Everything's Coming Up Roses...

... but no, I mean it - just about everything. You guessed it: it's all because of the dreaded Valentine's Day, or Cupid's Day of Doom as I like to call it; well, maybe not exactly, but you might have correctly inferred that I harbor a strong dislike for February 14. I DO like roses though, so I thought we could meet in the middle - you'll be conjuring images of glitter, pink hearts and romantic dinners, if that's your thang, and I'll just talk about one of my favorite flowers. Deal? Or does everyone hate me now?

Anyhow. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but it turns out I have a good variety of rose-centric beauty products - I won't lie, I mostly enjoy using them due to the sweet but sophisticated, feminine floral aroma, although rose (or more specifically, rose essential oil and rosehip oil) has a number of skin loving properties too. Rather nifty coincidence, right?

Starting with skincare, I've waxed lyrical about the Jurlique Herbal Recovery Advanced Serum ($54 for 30ml/$150 for 100ml) before, but here's a quick recap: it's a beautifully-scented hydrating serum rich in natural ingredients including anti-aging rosa canina fruit oil (rosehip oil), which helps to diminish scars, lighten pigmentation and nourish dry skin. I've also recently picked up a bottle of organic Rose Hydrosol from Mountain Rose Herbs ($4.50 for 3 oz spray bottle); hydrosols or flower waters are by-products of essential oil steam distillation and offer all the beneficial components of a whole plant. Rose hydrosol/ rosewater has antibacterial properties, helps balance sebum production and tighten pores, calms and relieves anxiety. I like best using it as a toner or a natural pillow spray.

My rose-scented bath selection includes an old favorite, Lush's Rose Jam Bubbleroon ($6.25 for 3.5 oz), previously metioned here (thank you Kar Yi for reuniting me with it!), and a new find: Neom Organics Complete Bliss Bath Oil ($56 for 100ml) with Moroccan Blush Rose, a perfectly relaxing, moisturizing treat. In terms of scent difference, Lush's Turkish rose is a bit sweeter, jammier and more edible, while Neom's Moroccan rose smells greener, sharper, more rose geranium. To complete our rose world tour, I was gifted this Bulgarian rose soap by my mom; this hot pink bar smells like garden rose petals, fresh, clean, slightly musky. The soap came in a set with a little vial of rosewater, which I can't wait to use for scenting pot pourri sachets or in a diffuser.

While browsing The Body Shop's hand cream offerings, I couldn't resist a purse size tube of their Wild Rose Hand Cream ($20 for 3.3 fl oz/100 ml, I believe my smaller size was $10). This luscious cream contains rosehip and brazil nut oil (by the way, I love The Body Shop's Brazil Nut Body Butter, it pretty much smells like nutty donuts) and it's aimed at more mature skin types but I find that it works perfectly for my dry, eczema-prone hands; it's richly moisturizing yet soaks in without leaving a greasy layer, and the rose scent is not too overpowering - it has a sharp, soapy edge to it.

Last but not least, my beautiful vintage-inspired bottle of L'Occitane Rose Quatre Reines Eau de Toilette ($22 for 0.66 fl oz/20 ml). This rose soliflore is composed of four different varieties of rose: the Grasse rose, the Bulgarian rose, the Moroccan rose and the Turkish rose. This light, refreshing EDT becomes more powdery and musky as it dries down on the skin without turning too old lady - it still retains an effortless, sunny, summery quality. If you're after a feminine, but not overly complicated rose perfume, I do recommend you give it a sniff.

Now that I've been smelling all these rose-scented products for the past hour, I may actually use one or two this Friday night... but I'm not promising anything! What are your favorite rose-themed beauty products?