Almost everyone finds the fragrance of rose to be exquisite. The fragrance of the variety damask rose (Rosa damascena), and in particular its essential oil, is even more sublime. Symbol of spirituality and mysticism, romance and allure, damask rose essential oil is full of benefits. It balances the nervous system, eases emotional shock and grief, and opens the heart. Damask rose is very skin enhancing and rejuvenating. This is why PHYTO5 uses the damask rose in floral water or essential oil form in many skincare products:
The rose may be the most perfect flower on earth, revered and used all the way back to ancient Egypt.
In the world of essential oils, damask rose is revered as the queen of all essential oils. It is not only beautiful but unrivaled in fragrance and healing properties.
Because this rose provides remarkable health benefits and is relatively scarce, damask rose has been highly prized and eagerly traded since ancient times.
Deriving its name from Damascus, Syria, this rose did not originate there. Damask rose is believed to have originated in Asia, but the damask rose goes back all the way to ancient Egypt. It’s been found in Egyptian tombs. Historians believe damask rose was introduced in Egypt during the reign of Ramses the Great (1279-1213 BCE).
Centuries ago, the damask rose was in high demand especially since urban and personal foul smells needed to be masked. Rose water was used as a cure for all ills, an aphrodisiac and complexion treatment. For these reasons, those who were able to produce rose water and rose oil never lacked for business.
The Near East was a perfect cultivating ground for the damask which required well watered land. They invented equipment for manufacturing rose water and then branched out into producing the oil or otto.
Damask rose supports your natural inherent beauty and health to emerge.
Associated with the Venusian(1) concepts of beauty—especially no makeup beauty—damask rose conditions skin to present its natural radiant self.
Prepared as floral water it’s very skin toning, hydrating and acts as a natural antiseptic. This excellent skin tonic rejuvenates tired skin, helps balance skin conditions and works to heal wounds.
Damask rose supports cell and tissue regeneration so important for dry and mature skin.
As an essential oil, damask rose is a versatile therapeutic oil. Skincare formulators use it for its sweet floral and slightly spicy fragrance and for its skin health benefits. It’s very effective for dry skin, broken capillaries and mature and sensitive skin. Damask rose is also an excellent antibacterial and antiviral. One study shows damask rose effective against 15 different strains of bacteria.
Traditional Chinese medicine uses rose to cool and clear moist heat and inflammation. Chinese medicine also uses rose to restore the body’s yin energy and combat anxiety and depression.
Damask rose essential oil can help to:
rejuvenate skin
prevent skin damage
reduce the appearance of fine lines
minimize the appearance of broken capillaries on the skin
reduce the appearance stretch marks
repair sun-damaged skin
soothe dry, itchy skin
clear acne
fight bacteria; damask rose is proven to fight effectively against 15 strains of bacteria
ease poor circulation
reduce high blood pressure
boost liver and gall bladder functions
relieve symptoms of asthma and hay fever
regulate digestive problems and stomach upsets
relieve nausea
relieve constipation
decongest and strengthen the liver and gall bladder
cool hot inflammation and swelling
amplify feelings of vitality
lessens grief
create a senses of well-being
bring calm in stress-related situations
tone the uterus and ease painful menses
minimize the effects of premenstrual syndrome.
With a strong presence of the phytochemical and antioxidant lycopene, damask rose works to prevent many free radical diseases.
According to the scientific study, “Pharmacological Effects of Rosa Damascena”(2), damask rose has:
“an anti-HIV, antibacterial, antioxidant, antitussive, hypnotic, anti-diabetic, and relaxant effect…”
You can even get beauty benefits by consuming damask rose petals.
All rose petals are edible as long as they’re organic. They’re high in antioxidants that promote more youthful skin and body.
If you use rose petals in food preparation, remove the bitter white base.
Float rose petals in beverages, desserts and salads. Flavor jams and vinegars with rose petals.
Use dried rose petals and buds in herbal teas. It makes the tea more fragrant and provides a calming and mildly diuretic action.
Damask rose more than any other rose variety produces the highest quality essential oil and floral water.
It takes about 60,000 roses or 200 pounds of petals to make one ounce of rose otto.
There are two types of essential oil derived from the damask rose: otto and absolute. They have different qualities because of two different methods used to produce them.
Absolute is solvent-extracted and is thick and very concentrated. Though thicker than otto, the absolute is still viscous. It is amber colored and somewhat less costly.
Rose otto is the essential oil derived from the petals and no other part of the flower. It’s produced by the more costly method of steam distillation. It is clear or pale yellow. It’s rich and intense and a better quality of oil than absolute. Though it’s more expensive than absolute, less otto can be used than absolute to achieve the desired effect.
The most damask rose crops are grown in the Valley of the Roses, Bulgaria.(3) In the world of essential oils, Bulgarian damask rose produces the finest quality attar (fragrance).
“Ounce for ounce, the ‘liquid gold of Bulgaria’ is nearly as expensive as gold.” —Audra Avizienis in Essential Oils: Essential Oil and Aromatherapy Recipes for Wellness, Beauty, and a Healthy Home
The damask rose grows as a deciduous shrub, growing about six feet tall and wide. The rose grows on long bowing stems with stout curved prickles and stiff bristles. The stems bear heads of loosely cupped light to moderate rose pink petals. The shrub sprouts pinnate of five-petaled leaves.
When and How Damask Rose Is Harvested Determines the Quality of the Oil
The essential oil content of damask rose differs depends on how mature the bloom is. The rose has a higher very valuable health promoting terpene content to offer when the petal whorl (pattern of spirals) just as the petals begin to open. (Terpenes are vibrantly fragrant molecules that occur naturally in plant life. They’re chemicals that provide pigment, scent and flavor.)
When harvesting begins in the Valley of the Roses, more than 50,000 harvesters painstakingly collect the roses by hand. They harvest the roses during a short window of time when the rose’s essential oil is at its highest volume. This optimum time period is the cooler hours of the morning before sunrise.
Bulgarian rose pickers harvest the rose just like they’ve done for centuries—by hand, one rose at a time. It’s labor intensive but the flowers must be picked by hand or the potential oil will be lost.
The rose petals are very delicate so they steam distill the flower the same day they harvest. Waiting too long to distill will cause loss of the prized essential oil.
All the steps of the harvesting method ensures a maximum quality essential oil yield.
Seeds of the damask rose offer great benefits too.
The seeds of the damask rose also yield a nourishing oil.
Rose seed oil is excellent for treating broken capillaries, sun damage, redness, scars, stretch marks, acne, acne rosacea, enlarged pores, loss of elasticity, fine lines and overall aging of the skin. It’s a rich source of essential fatty acid omegas 3 and 6. Rose seed oil helps regenerate cell membranes and tissues and is a good source of natural vitamin A.
The responses we have are as individual as ourselves. When we come into contact with rose, our olfactory system and the brain connect and communicate and we determine, often based on past memories and feelings felt, what attitude is being expressed for us in the moment we encounter rose.
Rose elicits a healing state of consciousness.
The fragrance of rose provokes an uplifting state of consciousness within us. We immediately notice it stimulates a well-being response within us.
The response might be love, tenderness, wistfulness, serenity, or joy. Our bodies might even spontaneously respond to and align with rose’s healing energy as we absorb its energy and frequency.
By taking in its fragrance we internalize its properties and are enlivened, often even healed by it.
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Endnotes and Sources:
Aphrodite, later known as Venus was the goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, and prosperity. Yet, it is her representation of beauty that she is most well known for. Painters and sculptors have personified her, embodied her and epitomized her. “Physical Beauty, Venus - Google Arts & Culture.” Google, Google, artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/ggKCrztJLXu0KQ.
Boskabady, Mohammad Hossein et al. “Pharmacological effects of rosa damascena.” Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences Vol. 14,4 (2011): 295-307.
The damask rose originated in Damascus, Syria, Persia, Alexandria and sixteenth century Europe. Damask rose is currently also cultivated in Europe, Iran, Turkey, Russia and India.
Harkness, Peter. The Rose: An Illustrated History. Buffalo, NY: Firefly, 2003. Print.
Avizienis, Audra. Essential Oils: Essential Oil and Aromatherapy Recipes for Wellness, Beauty, and a Healthy Home. United States, Printers Row, 2019.
Das, Kuntal. Essential Oils and Their Applications. India, New India Publishing Agency, 2013.
Houghton, Marlene. Essential Oils & Aromatherapy: Your Personal Guide. United States, Wellfleet Press, 2018.
Kynes, Sandra. Llewellyn's Complete Book of Essential Oils: How to Blend, Diffuse, Create Remedies, and Use in Everyday Life. United States, Llewellyn Worldwide, Limited, 2019.
Mojay, Gabriel. Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit: Restoring Emotional and Mental Balance with Essential Oils. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts, 1999. Print.
Curtis, Susan, et al. Essential Oils: All-natural Remedies and Recipes for Your Mind, Body and Home. United States, DK Publishing, 2016.
Neals Yard Remedies. Essential Oils. 1st ed. N.p.: DK, 2016. Print.
Godfrey, Heather Dawn. Healing with Essential Oils: The Antiviral, Restorative, and Life-Enhancing Properties of 58 Plants. United States, Inner Traditions/Bear, 2022.
Gailing, Stephanie. The Complete Guide to Astrological Self-Care. United States, Wellfleet Press, 2021.
Curtis, Susan, et al. Natural Beauty: Natural Makeup, Soothing Therapies, Homemade Preparations. United Kingdom, DK Publishing, 2015.