I personally think rose is enjoying a revival in skin care.

An esthy friend recently mentioned that her spa offered nothing for people with rosacea, a skin condition that’s on the rise today especially among women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. Because their line’s rosacea products smelled like rose, the scent put off the product buyer, so she never ordered anything. Having rosacea herself, my friend encouraged the buyer to order the products, and now these are some of their best-selling items.

But I can see the buyer’s concern. A lot of people associate the smell of roses with well, their great grandma. Still, the true scent of rose, not the fake perfume rose we may be used to, is young, fresh, and full of promise. And it turns out this scent isn’t the only thing that’s good about true rose. It’s actually a great rosacea ingredient, for its calming and antiseptic properties.

Yesterday I met an esthy named Promila who sold me some of her used spa equipment. I can’t even guess at an age, but her skin was fabulous… plump and youthful. She is Indian, and uses rose water on her face twice a day after cleansing, as a toner, and keeps a tiny bottle in her purse to spritz on throughout the day. I’ve recently started using the rose-based products from San Francisco’s Duchess Marden (which is in turn inspired by the creator’s trip to India and her introduction there to real rose water). They’re spendy, so I purchased mine on sale at a great skin care sample sale site called The Skinny. Or you could just order the brand Promila sells, which is also made from pure Damask Rose in India.

If you pick a different brand, be sure what you buy is an actual hydrosol and not water with perfume added or essential oils blended in. True rose floral water is actually the condensed steam that results from the distillation of rose essential oil, so it carries some properties of the actual plant. Only hydrosols are truly gentle enough to use on the face several times daily, and perfumed water will have none of these therapeutic benefits for your skin.