Category Archives: Enriching oils

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Rosehip, take 2

Regular readers will already know how much I love putting rosehip on my face. So consider this an update to my previous post here.

Rosehip oil is rich in Essential Fatty Acids – primarily Omegas 3 and 6. Omega 6, otherwise known as Gamma Linoleic Acid, is also found in Evening Primrose, Starflower and Blackcurrant seed oil (all of which you’ve no doubt spotted in skincare ingredients lists and advice on healthy diets and supplements). GLA helps to heal scar tissue, making rosehip a perfect ingredient for those with uneven skin pigmentation, acne scars, or those whose skin tends to mark very easily (subtext: those who, like me, tend to pick at spots. For shame. Hang your heads…). Rosehip oil also contains trans-retinoic acid, which is a natural form of Vitamin A; a key ingredient in anti-ageing.

All-in-all, I love it and have been putting it on my face, in one form or another, for about a year now. Just recently, I’ve been trying out a couple of new things so I’m introducing them here as other ‘rosehip’ options for those who share the love.

Rio Rosa Mosqueta oil**

The folks at Rio Rosa Mosqueta source their rosehip oil from high up in the Chilean Andes; the particular type of rose is Rosa Affinis Rubiginosa (for any botanists out there). I used it consistently for about 8-9 weeks and didn’t notice any reaction or change in the overall health of my skin – which is what I hoped for, because my skin was rosehipped to the hilt and all I really wanted to establish was whether the Rio Rosa product caused any decline.

As with all rosehip oils, just a few drops warmed in the palm of your hands and pressed lightly into the skin will do it. And I don’t think there’s anything separating the performance of the Rio Rosa rosehip oil from the Trilogy product I was using immediately before.

If I was forced to make a choice, I think my Pai rosehip oil just takes the edge. It contains concentrated rosehip fruit oil as well as the seed oil. Rio Rosa’s oil is fairly light in colour and quite runny or liquidy. The pai rosehip oil is gloopier and more like the colour of honey. For some inexplicable reason, I just prefer this – maybe psychologically, it just feels like there’s more in there. It also has a stronger grassy smell, like the Trilogy oil, whereas the Rio Rosa oil has almost no fragrance at all. Rosehip is a divisive smell so if you’re not keen, the Rio Rosa oil is definitely for you.

In short, the Rio Rosa Mosqueta oil is definitely one I’d recommend. If you’re looking to incorporate rosehip oil into your facial skincare routine, it’s worth trying a couple of brands before fixing on the one that suits you and your skin best. The three brands I most recommend for straight-up rosehip oil are Pai, Trilogy and Rio Rosa Mosqueta.

One final point. If any of you are interested in the science bit, there’s a really interesting page on Rio Rosa’s website which details some of the recent clinical trials on rosehip oil.

Available online for £10.49 for 20ml. There’s also a list of stockists on the Rio Rosa website.

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REN Bio Retinoid Anti-Ageing Concentrate

This isn’t a rosehip oil, per se. It’s a blended oil treatment with rosehip oil as one of its primary active ingredients. And it’s pricey. I reckon I’d probably not have rushed out and bought it for myself. (It was actually a free gift with a magazine subscription.)

Having said all that, it’s good. Really good.

It’s billed as an anti-ageing product because of the Vitamin A component (that’s the ‘Retinoid’ bit in the name). There’s no disputing Vitamin A works; it’s just not always an option for those with more delicate skin. REN’s concentrate gets my vote because its Vitamin A comes from natural sources – in this case, Andean Musk Rose Seed Oil and Sea Buckthorn berry flesh; much gentler options for sensitive skins.

In addition to that, it contains something called ‘Retinoid Analogue’ from Brazilian White Beggar’s Stick Flower, which apparently boosts collagen, corrects skin tone and repairs sun damage. If it does that, it’s a wonder product but I’ve no idea what retinoid analogue is (non-digital retinoid??) and I’ve never heard of the White Beggar Stick Flower.

South American stick flowers aside, I have very much enjoyed using this and I’d happily use it again in the future if I was feeling flush, as an alternative to my usual rosehip oil. It’s a rich, orangey oil with a nice gloopy feel and you need just five drops warmed in your palms and pressed into your skin. I use it nightly under my moisturiser – currently Antipodes Vanilla Pod Hydrating Day Cream (which is wonderful). Anti-ageing benefits will need to wait another couple of years (or ten) to assess, but it’s made my skin feel brighter, softer and calmer. And I get that lovely fresh-faced gleam along my cheekbones, which lasts all day.

Available from REN’s website, for £42, or from Beauty Expert for £37.80

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Ingredients: Rosa Rubiginosa Seed Oil, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Gossypium Harbaceum (Cotton) Seed Oil, Bidens Pilosa Extract, Hippophae Rhamnoides (Sea buckthorn) Fruit Extract, Parfum (Fragrance)*, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Linalool.

*100% Natural Fragrance

**Disclaimer: The people at Rio Rosa Mosqueta were kind enough to send me a sample of their rosehip oil to try out. I’m featuring it here because I have no problem recommending it to others.

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Oil of the month: Rosehip

Oil of the month for March is Rosehip and if you’ve been paying any attention to developments in natural skincare, you’ll not have missed the fact that rosehip is everybody’s new oil darling.

It’s a powerhouse for facial skincare because it helps to promote skin repair, which has positive implications for anti-ageing. Rich in phytonutrients, essential fatty acids and vitamins such as trans-retinoic acid (or Vitamin A), it helps to reduce the appearance of scars, stretchmarks and fine lines. It can also act as a complexion booster, helping to brighten dry, dull or dehydrated skin.

If you look closely, you’ll spot rosehip on the ingredients lists of many skincare products. It’s pressed from the seeds of the rosehip bush and there’s more than one variety out there – Rosa moschata, Rosa rubiginosa and the wild variety ‘Dog rose’ or Rosa canina. Both Trilogy and Pai have built their product range around this core ingredient.

The easiest way to benefit though is to use the pure, organic oil as an intensive facial treatment. If you’ve got oily or normal skin, that may be all you need as a moisturiser; if you’ve got dry or dehydrated skin (like mine), you’ll probably want to layer a complementary moisturiser over the top. Just rub a few drops between your palms and press gently into your face and neck.

To really enhance the effects, work it in with some gentle facial massage – one of the most effective ways to improve your complexion and increase the luminosity of the skin. It brings blood to the surface, which carries with it a nice hit of oxygen and nutrients to feed your face!

Start with some upward sweeping movements on your cheeks. Then hook your fingers under the zygomatic bone (posh word for cheek bone – I’m practising my anatomy terminology, sorry!) and gently sweep your fingertips outwards, from your nose to your temples. You can also work your jawline by stroking your fingers from your chin upwards and outwards to the top of your jaw bone (can’t remember the name for that one…!) and your forehead by pulling your fingers outwards in alternate strokes from your eyebrows up to your hairline. Disperse the fluids that lead to puffiness around the eyes by making gentle circles with your ring finger around the eye socket. Then finish by lighting tapping your fingertips all over your face to help bring blood to the surface.

The following brands offer rosehip oil, although it’s clear from a bit of online research that Pai is setting the gold standard for many people:

  • Pai Rosehip Bioregenerate Blend (currently £20 delivered on Naturisimo)
  • A’Kin Pure Radiance Rosehip Oil (currently £11 delivered on Naturisimo)
  • Trilogy Organic Rosehip Oil (currently from £14.50 delivered on Naturisimo)
  • Balm Balm Rosehip Serum (currently £13.25 delivered on Naturisimo)
  • Melvita Rosehip Oil (currently £16.20 delivered on Naturisimo)

You can also get cold-pressed rosehip oil from aromatherapy stockists:

I use it as an enricher when doing facial massage by adding a few drops to a good facial base oil such as apricot or peach kernel. If you wanted to make a more sophisticated blend using rosehip oil, you could try one of these:

  • For anti-ageing: 25ml of apricot or peach kernel oil, 5ml rosehip oil, 5 ml evening primrose oil, 4 drops frankincense, 4 drops petitgrain, 3 drops rose
  • For dry or dehydrated skin: 25ml of apricot or peach kernel oil, 5 ml rosehip oil, 5ml wheatgerm oil, 4 drops Roman chamomile, 3 drops rose, 3 drops sandalwood

One final note. Remember that no ingredient – natural or otherwise – is a miracle worker. A lot of skincare advertising bangs on at length about ‘instant’ results and ‘transformations’. Rosehip is a powerful oil, but you’ll need time to see true results. Most people would need to use the oil for at least 6-8 weeks to see a noticeable difference in the tone or texture of their skin.

Rosehips (Image courtesy of Pai Skincare - one of the natural brands making best use of this skincare powerhouse)

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Oil(s) of the month: Evening Primrose and Borage

My first ‘oil of the month’ and it’s a double whammy. I decided I couldn’t separate these two, so I’ve stuck them in together.

Evening primrose oil is pressed from the seeds of the yellow flower. This isn’t a cheap oil, so it’s not one I’d use for a full body massage. However, it makes a really excellent supplement to a massage treatment and it’s also great for an intensive home facial treatment.

Like most intensive oils, evening primrose is particularly good for dry, under-nourished skin. Over time, repeated use can even help to heal facial blemishes, encourage cell renewal and improve the texture of the skin.

Borage oil is also pressed from the seeds of the plant’s star-shaped, blue flowers (which is why you might see it referred to as Starflower oil – they’re the same thing). Again, it’s better as a concentrated treatment for the face or in as an enriching agent in a blend for the body. Like evening primrose, it’s also particularly good at nourishing dry skin, improving the texture of ageing or wrinkled skin and helping to soothe sensitive skin.

It’s also worth remembering that you can take both oils as supplements. They’re both rich in gamma linolenic acids – important for maintaining healthy skin and balanced hormones. They can be really useful supplements if you’re prone to breast tenderness in the run up to your period, although you’ll need to take one or both for at least 3-4 months before you can expect to notice a significant difference.

Remember too that the capsules you take as supplements are just little bubbles of the same oil that you put on your skin. I regularly use a capsule worth of oil for a quick and intensive night treatment, or a nourishing facial treat while I’m wallowing in a hot bath. Just pierce the capsule and squeeze out the oil. Rub the oil into your hands and then press gently onto your skin. One capsule is usually more than enough for the entire face, neck and decolletage.

Or you could add the contents of a capsule to a cheaper base oil – such as sweet almond or sunflower – to create a simple, but effective, body moisturiser.

The following are good stockists for supplements and/or cold-pressed oil:

Remember to check that your stockist specifies that the oil is cold pressed to ensure you’re getting the better quality oil, rich in the goodness you’re after. And try to go organic where possible.

The 'starflower' (photo courtesy of recommended supplier Materia Aromatica)