If you follow me on social media, you probably know that I've become obsessed with roses over the last year. I've always liked the aroma, but something happened this year and I really fell in love! From wild roses to rose extracts, rose tea to rose balm, I can't seem to get enough.
"Roses for the [spiritual] heart", I kept saying.
Early in the year, I knew I wanted to create a new facial care line called Coming Up Roses. For anyone unfamiliar, "coming up roses" is an idiom meaning that things are great, life is great. This isn't something that I say in conversation, so I'm not sure how it came up, but it seemed the obvious choice when I wanted to make a rose-based line. Roses just make things better.
Roses for the heart.
At the onset of the summer, I made a list of carrier oils I wanted to work with. I already knew I wanted to use argan oil (I know, I didn't think I'd ever use it, but then I found a really nice raw oil and loved it!). I wanted the oil to be rich, but absorb well into skin, including the most delicate skin around the eyes. I tested a few more adventurous carrier oils, but settled on an oil I've wanted to work with for a while: meadowfoam seed. These two oils, argan and meadowfoam, had the richness I was looking for, but absorbed a little too quickly. The blend needed another oil that provided a little slip, or ability to glide across the skin. Jojoba (my favorite!) was a perfect match, so by the end of the summer, I was experimenting with different percents of each oil in the blend.
While I was working on the carrier oil, I was exploring different species of rose essential oils and extracts. I loved every one, but I had a few favorites that I really wanted to work with. One was an organic rose otto (essential oil) from Bulgaria, an area famous for producing rose ottos and extracts, the other a soft, sweet rose extract from Morocco. For an earthy balance (and added antioxidants), I blended the roses with carrot seed oil.
One use and I was hooked. Roses for the heart.
It took some tweaking for the final product, and a month of constant use so I could be sure it was ready for release, but I was in love from the beginning. I love this oil so much, I sometimes add a drop or two to my face midday just so I can smell it. It makes my skin feel good, look good, and it comforts me.
Roses for the heart.
XoXo,
Lisa