The essential oil of rosewood comes from the wood of the giant, evergreen rosewood tree, extracted through a process of steam distillation. The tree is native to Brazil and Peru and it hails from the same family of aromatic trees like the camphor, cassia, bay and cinnamon.

Sadly, many rosewood trees have been cut down for lumber, and they have become an endangered species. However, efforts have been made to ensure and preserve its continued survival, with legislation that requires one to plant a new tree every time they cut it down for essential oil extraction.

Rosewood essential oil, with its warm, alluring, woody and floral aroma is also known as bois-de-rose oil and it might be one of the pricier oils out there in the market but it contains numerous beneficial properties that make it especially useful for your health! Read on to find out more.

Health Benefits of Rosewood Essential Oil:

1. Soothes Your Mind

Rosewood essential oil contains much antidepressant, stimulating and uplifting properties that never fails to improve your moods and emotional health drastically. It is known to be able to soothe anxiety, melancholy, bouts of low self-esteem and self-doubt.

Its fruity and floral fragrance is able to induce in optimistic feelings and enables you to gather a fresh, new perspective on life, making it a potent natural aromatherapy treatment for those who are feeling depressed or are feeling down in life.

It is able to invigorate and rejuvenate your mental health, as it can induce feelings of relaxation and tranquility in place of tension, stress and nervousness. This is due to the presence of 8-cineole in the oil, which is a terpenoid oxide that can facilitate calmness and relaxation.

As such, it gives off a much needed energizing effect after a long and tiring day, while keeping your emotional spirits up and high!

This has been supported by Miller’s book titled “Ayurveda and Aromatherapy” where he reiterates how rosewood oil is able to relieve anxiety, stress and fatigue as it is very grounding.

How to Use it: Simply add a few drops of rosewood essential oil into a diffuser, vaporizer or distiller and let the aromatic wafts engulf you to fuel your emotional and mental health. Alternatively, you can add about 5 drops of the oil into warm, bathing water to soothe your mind.

2. Heals the Skin

Rosewood essential oil is also a potent antiseptic agent, thus making it a useful addition to your first aid kit! With its antimicrobial and antibacterial properties, it cleans wounds, cuts and scrapes that you might have incurred due to a variety of reasons and prevents infections from taking root.

For example, it effectively prevents wounds from becoming septic or developing tetanus. As such, it promotes the active and fast healing of such wounds.

How to Use it: Mix a few drops of rosewood oil together with a carrier oil, such as coconut, jojoba or almond oil, in a 1:1 ratio and proceed to apply to the affected areas.

3. Promotes Smoother Skin

As abovementioned, rosewood essential oil contains much antibacterial constituents, thus it is also an effective agent to treat a variety of skin disorders and problems such as acne, blackheads, skin irritations, eczema or even psoriasis.

It effectively cleanses the skin, ridding it of bacteria and other harmful substances that leads to the formation of pimples and red, inflamed skin. It makes your skin much more radiant, and promotes the active healing of your skin from these skin disorders. Thus, your skin will be much smoother and more youthful than ever before!

Furthermore, its rejuvenating properties seek to get rid of any dullness of your skin and promotes the regeneration of new skin cells and tissues, thus helping to promote accelerated healing.

How to Use it: You can create a skincare blend using 3 drops of rosewood oil with 3 drops of lavender oil and 3 drops of almond oil. Proceed to massage onto the affected areas of your skin. Alternatively, you can also add 2-3 drops of the oil into your skincare lotion or daily cream.

4. Enhances Libido

Being an aphrodisiac, rosewood essential oil is great to arouse those romantic, soft and tender feelings towards your spouse or partner at a time where all these feelings might be lost due to heavy workload, stress, worries or even the other harsh realities of urban life.

Rosewood essential oil is an effective agent to boost sexual interest and to solve problems of impotence, libido and even frigidity. Because it is able to alleviate stress levels and it boosts mental as well as emotional health, it grants relaxation to and interest to fulfill your sexual pleasures in the bedroom.

How to Use it: You can diffuse a few drops of rosewood oil into a distiller or vaporizer and put on your bedside table to stimulate such sensual feelings towards each other.

5. Offers Pain Relief

Being a mild analgesic, this oil can also provide much relief to those who are suffering from pain in the muscles and joints, headaches or even from toothaches. It promotes blood circulation, thus promoting comfort as blood flow is not obstructed to the vital muscles.

How to Use it: By blending it with a carrier oil, you can apply diluted rosewood essential oil onto the affected areas which are painful. If you are suffering from a headache, then proceed to rub gently onto your temples and back of the neck.

6. As a Powerful Deodorant

Rosewood essential oil also makes for a very good deodorant. Because of its floral, sweet and woody aroma as well as its antiseptic properties, it efficiently kills off any bacteria that is causing the bad odors and foul smells, leaving you refreshed and smelling nice.

As such, you do not need to spend so much money on deodorants sold in commercial drugstores, as they might contain chemicals that can carry unwanted side effects in the form of allergies or sensitive reactions on your skin. Instead, you can opt for such a natural remedy to rid yourself of body odours.

How to Use it: Add several drops of rosewood oil into a spritz bottle containing water and spray all over your clothes and body. If you are spraying over your body, be sure to add a carrier oil into the mix as well.

7. As a Powerful Insecticide

Its antiseptic and antimicrobial properties also make rosewood oil a very effective insecticide agent to rid your house and your rooms of pesky and unwanted insects, such as mosquitoes, lice, bed bugs, fleas and ants. Its fragrant smell also can help to leave your room smelling refreshed and fruity, a welcoming scent indeed!

How to Use it: Add several drops of rosewood oil into a spritz bottle containing water and spray all around your room and on surfaces, such as kitchen tops. Alternatively, you can also add it to your room fresheners and floor washes.

Safety Precautions:

Generally, rosewood essential oil is a mild oil that is non-toxic and non-sensitizing. However, you must still dilute the oil with a suitable carrier oil first (such as coconut, jojoba or almond oils) when applying it topically and ensure you perform a skin patch test first to ensure no sensitive and allergic reactions crop up.

If you are pregnant or nursing, do seek the advice of a doctor before using essential oils. Do not ingest rosewood essential oil.

References:

Light Miller, Bryan Miller, “Ayurveda and Aromatherapy: The Earth Essential Guide to Ancient Wisdom and Modern Healing” Motilal Banarsidass Publ. (1998)