50 Shades of Rose (otto) or 7 Ways to Use Rose This Valentine’s Day

50 Shades of Rose (otto) or 7 Ways to Use Rose This Valentine’s Day

For a lot of people, roses are the epitome of love. As Valentine’s Day swoops closer, lovers rush to buy bundles of these beautiful flowers. But did you know that most roses are bred for beauty and don’t give off the aroma that they should?

It’s true! There are over 250 species of rose and over 10,000 different hybrid varieties. Of these, only three are commonly used for oil extraction. But lucky for us, we get several varieties in the form of  essential oils and rose absolute! Here are some ways you can use rose this Valentine’s day, besides buying the bouquet.

7 Ways to Use Rose on Valentine’s Day

1. Check out Rose essential oil, or otto. It’s heavenly and quite complex. Many of its components are also undefined, which means it’s impossible to replicate. Rose essential oil is light-yellow to green in color and can solidify at cooler temperatures due to its natural waxes. It’s a costly essential oil because it takes four tons of petals to make a kilo of oil (60 roses to make one drop)! But it’s also one of the most beloved essential oils in the aromatherapy world.

2. You can also look into Rose absolute. It’s an extract that holds more of the true Rose scent than the otto. Absolute also offers unique chemical constituents and is more reddish in color and thicker than the otto. It’s less expensive than Rose essential oil as well. For the full effect, try blending Rose otto and Rose absolute together!

3 Make a rose facial cream or serum. Use your favorite carrier oil, like organic coconut oil. Then choose additives that work for your skin type, like evening primrose oil, rosehip seed, and others. (Our Aromatherapy Practitioner Reference Manual or the Aromatic Spa Book are great guides for which oils to use and why.) Once your base is ready, add the rose oil, absolute, or both. A good safe dilution for the skin is usually 2%, and you can use a bit more for perfume use. Due to its potency, 1 or 2 drops of Rose otto to one ounce of carrier or cream/lotion makes a nice face blend. Use less if you have sensitive skin or want less of a scent.

4. Fall in love with a spritz of Rose hydrosol. Hydrosols are made of the hydrolate water from the distillation process. They are excellent for the skin and soothing to inflamed tissue. Hydrosols are useful for most skin types and make for a refreshing body spray. You can buy them fresh or make your own through home-distillation.

5. For a tasty valentine treat, add an ounce of pure Rose hydrolate or a drop of Rose absolute to your champagne bottle. We tried this with Rose otto. To our surprise, the Rose oil made tiny wax balls in the cold champagne. We’ll go more into detail about why this happened in our next blog, but for now, our suggestion is to add absolute or the hydrolate instead! It’s delicious and romantic—just like Valentine’s Day champagne should be.

6. Add a few drops of Rose oil to local, raw honey. It’s delicious! Combined with Damiana oil and its reputed properties (see link below), this honey could be multipurpose, in tea or on the skin!

7. Our friend Marge Clark at Natures Gift suggests a drop of Rose in chilled heavy cream before whipping it! Her site has more Rose talk and Rose oils. Thanks Marge. What a wonderful, romantic, and tasty idea!

Enjoy these suggestions, and have a happy Valentine’s Day!

Here’s a fun read: Mooning Over Love: Fragrances, foods, and flavors to excite and celebrate your beloved.

More Ways to Use Essential Oils Internally—Safely and Deliciously!

More Ways to Use Essential Oils Internally—Safely and Deliciously!

We discussed aromatic honey in our internal use blog, but we wanted to expand on that and share more variations.

This includes honey, jams, and chocolate! 

You can take honey with a drop of Peppermint by the tablespoon. Or you can make a larger batch with more Peppermint, to be used sparingly.

For the larger option, keep the mixture in a closed container once you’ve added the Peppermint (or other essential oil—depending on the purpose). Blend the honey and essential oil with a ratio of 1 drop essential oil per ounce of honey. Any container will work!

Stick a toothpick or tiny spoon in the honey and suck on the end of it, or add the honey to tea or hot water when you’re stuffed up or feeling queasy.

Alternatively, you can use essential oils for different purposes like:

  • Rose for an uplifting mix
  • Lavender and Sweet Marjoram for a sleepy-time mix
  • Rosemary, Spearmint, or Lime added to a blend, or used alone for a zingy, wake-up mix.

For anti-infectious honey to help you combat colds or illnesses, choose Tea Tree (although it doesn’t have the most pleasant taste). You can also combine the “big gun” essential oils for more germ-fighting ability.

Those include Clove, Cinnamon, Thyme, and others. Be aware that these oils are also the most potentially irritant oils, and they require caution. I suggest adding in tiny amounts to avoid burning your mouth. These should only be used for fighting off infection—no long-term use!

Essential Oils in Jam

I felt inspired when my new, wonderful friend Leslie (“La Grande Jam Dame”) gifted me homemade blackberry jam with a hint of lemon. She was perfecting her culinary skills and wanted to share!

After the jam had cooled, she added an awesome touch with a couple drops of Lemon essential oil. It was such a nice, subtle lemon taste in blackberry—the best combination!

NOTE: This jam is made to be savored and eaten sparingly.

And because this is our focus, here’s a little safety information about using essential oils in recipes:

Putting two drops of essential oil in a large batch of jam is perfectly safe according to the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) designation for Lemon oil. This means Lemon oil has been deemed safe as a food additive, to enhance flavor in minute amounts, like in this recipe.

All essential oils are considered GRAS, and it’s not an FDA approval. It’s just a list of flavorings and seasonings that are allowed in minute amounts in processed food. This does NOT mean that essential oils, extracts, etc. have nutrients or that they’re missing from our diet any more than salt or castoreum, which are also on the list.

See more info on GRAS designations here.

More Honey

Now, back to the topic at hand: Once I was inspired by the jam, I had to try creating my own honey flavoring. I already had some local, raw, raspberry-infused honey. Then I added 2 drops of Cardamon essential oil and 4 drops of Pink Grapefruit oil to 6 oz of this honey. After that, I stirred and tasted it, and WOW, what a treat!

It was an unusually tasty combo. I spread the mix on a hot croissant or nice bread with some fine cheesepreferably with cranberries! Once spread, reheat gently, then get a napkin and enjoy!

This is safe because it’s a small percentage of oil in honey1 drop per ounceand it’s made with safe, non-irritant oils. Remember, it’s an occasional treat.

Leslie provided me with this recipe (below). I thought I’d share it with all of you. It will be my next creative holiday project.

Have a CHERRY CHRISTMAS, y’all!

 

More yummy resources from our colleagues: