Sex, Lies and Science (and Rose)

Sex, Lies and Science (and Rose)

Ahhh … the romance of rose petals as a surprise from your loved one. A sprinkling of petals would pique your interest. An intriguing trail of precious petals would delight you. What would the petals of 10,000 roses do for you? It would collapse your bed and might just literally be a home-wrecker.

The intelligent and thrifty romantic may choose, instead, to put the equivalent of 10,000 rose buds on your pillow – 5 milliliters of Rose essential oil. Real roses die. Rose essential oil is not quite eternal, but it does have a shelf life of three to five years with its chemical constituents of monoterpenols and phenols.

Roses are beautiful and valuable. Sadly, because of the expense, there are unscrupulous sellers of rose oil … those who add extenders and don’t disclose that fact (gasp!). Some will dilute with Geranium (also known as Rose Geranium) essential oil. A rose by any other name, especially rose geranium, is not a rose … it’s a geranium … a completely different flower. Bad guys might also use Palmarosa essential oil, which is another dishonest way to cheapen Rose. Dishonestly extending an essential oil is also known as “adulteration” … and you don’t want an adulterous adulteress Rose the home-wrecking hussy in your bed.

No more talk about Rose the home-wrecker here. Our lovely Rose essential oil, the pure one, is not only a lover, she’s a friend. Another of Rose’s friends is already one of your buddies – dopamine. When you sniff the scent of Rose, it is known to prompt the production and release of dopamine.

Hmmm, are you unfamiliar with this friend? Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. The reason it is your friend is that it, well, “neuro-transmits”* messages in your brain to assist in controlling the brain’s reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine is a key to your emotional responses and even the movement of your body. These factors help add up to our ability to control our emotional impulses.

Rose, in the way it benefits our brains, is similar to Frankincense. Frankincense can pass the blood-brain barrier but (ALERT: this may look a bit like an apples-to-oranges comparison) dopamine cannot pass the blood-brain barrier. However, a related compound to dopamine, conveniently named L-dopa, can squeeze through the barrier and then … TAA DAA … becomes dopamine. This conversion TAA DAA, however, is a scientific explanation beyond my pay grade and English degree.

All that to geek out and say that Rose is similar to Frankincense essential oil because it can help us emotionally, especially with stress, anxiety, depression, grief and trauma. Ladies will appreciate this because of its balancing effect on hormonal issues such as menstruation, PMS and menopause. The gentle nature of Rose, being non-toxic, non-irritating and non-sensitizing, can even help with childbirth and newborns – but always use with proper dilution.

Oh, so many ways Rose essential oil wants to be your friend but, like some buddies, a little goes a long way. Her fragrance can be overpowering so; just a little drop should do the job. Rose refreshes the skin, is remarkably both hydrating and astringent, and is non-phototoxic. She even helps improve wounds and scars. Doctor Rose is anti-lots-of-things – bacterial, fungal, inflammatory, spasmodic, viral and pro-lots-of-other-things – cleanses the blood, stimulates bile production, a lover to the liver, strengthens the heart, stomach and uterus. Doctor Rose can make a house call when you have a headache or constipation. (Note to young readers: doctors used to make house calls – they would come to your house when you were sick. IKR? Imagine that!)

How do you learn the safest ways to use Rose essential oil? Get the book or the free e-book. Foundational Aromatherapy is the book by Leiann King and Brenda Wright and is available here: 

BOOK LINK HERE!

Lest you think I deflated all of the romance out of Rose, she is a champion of love. One of her properties is as an aphrodisiac for both men and women. You might not even need a path of petals to find your bed.

*I made that word up to explain things better. I can do that. I have an English degree. I even looked it up on dictionary.com and nope, it wasn’t there. I wanted to make sure because, hey, I didn’t want to adulterate my blog post.

Written by by Lori (Roberts) Wilson.