Rose oil is a fragrant and beneficial ingredient in some skin care products. It is an essential oil derived from the petals of Rosa Damascena.

Rose oil is used in a number of skin care products, but is not extremely common because it is expensive and dehydrating to some skin types.

To see if rose oil is right for your skin care regimen, take our questionnaire and shop by your Baumann Skin Type.

Rose oil, Rosa Damascena, is a fragrant essential oil derived from rose petals.

Rose oil has been used in fragrances for thousands of years, but is not omnipresent in modern day skin products.

When it is used in cosmetic products for its fragrance, it is usually in a diluted form or low concentration. This is why it is often seen at the end of the ingredient list on the product label.

Rose oil It is an essential oil with a nearly non-existent level of fatty acids, meaning it is not a true oil.

However, it still has many properties that are considered beneficial for skin care like anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and skin lightening properties.

Rose oil can be found in a wide variety of skin care products from massage oils to cleansers, but it is not nearly as common in skin care as other flower oils like sunflower seed oil, evening primrose oil, or rosehip oil.

The main reason rose oils are not super common in skin care is because they:

• are not affordable
• lack hydrating fatty acids
• can damage dry skin.

Rose oil is predominantly used as a fragrance in skin care.

It is also used as a preservative because of its anti-microbial activity and is even used in some HIV treatments through oral consumption. ⁽¹⁾

Another commonly used antimicrobial oil in skin care is tea tree oil.

Rose oil is not often used as a hydrating face oil because it does not have any moisturizing fatty acids or many of the other beneficial features typical of true oils.

Some moisturizers use rose oil in small concentrations for fragrance.

Many product types like cleansers use rose oils for their anti-microbial nature.

Some sunscreens use rose oil for its UV protective properties ^(2).

Skin lightening gels use rose oil as it is a weak tyrosinase inhibitor that stops the production of the pigment, melanin. ⁽³⁾

If you're wondering if rose oil is right for your skin, take the Baumann Skin Type questionnaire, and shop by your skin type!

Rose oil has many benefits when used on the face and body.

Four of the most notable benefits of rose oil in skin care are:

1. Antimicrobial (anti-bacterial, anti-viral)
2. Skin lightening (tyrosinase inhibition)
3. UV Protection ⁽²⁾
4. Fragrance

Rose oil is not dangerous for the skin unless you are allergic to roses.

It is possible to have an allergic reaction to rose oil.

Rose oil is completely safe for use in skin care unless you have an allergy to it.

The EWG rating for rose oil is "3" which basically means "not the safest," but that is based entirely on its status as a common allergen.

It does not affect your hormones, is not toxic, and is safe during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

Rose oil is an essential oil extracted from flower petals.

It lacks any significant concentration of fatty acids, so it is not a true oil, neither saturated nor unsaturated.

Rose oil is not a hydrating or moisturizing oil, unlike evening primrose oil or rosehip oils.

Rose and rosehip oils come from two different flowers and have different INCI names on skin care labels.

Rose oil's INCI name is (Rosa Damascenas), and rosehip oil's INCI name is (Rosa Rubiginosa).

Rosehip oil is derived from Argentinian, fruiting rose bush seeds.

Rosehip oils derived from these seeds are rich in beneficial fatty acids for skin care like linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, and even some saturated fatty acids like myristic acid.

Rosehip oil also contains oleic acid.

This means that comparatively, rosehip oil is by far better for dry skin than rose oil is.

There really aren't any significant levels of fatty acids present in rose oil besides a small concentration of one long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid which seems to have a positive impact on neuron function. ⁽¹⁾

Using rose oils for their fatty acids is a dead end; however other kinds of roses and flowers like evening primrose, safflower, and sunflowers all contain beneficial fatty acids for skin care.

As rose oil lacks hydrating or reparative fatty acids, the only functions rose oil would have in hair care are killing bacteria and imparting fragrance.

If your hair is dry or otherwise damaged, oils like coconut oil would be better for your hair.

Hair is made of thick proteins that need to be hydrated to stay healthy, just like the rest of your body.

Rose oil is used in multiple products to treat dark spots or other kinds of hyperpigmentation. It is a weak tyrosinase inhibitor.

Rose oil can also be used in products designed for melasma or PIH.

There are no indications that rose oil is unsafe for pregnancy, which means it might work for your regimen if you are looking to treat melasma while pregnant.

Rose oil, like other tyrosinase inhibitors, can be paired with a PAR-2 blocker like niacinamide for increased skin lightening effects.

If you have an allergy to rose, make sure your skin lightener does not list "Rosa Damascena" as an ingredient.

Here are some of our favorite skin care products containing rose oil! Be sure to shop by your Baumann Skin Type, because rose oil may be right for your skin!

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