Rose Recipes for Health and Beauty

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The following is a guest post by Michelle Van Doren, from Seeking Joyful Simplicity. 

I have to admit… I have a love – hate relationship with roses. On one hand, they are so beautiful, on the other hand, most of them are thorny and they require a lot of work to maintain. But after reading Michelle’s post and learning about all the wonderful health benefits of roses, I think I might start a small rose patch…

Romance, love, beauty, sophistication, and eternal youth; the majestic beauty of the rose has a way of capturing our imaginations. But roses offer so much more than their beauty and fragrance. Let me share ways you can use roses for health and beauty, and some delightful rose recipes.

Roses for Health and Beauty

Rose petals have an astringent quality, making them wonderful for toning and tightening our skin. Their anti-inflammatory properties help soothe the skin and are wonderful for conditions like eczema, acne, and psoriasis.

Roses are beneficial for more than just our skin, and roses have a long history of use as food and medicine. During medieval times, roses were grown for food, medicine, fragrance, and beauty, and today you can find many delicious and elegant recipes celebrating the beautiful rose.

All parts of the rose offer benefits, including the flowers, petals, rosehips, root, root bark, and essential oils. When choosing roses for making food, medicine, or skin care, use only organically grown roses. If you are unable to harvest your own, find a good resource for purchasing dried rose petals or rosehips. Roses with the most fragrance make the best medicine.

Nutritionally, roses are best known for their high vitamin C content, especially concentrated in the rosehips, which form after the bloom and are the fruit of the rose. Rosehips can be used fresh or dried, and make a lovely addition to your herbal teas, especially at the beginning of a cold.

Have you stopped to smell the roses lately? Scent is a powerful thing, and the delicate aroma of the rose can alter our mood in an instant. Herbalists commonly use roses to support those suffering from a broken heart, grief, or sadness. Rose is frequently added to tea blends for its beauty and healing properties.

Over the centuries, roses have been used for the following:

• antidepressant
• antispasmodic
• aphrodisiac
• astringent
• antibacterial
• antiviral
• antiseptic
• anti-inflammatory
• blood tonic
• cleansing
• digestive stimulant
• expectorant
• increase bile production
• kidney tonic
• menstrual regulator
• treatment of eye conditions

The energy of the rose, like many medicinal plants, is fluid and elegant and has a way of adjusting to the body’s needs. Roses can calm our spirit, reduce nervous tension, relieve sadness and depression, and reduce inflammation throughout the body. Spiritually and emotionally, the rose offers profound effects.

There are so many delightful ways to enjoy roses for health and beauty. Here are some fun rose recipes for you to try.

Rose Recipes

Rose Elixir – Herbalist Kiva Rose shares how to make a lovely rose elixir on Herb Mentor. Rose elixir is an elegant beverage and offers profound benefits. Kiva, and many herbalists, believe roses have the ability to relieve trauma, grief, depression, and anxiety.

Immune-Boosting Rosehip, Hibiscus, and Ginger Tea – The Joy Kitchen shows us her simple and delicious recipe for an immune-boosting herbal tea using rosehips, hibiscus, and ginger.

Rose Syrup – Seed to Pantry shares her recipe for making your own rose syrup. This beautiful, aromatic rose syrup can be added to sparkling water, drizzled over ice-cream, and much more!

Old-Fashioned Sugared Rose Petals – Tori Avey shows us the steps to making old-fashioned Sugared Rose Petals. The sugared petals are wonderful used as edible decorations for cakes, pastries, and cookies. The rose sugar that is left once you remove the sugared petals is a special treat in tea, lemonade, or in baking.

Rose Petal Jam – Sylvia shares her experience with making rose petal jam. (Her photos are gorgeous!) What a delightful way to enjoy rose petals, and such a lovely gift to give or receive.

Rose Honey, Rose Vinegar, Rose Tincture, Rose Oil, and Rose Water – I only recently learned to appreciate all the wonder, beauty, and benefits of the elegant rose. At the herb farm last summer, my teacher Krista had us created a variety of rose products, including rose-infused honey, rose vinegar, rose tincture, rose elixir, rose oil and rose water. There are so many ways to enjoy roses as food and medicine. One taste and you will realize just how special roses are. You can read more about Roses as Food and Medicine – Six Recipes for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Healing

Rose Water and Facial Toner – Nourishing Joy has instructions for making rose water and homemade facial toners.

Energizing Rose Water Face Mist – Momtastic shares her energizing DIY rose water face mist.

There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

For thousands of years, roses have been powerful symbols associated with love and beauty. Not only are roses an elegant way to say “I love you”, they offer extraordinary health benefits, both for our bodies and our spirits. I encourage you to enjoy the profound gifts the rose has to offer – for health, beauty, aroma – and because you deserve it.

~Michelle

Michelle writes about her adventures in downsizing her life, homesteading, and finding practical ways to enjoy a healthy, creative, and contented life. You can find her at Seeking Joyful Simplicity.com  and on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.