Rose Hip Oil

I can't believe how long it's been since the last post--mea mea culpa. I will do better.

For those of you who bought one of our apothecary roses before we closed, here's something to do with those big rose hips. (I found the idea at wildcraftvita.com). 

This is the first good year of bloom for my rose so there was only about a cup of hips to pick (which I wasn't too sad about because this is a thorny rose!)  I stemmed both ends, and washed the fruit. I cut each in half (wouldn't have if there'd been more).

The original recipe used jojoba, olive, and wheat germ oils, but I tried it with my own favorites--coconut and castor oil. In the past, I discovered that wheat germ oil dried my skin, and olive oil's downside is that it goes rancid. Both coconut and castor are unbelievably stable. They can be kept outside the fridge without going rancid--both are anti microbial, no little bugs or viruses are going to grow in them (huge amount about their beneficial properties online if you're curious). Coconut oil is solid at temps below 76 degrees, but melts readily, in warm water or your hands. Castor oil can be drying, so I used less, but it's a transporter, and can carry nutrients deeper into the skin, so I wanted to use some.

 I used about 5 oz of the coconut oil, 1 oz of castor oil, and about one cup of rose hips. The mix needs to go into a heavy double boiler, and simmers for six to eight hours. The recipe said that pink drops of oil would appear floating in the mix when the seed gave up its oil--I didn't see this, but there was a wonderful fruity fragrance, like jam cooking, which persists in the finished product.

After eight hours, I cooled the mix, then strained it in cheesecloth. The yield fit into one of my (clean) brown glass vitamin bottles which will protect it from light. I'm going to find one with a wide mouth because I decided to go ahead and keep it in the fridge reasoning that hips are high in vitamin c which doesn't necessarily keep well. The coconut oil hardened up in the fridge despite the castor oil which actually makes it less messy (once I remelt it, and put it in that wide mouth jar). I slather it on my face and neck morning and night. Guessing it won't get rid of wrinkles, but my skin is happy--and the results equal what I saw using those unbelievably expensive commercial products--so my purse is happy too.

One reason I wanted to try this recipe was because I've been making a mix of coconut, castor, fresh aloe (which is a whole different animal from the processed), and powdered vitamin c--but even in tiny quantities, it goes off before I use it. Doesn't get rancid, but the aloe sours, so now I'm just rubbing a slice of aloe on my skin every day, again huge benefits. And the dissolved vitamin c still had a slightly gritty feel when I rubbed the oil in.

I saved some seed which is curing in the icebox with all the other seed that requires chilling. I like the apothecary rose so much, I want more. I'll also take some cuttings, but haven't had as much luck with those. Now, if I can just get the

photos to upload, They'll be on the Mountain Gardens Facebook page if not...