Macération solaire à la rose de mai - Les Mauvaises Herbes

Posted by Les Mauvaises Herbes

May rose solar maceration

May rose: fragrant, but not only!

The may rose is a hybrid rose variety resulting from the cross between four species of rose: the French rose (Rosa gallica), the musk rose (Rosa moschata), the Damask rose (Rosa damascena) and the dog rose (Rosa canina. Nicknamed the "may rose" because it is harvested during the month of May, it is also called the Grasse rose (the historic birthplace of the art of perfumery), or by its botanical name, Rosa centifolia.

First cultivated for its fragrance, it is increasingly used for its cosmetic properties. Particularly appreciated by sensitive and mature skin, the different rose petal extracts (oil maceration, hydrosol and essential oil) are endowed with soothing, repairing, and regenerating properties.

The extraction of hydrosol and essential oil requires rather expensive equipment, but the making of an oil maceration is within everyone's reach!

Pregnancy, breastfeeding, children? No special precautions to take! May rose maceration can be used on children and babies, and during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

What is a solar maceration?

Solar maceration is an oil maceration of plant(s) that uses the heat of the sun to extract its cosmetic and therapeutic properties and transfer them into a vegetable oil, called a "carrier" oil. It is a "hot" maceration, but one that takes place through the gentle and diffuse heat of the sun's rays, rather than the more direct heat of a double boiler. This method extracts the properties of plants more effectively, according to some.

The preparation is, of course, done in the warm season (let's say that in the middle of the Quebec winter, it's not the ideal time!) and the extraction takes several weeks.

This technique is indicated for all types of plants, but some appreciate it even more than others, like St. John's wort. This method would allow more hypericin to be extracted, the active principle behind its properties, resulting in a red and concentrated maceration!

If you want to know more about making oil macerations in general, check out our chronicle Herbalism 101: make your own oil maceration.

The making

Place dried rose petals in a clean glass jar, equipped with an airtight lid. If making the maceration with fresh flowers, they must be left to dry for at least one day so that they lose some of their moisture. Then pour a vegetable oil over the petals until they are covered by at least 1 cm of oil.

One chooses a carrier oil that is quite resistant to rancidity, such as sunflower, fractionated coconut or jojoba oils; other more delicate oils would easily go rancid and thus lose their shelf life and properties during the maceration process.

Then close the jar tightly and place it outside in a sunny spot, but ideally sheltered from the rain and squirrel attacks!

Expose the jar directly to the sun's rays? No! It is important to cover the jar with opaque paper or fabric ; we want the sun's heat, but not its direct light, which is a bit too generous and could accelerate the rancidity of the oil.

24 hours later, open the jar to drain the residual water that may have evaporated from the petals (especially if the petals used were fresh). Also check if the oil still covers the rose petals. If the petals have absorbed too much of the oil and are sticking out above its surface, add more oil to cover them with a good centimeter. Close the jar again, covering it once more with the opaque paper or fabric.

Leave it to rest and macerate gently for 3 to 6 weeks. Every two days, shake the jar to move the petals.

When the maceration period is over, filter our maceration with a cheesecloth, a nut milk bag or a fine fabric, pressing well to remove as much oil as possible. Pour the oil into an amber bottle with a cap, with a pump or with a dropper.

How to use rose maceration?

Rose maceration is used simply as a treatment oil for the face and the body. It is also an excellent eye contour care or after-sun oil! Its firming effect also makes it an ideal oil for bust care.

It can also be incorporated into body butter, cream, or serum recipes, replacing the base vegetable oil of a given recipe. We suggest incorporating it into our recipes for super rescue balm for (almost!) everything, mango and petitgrain summer face butter or even in the light moisturizing cream with mango butter and orange blossom.

Differentiating rose products

Plants of the Rosaceae family offer us several highly appreciated by-products in cosmetics, and it can be complicated to find your way around! To succeed with a recipe, we must know what type of ingredient we are dealing with to use it properly.

Rose oil maceration

As seen here, it is an oil infused with rose petals with soothing, repairing, regenerating, and firming properties. It can be used as is, in a cosmetic treatment, or incorporated into recipes!

Rose hydrosol

A hydrosol is an aqueous liquid extracted by steam distillation. Rose hydrosol is mostly extracted from Damask rose petals (Rosa damascena), but sometimes also from may rose (Rosa centifolia. It is appreciated for its cosmetic properties for mature, dry or irritated skin. It can be included in recipes (cream, aqueous serum, tonic) or sprayed directly on the face skin.

Attention! We often see the terms "rose floral water" and "rose water". They are sometimes real hydrosols, but it can also be water in which rose essential oil or rose absolute has been diluted, or sometimes natural essence or artificial rose fragrance.

Rose essential oil

Like hydrosols, essential oils are extracted by distillation. They represent the volatile aromatic molecules present in a plant, and since they are very light, they float on the surface of the hydrosol after distillation. We most often distill Damask rose petals, and sometimes may rose petals.

Essential oil is composed 100% of active principles. It is therefore very concentrated and a tiny amount is needed in a recipe, that is, a concentration of 0.5% for face care. It is very regenerating, revitalizing, toning and cicatrizing. It is often the star of luxury cosmetic treatments!

Since several thousand flowers are needed for the distillation of 1 ml of essential oil, authentic rose essential oil is among the most expensive on the market, but it is possible to find it pre-diluted in a vegetable oil to make its price a bit more digestible!

Rose absolute

Similar to essential oil, absolute is a concentrate of aromatic molecules extracted by solvent. In the past (before the 1930s), absolute was extracted by enfleurage: flowers were infused in animal fat and the perfume was then extracted in alcohol by decantation. Nowadays, other solvents are used, which makes the process much less laborious.

Absolute does not have cosmetic properties. It is used in perfumery or to flavor cosmetics.

Rosehip oil

This oil comes from the pressing of seeds of a musk rose variety (that is Rosa rubiginosa,Rosa canina or Rosa mosqueta). Although these shrubs are part of the same family as roses (Rosaceae), they are more closely related to the dog rose. The pressed oil does not have the smell of a rose since it is extracted from the seeds. It has rather a light nutty smell. It is a cicatrizing, firming and repairing oil.