Your Cart is Empty
image credit: http://www.bowsandsequins.com/
Spring and summer may be upon us, but we are taking a different approach to Rosé season. Outside of wine and warm weather, we love roses for a host of reasons. The enchanting and dichotomous nature of strong and hearty thorns enveloping this soft, delicate blossom give this plant a unique story unlike any other flower. There is good reason the rose has been heralded as the symbol of love for thousands of years. However, there's more to their story as this magical plant has a lot more to protect than the velvety touch of its petals.
Before roses were gifted as offerings of love and friendship, they have long been recognized as a primary medicine in Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Native American practices and Western herbalism. Found in the petals and fruit (rose hips) of these lovely blossoms are an abundance of vitamins that are essential for our bodies to become an optimal temple of health and beauty. Below is a short list:
Come cold and flu season, most of us would praise oranges as a go-to source of vitamin C. By weight, however, fresh and unprocessed rose hips can contain 50x more than that of our beloved oranges. This holds true for roses as an anti-oxidant, as well, as the rose competes with green tea in its power to fight free-radicals.
The entire plant is also incredibly anti-inflammatory. A study published in the International Journal of Clinical Rheumatology showed that rose hips and seeds significantly reduced the need for painkillers in individuals suffering from osteoarthritis.
In modern use, the rose often seems to be relegated to the ranks of simple astringents. It certainly does make a fine smelling astringent, but has a plethora of other properties adding to its wonderful wound-healing abilities. The whole plant, but especially the root, has pain relieving properties when used externally, and is also a very good antibacterial agent for treating nearly any kind of infection, inside or out, including UTIs, yeast and vaginal infections. Indigenous peoples use the hips for severe infections externally, making a mash of the hips and using them as a poultice.
Roses excel at cooling, soothing and dispersing the transfer of heat. This property makes them useful for sunburns. A simple solution of diluted rose-infused vinegar with at least fifty percent water can be applied to sunburns to help clear the heat from the skin. Rose-infused honey is also a delicious and effective remedy for minor burns and wounds.
It's easy to say that we all could get to know our scarlet, garden goddesses a little better. But, what about eating them? A recently released study promotes the results of rose hips as a successful cholesterol-lowering dietary supplement. Using roses in jams, wines, honeys, vinegars, teas and salads are also great ways to introduce their benefits into a daily diet.
For example, rose tea commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine as an excellent blood tonic for those experiencing fatigue, anxiety, dry skin and hair and other signs of blood deficiency. One adjustment, however, is to the palate, and getting those taste buds used to the floral notes in roses. Ease into the flavor by sampling this spin on a raspberry rose margarita.
A note for the green thumbs that have access to these beauties in the front lawn: please ensure no harmful chemicals have been used prior to exploring with roses in the kitchen. The more aromatic the flower, however, the higher the essential oil content and ultimately the better the medicine. Be sure to sniff out the competition!
Vitamin C is an essential building block for the production of collagen and proper hydration of the skin. Roses and rose hips are an excellent source. Because taking vitamin C internally doesn't guarantee that its benefits are felt at the dermal level, topical applications are necessary to experience optimal results for anti-aging. Using synthetic lotions and ingredients may interfere with the proper assimilation of the nutrients, so it's best to understand the pros and cons of what is in our skincare products.
At CONCUR, we only offer non-synthetic options to promote products with high bioavailability and adequate absorption of nutrients and minerals. We believe in the power of roses and include them in their whole plant form in several of our formulations: Buffing Grains, Buffing Grains with Seaweed, Toning Water, and Face Cream with Rose Tea.
Additionally, roses help to soothe and calm irritated and dry skin, offering its astringent benefits as an anti-inflammatory without over-drying. It's a great ingredient for all skin types, but is exceptional for dry and aging skin. The best way to experience the benefits of roses in skincare is by trying our full regimen for dry/mature skin and rosé all day, every day.
Have you experienced our Face Cream with Rose Tea? We would love to know your thoughts and/or experiences. Please share below!
Unlinked Resources:
Herb Mentor
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
Rosemary Gladstar
Kiva Rose
