Oils and salves
Rosehip Oil for Dry Winter Skin
Remember itching powder from the schoolyard? Those tiny hairs inside the rosehip that the big boys stuffed down your collar. The very same berry hides one of nature's softest oils for dry, tight, tired winter skin.
Rosehip is traditionally used to care for dry and flaky skin, give tired skin a glow and soften scars and uneven skin tone. The shells are full of the orange pigments called carotenoids, which give the oil its sunset colour, and those are what you draw out into the oil. It is made for evenings when your skin feels like paper after a day of wind and radiator heat.
This recipe gives you a homemade rosehip oil, also called an infusion, made from dried rosehip shells. If you want it all, blend it with a little bought rosehip seed oil, and you get the best of both the shell and the seed.
Ingredients
- 30 g dried rosehip shells without seeds and hairs (about 200 ml)
- 100 ml cold-pressed sunflower, jojoba or almond oil
- 1 tbsp rosehip seed oil (optional)
- 5 drops vitamin E oil
Equipment
- A small knife and a teaspoon
- A clean, dry jam jar
- A saucepan for a water bath and a thermometer
- A coffee filter or thin cloth
- A dark 100 ml dropper bottle
Method
- 1
Pick rosehips in September and October, ideally after the first night frost, away from roads and sprayed fields. Choose the firm, deep orange-red ones.
- 2
Cut the rosehips in half and scrape out the seeds and tiny hairs with a teaspoon. Wear gloves if you like, the hairs are pure itching powder. Rinse the shells and pat them dry.
- 3
Dry the shells completely. Either on a tray somewhere warm for one to two weeks, or in the oven at 50°C with the door ajar for four to six hours. They should rattle when you shake them. Moisture in oil means mould, so do not skip this step.
- 4
Crush the dry shells roughly in a mortar or in a closed bag with a rolling pin, and put them in the jar.
- 5
Pour the oil over so the shells are covered by at least a centimetre.
- 6
Warm infusion: stand the jar without a lid in a pan of water and keep the oil at 40 to 50°C for three to four hours, stirring now and then. Cold infusion: screw on the lid and leave the jar on the windowsill for four to six weeks. Shake it every day and say thank you.
- 7
Strain the oil through a coffee filter, not just a sieve. The filter catches the last tiny hairs so they do not end up on your face.
- 8
Stir in the rosehip seed oil and vitamin E, and pour into the dark bottle. Write the date on it.
Shelf life
about 6 months, dark and cool
Safety and good advice
Only use dried rosehips. Fresh ones contain water, and water in oil means mould and bacteria.
Always strain through a coffee filter. The tiny rosehip hairs can itch and irritate the skin, even in small amounts.
Do a patch test before using the oil on your face: one drop in the crook of your elbow, then wait a day.
Choose another oil than almond if you are allergic to nuts.
If the oil smells rancid or like old paint, it is too old. Throw it out.
Rosehip oil is a care oil, not a treatment. If you have eczema, wounds or a skin condition, talk to your doctor.
Variations
How to use it
Warm two to four drops between your palms and press them into your skin in the evening, ideally while your skin is still slightly damp after washing. Then the oil sinks in instead of sitting on top. It is also lovely on dry elbows, heels and cuticles.
More glow
Add a small handful of dried calendula flowers along with the rosehip shells. Calendula is traditionally used to calm irritated skin, and the oil turns even more golden.
For very dry skin
Use half almond oil and half avocado oil as the base. It becomes thicker and more nourishing.
For oily or blemish-prone skin
Use jojoba oil as the base. It resembles the skin's own sebum and feels light.
Scent
Rosehip oil barely smells of anything. If you want scent, add two drops of lavender or rose geranium to 100 ml, but leave it out on your face if your skin is sensitive.
How the herbs work
Rosehip shells (Rosa canina)
The star. The shells are full of carotenoids, the orange pigments that also colour carrots, and they are traditionally used to give dry, tired skin glow and softness. The vitamin C stays in the shell, because vitamin C does not dissolve in oil, but it is the colour and the fatty compounds your skin is after here.
Rosehip seed oil (Rosa canina, seed oil)
The bought little sister. It is pressed from the seeds, not the shells, and is rich in linoleic acid, a fatty acid that dry skin lacks. That is why it is traditionally used for scars, stretch marks and uneven tone. One tablespoon in your homemade oil lifts it a whole level.
Sunflower, jojoba or almond
The carrier oil that draws the goodness out of the shells. Sunflower is cheap and light, jojoba resembles the skin's own sebum, almond is soft and nourishing.
Vitamin E
An antioxidant that protects the oil from going rancid, so it keeps longer.
Safety and good advice
- Always scald your jars and tools, and work with clean hands.
- Always do a patch test on the inside of your elbow 24 hours before you use anything on your face.
- Essential oils must be diluted, and several of them are not advised during pregnancy or for small children.
- Soap made with lye calls for safety goggles and gloves, and should never be made with children in the kitchen.
- Always throw it out at the slightest change in smell, colour or texture.
- This is inspiration for your own use, not treatment, and not intended for resale.