Beginning Aromatherapy: Why Choose Rosehip Oil For Skin Care
The use of Rosehip seed oil alone or in cosmetic preparations has become extremely common due to this magical oil’s effective skin and beauty care properties. The luscious reddish oil has been heralded as a miracle cure for a myriad of skin conditions in. What really is this wonderful liquid, and can it work it’s natural-beauty wonders for you?
Rosehip seed oil is extracted from the seed within the fruit of the wild thorny rose bush. Native to Chile, the plant is now cultivated elsewhere in South America with many countries producing the oil. Also found under the name ‘Rosa Mosqueta’, the oil has been used by native people for hundreds of years, but only recently became known to the rest of the world.
The oil can be either solvent extracted or ‘cold-pressed’ – pressing is the really way to go, as there is no chance of any solvent residues remaining in the final product, and it is easier on the environment. The cold-pressed oil is the closest to nature; it has a high essential fatty acid content, and is considered more delicate than other seed oils. For this reasons, pure rosehip seed oil should be kept in a cool place, out of direct light, and should be used within 1 year of purchase. Otherwise the more fragile of the fatty acids could begin to turn bad, and your skin might not be so fond of them.
In addition to the cold-pressed carrier oil of rosehip seed, some specialty therapeutic aromatherapy shops will carry the “supercritical carbon-dioxide extract” of the whole rosehips. Use this like an essential oil, adding a few drops per ounce of your blends. You can use it when you want to add some of the therapeutic value of rosehip to blends with other carrier oils as their base.
Rosehip seed oil is an excellent source of natural vitamin E and natural vitamin A, or ‘trans-retinoic acid’. Retinoic acid, the acid derivative of vitamin A, is the active ingredient found in Retin-A or Tretinoin. Retin-A (a pharmaceutical preparation) has been heralded as a wrinkle cure because of its ability to increase skin cell proliferation – or speed the time it takes for your skin to regenerate. In fact, the oil has been extensively studied for many of the same actions attributed to Retin-A, and has been shown effective without side effects (like over-drying and peeling – though unlike Retin-A, it should not be used to treat acne).
The first major study on Rosehip seed oil was done at the University of Santiago, Chile. The participants had diverse forms of skin damage: wrinkles and other premature aging, sun and radiation damage, scarring, and other skin damage. The oil was shown to have significant, noticeable effects in regenerating the skin, reducing results of all skin damage types, and contributing to an overall smoothing of the skin’s appearance.
Another later study was conducted on women ages 25-35 with extensive premature aging of their skin. Again, rosehip seed oil significantly reduced the appearance of wrinkles and sun spots after daily application for four months. Research has continued on the oil, with one study noting: “On some skin troubles like superficial wrinkles, chestnut spots and ephelides, good results have been obtained. After 16 weeks of treatment, wrinkles and spots become imperceptible.” The oil has been used to successfully treat a long list of skin related conditions, including: age spots, wrinkles and premature aging, sun damage, scars from acne, burns, and surgery, eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, hyper-pigmentation, brittle nails, and even dry and damaged hair.
Besides its regenerative properties, rosehip seed oil is also an excellent moisturizer. This is most likely due to its high essential fatty acid content (fatty acids that the body cannot produce itself), which are necessary for healthy skin. The oil penetrates the upper layers of the skin quickly and, being known as a ‘dry’ moisturizer, does not leave the skin feeling greasy or oily.
Rosehip seed oil is very gentle – it can be used daily undiluted; because of it’s relative high cost, it may also be diluted in other oils like jojoba or shea nut, and will produce it’s regenerative effects in dilutions as low as 1 tenth of the total concentration.
To smooth scars on the skin, blend of fifteen drops each of helichrysum “italicum” and rosemary “verbenone” essential oils, plus twenty-four drops rosehip “CO2″, in a one ounce base of equal parts rosehip seed oil and tamanu oil. For a lovely beauty blend, experiment with this combination in four ounces of rosehip seed: five drops helichrysum, five drops lavender angustifolia, 3 drops sandalwood, three drops neroli (bitter orange flower oil), three drops carrot seed oil (a very moisturizing essential oil), three drops geranium (also for hydration), two drops roman chamomile (for it’s anti-inflammatory properties), two drops of jasmine absolute and one drop each of palmarosa and ylang ylang essential oils.
So, whether using rosehip seed oil for healing your skin, or simply giving it a little nourishment, you will almost certainly be happy with the results. This luscious oil, with its broad range of positive effects, is sure to take a prominent place in your natural beauty botanical collection.
More on the healing effects of essential oils can be found at http://www.anandaapothecary.com/essential-oils.html.
