Rose oil for hair: what it is, what it does, how we blend it
Rose oil takes thousands of petals for a gram and smells like it: the deep, honeyed damask rose, the most expensive scent in the library and one that a few tenths of a percent are enough of.
| Role | Essential oil, floral family |
|---|---|
| On the label | Rosa Damascena Flower Oil |
| In our blends | Not in a signature blend yet |
| Builder limit | Up to 0.6% of a hair blend (all essential oils together: 1%) |
What it is
Steam-distilled from the petals of Rosa damascena, the oil is led by citronellol, geraniol and nerol with hundreds of trace compounds that give the real thing its depth. The yield is tiny, on the order of thousands of kilograms of petals per kilogram of oil, which is why rose is priced the way it is and why the library caps it low. It is pale yellow, can set in a cold room, and is volatile.
How it feels on hair
At 0.5% it gives a true, warm rose with a honeyed edge that lasts on the hair for hours; at the cap it is a perfume. The blend's weight and finish are unchanged.
Who reaches for it
People who want a real rose on a lengths oil and are happy to pay for it, and anyone making a gift blend. It is not in a signature blend yet.
Where it sits in our blends
No signature blend uses rose yet, which makes it one for the builder: start from a blend that is close and swap it in, or build from scratch. Every blend is weighed to the gram and the recipe is printed on the label.
How to compose with it
Essential oils share at most 1% of a hair blend; the builder allows rose up to 0.6%. Pair it with geranium (to stretch it), sandalwood or bergamot over argan or camellia with marula and baobab.
Compose with rose Find your formula
Weighed to the gram and blended to order in New Jersey, with the recipe printed on the label. For external use only; patch test before first use. Every oil, with its INCI name, is in the oil library.