food. The Arab physician, Ibn Sina, first prepared rosewater in the first century, and in the middle ages and renaissance, the rose was honored as a remedy for depression.
Nowadays, different parts of the rose are still used in a medicinal fashion and there are many studies about its benefits for a whole host of complaints. Rose petals, leaves, hips, and oil all have medicinal benefits, and they are used widely in the beauty and skincare industry as well because of these known benefits. The practical uses for the rose are endless.
The petals of the rose have analgesic, anticonvulsive, mildly hypnotic, laxative, and antioxidant properties. They are cardioprotective and aromatherapeutic too, and can be used as a natural colorant. The petals contain terpenes, aroma alcohols, flavonoids, phenolic acid, polyphenols, aldehydes, are high in vitamin C and carotenoids and other minerals. All of these properties make the rose petal highly nutritious, and with edible flowers becoming more popular, eating roses in particular might be more beneficial than others due to its being extremely high in natural vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Rose hips are rich in vitamins, especially vitamin C. They also contain carotenoids (like beta carotene, a compound found in abundance in carrots that is known to be beneficial to eye health) and tannins. Most importantly, they are high in phenolic acids, which are natural antioxidants, are anti-inflammatory, can help lower blood sugar, can improve heart health, and can help regulate the immune system. Rose hips have long been used as a remedy for scurvy, due to their high content of vitamin C, and their ability to be preserved for later use unlike many citrus fruits.
One of the most studied derivatives of the rose is its fragrance. Rose scent in aromatherapy has been studied for many uses, and found to have benefits for all of them. Rose fragrance is unique to other flower scents due to its containing not only terpenes and volatile oils, but also aroma compounds like aroma alcohols and aldehydes. Rose fragrance has been found to have effectiveness as a remedy for anxiety, sleep, depression, dysmenorrhea, sexual dysfunction in men, and migraine. The most interesting study involved rose aromatherapy on patients in a cardiac care unit. The scientists wanted to know if it had an effect on anxiety and sleep quality. The results showed that rose aromatherapy had a positive impact on anxiety reduction and enhanced the quality of sleep of the patients. The effects of rose on autonomic functions like blood pressure, breathing rate, blood oxygen saturation, pulse rate, and skin temperature were notable. Emotional responses related to relaxation, vigor, calmness, attentiveness, mood, and alertness were all improved as well.
Rose is probably most used for its beautifying capabilities though. Facial and skincare products containing rose are extremely popular these days, but they might actually be on to something. Studies show that rose has powerful anti-aging effects as well. On sun damaged skin, when applied twice daily, rose extract with alcohol has been shown to prevent UVB-induced skin aging. Hydroalcoholic extract of rose has shown promise for its antioxidant activities, and its anti-elastase and anti-inflammatory potential. The effects of rose petal extract on skin whitening and anti wrinkle activity are evident as well. Its antibacterial properties also make it wonderful in prevention of acne and its anti-elastase potential also makes it promising for skin tightening and shrinking pores.
Which brings us to how WE use rose at Green Magick Apothecary. We use rose petals, hips, and essential oil in several of our skincare balms but none more than our Resplendent Rose Facial Balm.
This balm is designed to harness all of the rose’s skincare benefits into one amazing product! It contains both red and pink organic rose petals, rose hips, rosehip oil, and rose essential oil. Best of all, we do not use ANY alcohol, which can dry your skin and irritate. We have received feedback from our customers saying it has calmed down their irritated and acne-prone skin. They are noticing a lighter appearance to their dark spots, and less redness. We are hearing that people love its herbal scent, and that their pores appear smaller and their skin brighter and more elastic. Some are even noticing a reduced appearance of their fine lines. It is easily one of our best-selling balms, and we get a lot of repeat orders on it. We start with a mix of 15 different blossoms and herbs and we slow-infuse them into a coconut and sunflower oil base. We then add beeswax, shea butter, honey, and essential oils for a smooth, non-greasy balm that feels amazing going onto the skin and smells beautiful. This isn't your grandma’s rose scent! It smells of rose, yes, but also minty, herbal, and refreshingly light. Use it in the morning to give you a bright, fresh appearance to the skin or apply more generously before bed to give an ultra-hydrating mask experience and wake with softer, brighter, tighter skin!
In closing, we would like to thank all of our kind customers who reached out and offered condolences in the past weeks for the loss of my mom. I was blessed to have had the chance to see her one last time and hear that she is proud of the path that I’m on. She has been instrumental in the making of the woman I have become and I feel her influence now in all that I do. I hope you enjoy the products I make, because they are a literal expression of the knowledge my mother gave me and give purpose to the gifts she passed on to me. Thanks for listening.