With its blushing hues, romantic aroma and its dependency on careful nurturing, attention and care throughout its life, it’s no wonder that the Rose is traditionally seen as a symbol of love. What you may not know is that the harvest of these flowers to create its famous essential oil also requires the same level of love, care and attention. It takes over 200 blooms to make just a few drops of Rose essential oil, meaning every drop must be cherished.
Getting to know Rose
Roses only grow wild in the Northern Hemisphere. Our Rose is mostly Bulgarian, however, Turkey and Morocco also cultivate a huge percentage of the world’s Rose Essential Oil. The rose plantation in Bulgaria is known as the ‘Valley of the Roses’ which lies between Balkan and the Sredna Gora mountains.
The best quality Rose Oil is always taken from a flower in full bloom, meaning prime harvesting is at the end of May. The petals are picked by hand just as the sun rises with the morning dew still settling. This is important to obtain moisture in the petal which will help us to obtain the maximum oil within the flower.
Rose Otto vs Rose Absolute
You may have heard of both, and as essential oil experts, at Tisserand Aromatherapy we offer both varieties. But what is the difference?
Both our Rose oils come from the botanical Rosa Damascena, however, they are extracted differently and have different aromatic profiles. While Rose Otto is steam distilled like many other essential oils, Rose Absolute goes through solvent extraction. This gives it a higher yield, meaning you can get more oil from the petals, but the aroma is thought to be finer in the Otto with less ‘typically rosy’ base notes and more honey notes. The choice is purely down to personal taste… and the size of your wallet. Due to the nature of the Rose Otto harvest and extraction process, this oil is a lot more exclusive and more expensive as a result. Luckily due to its complicated chemical make-up, a little oil goes a long way!
Despite their aromatic differences, they have similar properties:
- Euphoric: Can counteract feelings of anger and quell the haunts of past emotional trauma.
- Heart tonic: Can diminish the feelings associated with loss, emotional heartaches and grief.
- Skin Tonic: Wonderfully nourishing when applied topically for dry & mature skin, eczema and dermatitis. Please use with care.
- Aphrodisiac: Intensely feminine, it can support women hormonally through all stages of menstrual life and can even increase libido.
Fall in love with Rose yourself by trying out one of our recommended blends:
Skin Blend – Luxurious Face Oil
To 20ml of Jojoba Blending Oil, add:
- 1 drop of Rose Otto
- 2 drops of Mandarin
- 1 drop of Frankincense
Emotional Support Blend
To your Aroma Spa Diffuser or burner, add some water and combine:
- 2 drops of Rose Absolute
- 4 drops of May Chang
- 2 drops of Atlas Cedarwood
To see more essential oil blend ideas head over to our IGTV channel.
