June is the prime time of the year to admire blooming roses. In London, Queen’s Mary rose garden, in Regent’s Park is the largest with 12,000 flowers planted within the gardens. Also, the rose garden in Hyde Park and Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew are worth paying a visit. And most of the home gardens and local parks has some beautiful roses on display.
Rose scent has uplifting and relaxing properties, known not only as an aphrodisiac but also anti-depressant. Its fragrance brings good mood and happy feelings. Rose is widely used in perfumery, aromatherapy and beauty treatments. It is one of the oldest, most precious and expensive essential oils. Rose essential oil has rejuvenating and healing effects on skin, is very beneficial for mature or prone to broken capillaries skin. It soothes and calms any stress related problems. Can be use to treat digestive disorders, infertility, menopause problems. According to Susan Curtis in her “Essential oils” book, using rose helps us understand the human nature, become more tolerant and open to love.
Using rose essential oil has a long tradition and it still remains one of the most expensive oils to produce. There are two main species of roses grown for the rose oil production: the damask rose grown in Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Iran and the cabbage rose grown in France, Morocco, Egypt. The Rose Valley near Kazanlak, in Bulgaria is one of the centres growing roses for the rose oil essential production in Europe. Every June, they celebrate the beauty of roses during The Rose Festival which is filled with folklore customs and rose picking rituals. Must be fun!
I have made an attempt to make rose petals macerated oil by filling the jar with petals and covering them with an almond oil. I have kept it on the windowsill but later read that petals should be changed every few days which I haven’t been doing at all. I might just leave it as it is and see how it turns out in about 2 weeks time. Will definitely add few drops of rose essential oil.
Do you remember to stop and smell the roses?
Beautywhizz 