Beauty Ingredient 101: Rosehips

Rosehips are my beauty ingredient of the moment, for their strong inner and outer beauty benefits. Rosehip oil is the ingredient to put on your skincare radar immediately- especially with the potential for summer sun exposure (and damage) in the coming months!

So what are rosehips? They’re simply the fruit of a Chilean wild rose plant (pictured above).

If you’ve already tested a natural skincare product with rosehip oil, I’ll bet you took note of its exceptional healing properties. It’s one of those ingredients that can reap overnight benefits for sun-damaged skin, scars, dry patches- even wrinkles. What makes it such a nourishing skin elixir? Rosehip oil is nutrient-dense (it contains trans retinoic acid, a form of vitamin A, and lycopene, plus essential fatty acids) and has a pH and molecular structure quite similar to that of our natural skin lipids. It’s quick to absorb and won’t leave a greasy residue behind, making it practical to use on all skin types.

A wonderful brand of certified organic rosehip oil is Trilogy (nearly all of their products contain organic rosehip oil, so you can’t go wrong). If you’re curious about the oil itself, check out Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil. Rosehip oil has been found to reduce the appearance of fresh scars and heal old ones and (Trilogy’s product in particular) was found to reduce scars by 41% and stretch marks by 43% when used twice daily for 12 weeks. But my guess is that you’ll like the results even sooner!

Of course that’s not all. A fun way to give your body an internal boost from the vitamin C in rosehips is through rosehip tea. It’s slightly sweet and fruity- Traditional Medicinals has a tasty, organic version.