Aromatherapy Favorites - Beautiful Rose Oil
Ah, Wonderful Rose Oil
If there's an aroma that more individuals find deeply moving than any other, it is the oil of rose. The scent is divinely sweet, rich, and deeply floral - exclusive to the extract of history's most revered flower. Though the rose is renown for it's fragrance, the flower actually contains very little aromatic oil by weight. Some 60,000 roses are needed to distill a single ounce of oil, or about 60 roses PER DROP, a fact which brings the seemly high cost of rose oil into perspective.
The Flower of Love
The hardy nature of the thorny rose bush and the flower's magnificent beauty make it a horticulturalist's dream. The genus Rosa has some 150 species spread around the globe, being cultivated in your grandmother's backyard garden, in vast fields in Bulgaria's Valley of Roses, and everywhere in between.
Roses have somewhat of a unique past, peppered with interesting stories and extravagant displays of affection. The flower's association with devotion was perhaps most wonderfully expressed during the Roman empire, with banquet halls being carpeted with petals. Cleopatra once received her beloved Marc Antony in a room literally knee-deep in rose petals - how's that for greeting? Roses are the unrivaled symbol of love, given dear ones through the ages as an affirmation of true affection. It's no wonder the flower's oil has great healing properties, both physically and emotionally, for the human heart.
Rose's health Benefits
With it's considerable therapeutic and aesthetic value, the 'queen of the flowers' had a special place in medicine and perfumery in the ancient civilizations of Persia, Egypt, India, Greece and Rome. The modern healing tradition of the extract of rose began in the 17 th century with the writings of English physician Nicholas Culpeper. The herbalist described the use of red roses to strengthen the heart, it's cooling and astringent actions, and its effect on headaches and tired eyes. Perhaps inspiring it's use as a beauty tonic 'par-excellence', he went on to suggest it's use as a remedy for a variety of skin complaints.
In aromatherapy, the psychological effects are wondrous for those with a broken heart, or other emotional wounds. Rose oil calms and supports the heart center, inspiring a sense of happiness and well-being. When rejection or loss has injured one's ability to love and nurture, either themselves or those around them, rose oil can bring sweet and gentle comfort and allow an emotional 're-opening'.
Use in Aromatherapy
It is the Bulgarian Damask rose, or Rosa Damacena, most often used in aromatherapy. The oil of this 36-petaled beauty is available in two forms: the 'otto', or true essential oil, and the 'absolute'. Harvest of the flowers occurs in the early morning, before the sun's rays has warmed away the aroma. Rose otto is made in a two step steam-distillation process; the first distillation yields an essential oil and a large amount of 'rose water'. The water is again distilled, producing an oil which is combined with that from the first distillation.
The absolute is made with a different process entirely. Similar in a way to 'effleurage' (the pressing of petals in fat to produce an extract), the flowers are processed in a solvent, with a wax-like 'concrete' being produced. Through a second extraction of the concrete, rose absolute is yielded. This method is significantly more efficient than steam distillation, producing nearly 7 pounds of oil per 10,000 pounds of roses (distillation yields 1 pound oil per 10,000 pounds of roses), with a corresponding lower cost. Does one produce a better oil? There is certainly debate; while some argue that traces of solvent are likely to exist in the absolute, others claim the heat of distillation does not result in a true representation of the flower. And as with either method, the quality and effect of the oil varies greatly with the experience and care of the manufacturer - the answer truly lies with the individual and the application.
Using Rose
Oil of rose can be utilized in a number of ways; it is very gentle, being suitable for use on the skin 'neat', in massage oil, and in a bath, as well as in a diffuser. As a perfume, the absolute can be worn directly on the skin - it's 'tenacious' quality will have the aroma slowly released for many hours. For therapeutic use for the emotions, a dilution of 10% of otto or absolute in jojoba oil is often used, being massaged into the heart area - a diffuser is very effective for this purpose as well. The absolute or otto can also be added in small amounts to any skin cream, though using a home-made natural recipe is often the nicest. Rose water, or hydrosol, the water resulting from the distillation process of rose otto, can also be used directly on the skin, with it's mild astringent and toning properties.
A rose and lavender facial cream can be made using the following recipe:Melt ½ ounce of beeswax in 4 ounces of jojoba using a double boiler. Add 3 ounces of distilled water in a thin stream while stirring vigorously with a wire whisk. Remove from heat and continue stirring while adding 20 drops of rose oil (absolute or otto) and 15 drops of lavender. Allow to cool, then enjoy this wonderful homemade cream for sensitive skin.
There are, of course, many ways to enjoy rose oil's benefits. It is revered on many levels, from its pure aesthetic aromatic beauty, to its physiological healing and emotional uplifting. True rose oil, with its great depth and sweetness, is easily appreciated by almost all who experience this natural wonder.
Misty Rae Cech is a Naturopath in Boulder, Colorado. She enjoys rose oil absolute and otto for their many applications, along with other aromatherapy essential oils.
More Resources
Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting
More Alternative Information:
Related Articles
Home Spa and Bodys Adaptation. The More the Better?
The More The Faster The Better?Or Some Words About The Body's Adaptation."Change your mindand you will changeyour life"Today we will talk about the tendency in our busy world to make more activity and procedures in one spa day to get fast results.
What Organic Really Means in 2005
The term "organic" is used everywhere. What exactly does that mean?"Organic" refers to the methods by which foods, cottons, woolens, etc.
Relieving Hemorrhoids with Natural Remedies
Here are a variety of natural remedies that you can use to relief from your hemorrhoids. You can try one until you find one that works for you.
Exploring the Mystery of Aromatherapy Through Biotechnology
Aromatherapy originated in Ancient Egypt. About a hundred years ago, a pharmacist from France used an innovative method which led to a breakthrough in aromatherapy techniques.
Emotrance & Well-Being
Are you ready to easily release worry, pain or fear and restore your emotional health?Are you ready for a dynamic way of processing life experiences in quicker and more joyful ways?Are you open to the idea of discovering a series of simple steps that lets you adventure into enhanced states of well being and emotional flow?Emotrance is just such a technique and it can be easily learned. The regular application of the Emotrance processes to a variety of emotional scenarios, past and present helps you discover more about your energy body.
Will This Years Flu Paralyze The US And Canada?
According to the Associated Press on August 26th, the US and Canada may have to close schools, restrict travel and ration scarce medications if a powerful new flu strain spurs a worldwide outbreak, according to the federal planners for the next pandemic. It will take months to brew a new vaccine that works against the kind of super flu that causes a pandemic, although government preparations include research to speed the production.
Herbal Medicine: An Ounce Of Prevention
In recent years the issue of Alternative Healing has taken the medical world by storm.A 2004 government survey concluded that more than one third of adults use some form of alternative medicine and healing.
How To Prevent The Flu
Can you prevent the flu? or is it just luck when you are virus free all year long! The flu is a highly contagious viral infection of the upper respiratory tract. Because this illness can be spread easily by coughing and sneezing, influenza epidemics are very common, especially in winter.
Some Tips on Stopping Smoking
Are you looking for tips on stopping smoking? And would you like to know what are some ways to help quit? Now let me remind you that when we come to the actual quitting process, that it is not going to be easy. Please do not consider yourself to be superhuman so be ready to get external help if you need it.
Feeling Helpless in the Face of Pain?
Here Are 4 Ways That Visualization May Be Able to Ease You Back into ControlUsing visualizations to reduce pain may be unlike anything else you've tried. It not only gives you the chance to feel better, but does so in a way that may be able to relieve your sense of helplessness.
Hypnosis Way of General Indications of Deceit
When the subject is changed, he's in a better, more relaxed mood. The guilty wants the subject changed; the innocent always wants a further exchange of information.
Breathing and Mental Concentration
In spirituality, there are number of exercises available that help enhance the mental concentration. These exercises help reduce the flow of negative thoughts, which in turn lessens the mental confusion.
Lavender : The Purple Panacea
Lavender is wholly spent with us, for to perfume linen, and the dried flowers to comfort and dry up the moisture of a cold braine(Parkinson)Lavender, the once popular English garden herb, was used extensively as a perfume, but the versatility of its oil has made it a remedy for ailments.HistoryIn classical times, lavender was widely used by the Romans and Libyans as a bath perfume.
Hypnosis Cures For Nail Biting
One little-thought-of application for hypnosis is to help people stop their nail biting habit. While this may not be on par with splitting the atom, it is a serious problem for people who always seem to find themselves gnawing their nails.
1st Textbook on Sleep Psychiatry
An informative textbook confirming a newly established field: Sleep PsychiatryBook Review by Nikos M. Linardakis, M.
Top Ten Reasons Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy Works
Studies and research show natural HRT really works. By using natural progesterone you can reap the benefits in the following ways:1.
Snoring - A Small Change Can Make A Big Difference
We all know how annoying snoring can be, both for the snorer and the partner. The effects and seriousness of snoring are becoming more apparent with snoring being linked to conditions like high blood pressure and coronary disease.
Treating West Nile Virus with High Quality St. Johns Wort
West Nile Virus, although new to the U.S.
Tap Away Your Fears
In my workshops we use energy techniques that involve tapping with your fingers on the ends of the energy meridians on your face, upper body, and hands. I would like to tell you why we do.
Disabilities Stuttering
There are many types of disablity. Would people class stuttering as a disability?I think most people would probably say no, however I disagree.