The 5,000-Year History of Roses for Cosmetic Beauty

Ancient Egyptians used to boil down roses to make cosmetics and healing balm, and they infused rose scent into their oils to cleanse and protect their skin.

The Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans are known to have cultivated enormous public rose gardens as far back as 5,000 years ago to support their extensive rose beauty traditions.

But it wasn’t until 10th century Persia that steam distillation, and a way to capture the potent intensity of the rose scent, was invented. A single gram of the precious essential oil required two thousand roses, and so signalled the beginning of rose’s rise to prominence in fine perfumes.

As time went on, the “cult” of roses expanded throughout Europe and Asia, with rose being the key to countless valuable cleansing and beauty treatments.

In 17th century Europe, certain nobility even took to trading roses as legal tender.

How valuable roses were! In fact, not much has changed. One could even say the value of true roses is increasing!

Finding That One True Rose

The difficulty and cost attached to pure rose oil has not changed much since its invention. It still takes tens of thousands of roses to produce a tiny amount of essential oil. As such, there is an unfortunate abundance of synthetic rose-scented products on the market.

These are most certainly inferior to a true rose. Because unlike many scents, which can be adequately reproduced, rose resists by its very nature.

With over 300 unique molecules, Rose is the flower with the most complicated chemical constitution in the world. A real rose scent is impossible to mimic, and this is what really makes a true rose scent so precious.

Certified Organic Rose Cosmetics

It is truly hard to find cosmetics containing the kind of high quality, natural rose ingredients we use in our product formulations.

Natural and certified organic rose ingredients are crucial in beauty products, because a fake rose will not deliver any of the time-tested beauty benefits of a true rose.

Potency is also important. We use 10 different rose ingredients, and our potency is off the charts if you choose to compare (which we are generally quite shy to do).

But my colleagues tell me I should share what I know. So let me just say, I worked for over a decade for a global natural products outsourcing operation before founding Ausganica, and I have seen the formulations for enough products to know plenty about shortcuts.

So when I started Ausganica, my goal was to be the best, and to create the highest quality cosmetics possible. This is why I use more active ingredients than I need to, and I don’t allow shortcuts.

Scientific Proof is Boosting Rose’s Desirability

Only recently have roses started to gain due recognition in the West for their beauty benefits. Like many of nature’s gifts, this was only after the flower’s scientifically-proven anti-aging effects were “discovered” and publicized.

Due to its unique combination of antioxidants, like citronellol and geraniol, pure rose oil destroys free radicals and slows down aging. It is also clinically proven to be anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. Now we know for sure this most beautiful of flowers is skin healing, restoring, balancing, and beautifying.

Rose Benefits We Like

• Extraordinary anti-inflammatory and antioxidant qualities
• Mild astringency that’s perfect for soothing and perfecting skin
• Balancing and restoring of skin’s natural pH
• Smoothes fine lines, redness, and wrinkles
• So gentle, it’s perfect for all skin types; even children’s
• Divine scent appeals broadly to both men and women

We use the precious rose liberally in three of our bestselling product collections.

• Our premium bestselling Rose Skincare collection has been dubbed the natural alternative to plastic surgery.
• Our Rose Scentherapy perfume is like no other, with 10,000 roses per crystal bottle inspiring remembrances of a loving embrace.
• Our Rose Romance collection for hair and body inspires users to fall in love again with their daily beautifying rituals.

Moreen Liao is a descendant of four generations of traditional Chinese medicine doctors. She is also a certified aromatherapist and the founder of Ausganica, a manufacturer of salon-quality, certified organic cosmetics. Visit Ausganica.