Essential oil of rosewood is the skin's best friend. A powerful tissue regenerator, it softens, embellishes, firms up the skin and removes stretch marks, wrinkles, eczema, acne and other skin disorders. It is an excellent lymphatic tonic. Rich in linalool, it has anti-infectious, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties, and reinforces immune defences. It is also anti-spasmodic and soothing.
Find all the virtues and uses of essential oils in our Rosewood - Hô Wood article.
Hô Wood
Aniba rosaeodora
Rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora) is a tree from the Laureaceae family, native of the Amazon and Guyana.
Its fine grained, fragrant, pinkish wood is hard, compact and tough. It is used in perfumery and woodworking where several species of the Dalbergia genus are used, which also includes the rosewoods. In Brazil, the local rosewood is Dalbergia nigra. Another family, the Fabaceae, includes wood species which are commonly referred to as rosewood. This includes in particular Pterocarpus indicus, which refers to the rosewood from Burma. Thespesia populnea, of the Malvaceae family, is also called rosewood.
Main aromatic molecules: Monoterpenol (linalool).
Family: Lauraceae.
Producing organs: Leaves and wood.
Yield: 5kg of essential oil for 100kg of plants.
Equivalence: 1ml → 29 drops (dosage calculated for a calibrated dropper European Pharmacopoeia).
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Bath
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Skin application
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Oral route
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Respiratory route
Main properties
recipes
Skin beauty
For use from the age of 15, add 5 drops of Asian rosewood essential oil to 1 teaspoon of each of these vegetable oils: apricot kernel, argan and rose hip.
Firming and beauty of the breasts
For use from the age of 15, apply 2 drops of Asian rosewood essential oil mixed with 1 teaspoon of macadamia vegetable oil every day.
Scars and stretch marks
Gently massage (by peeling and rolling the skin) with 5 drops of Asian rosewood essential oil diluted in 10 drops of rose hip vegetable oil. Recipe reserved for children from 12 years old.
For use from the age of 15, add 5 drops of Asian rosewood essential oil to 1 teaspoon of each of these vegetable oils: apricot kernel, argan and rose hip.
Firming and beauty of the breasts
For use from the age of 15, apply 2 drops of Asian rosewood essential oil mixed with 1 teaspoon of macadamia vegetable oil every day.
Scars and stretch marks
Gently massage (by peeling and rolling the skin) with 5 drops of Asian rosewood essential oil diluted in 10 drops of rose hip vegetable oil. Recipe reserved for children from 12 years old.
CULTIVATION AND PRODUCTION
Following a period of overexploitation, Brazil (Amazon basin) now protects rosewood, and has become the almost exclusive producer. Guyana has been replanting.
FRAGRANCE
The refreshing and sweet smell of rosewood, vaguely evokes that of rose.
EXTRACTION AND YIELD
The productive organ is the wood, treated by steam distillation of wood chips. The essential oil yield is approximately 5%, i.e. five kilograms per one hundred kilograms of plant.
CHEMICAL FORMULA
The active constituent of essential oil of rosewood is linalool, containing up to 92%.
Precautions for use
This essential oil is very well tolerated and is a very effective substitute for Amazonian rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora) essential oil, the trade in which is restricted because it is a protected species.
Do not use in: pregnant or breast-feeding women, children under the age of three years, persons allergic to one of the components (geraniol, linalool, limonene), persons with asthma without the advice of an allergologist before the first use.
Do not use in: pregnant or breast-feeding women, children under the age of three years, persons allergic to one of the components (geraniol, linalool, limonene), persons with asthma without the advice of an allergologist before the first use.
The tree was discovered in 1925 in the Amazonian forest, were Indians had always used it in their traditional pharmacopoeia. Since then, it has been overexploited, and in the 1960s, fifty thousand tonnes were felled every year. In Madagascar this frantic overexploitation caused a scandal and its export was forbidden (see p. 81). Rosewood which is a threatened species is now protected by the International union for conservation of nature (IUCN). Synonymous in the west with refinement and luxury, it has inspired writers from Balzac to Sharyn McCrumb, (The rosewood casket, 1999).
AROMATHERAPIA
Extracts from the book 'Aromatherapia - All about essential oils', by Isabelle Pacchioni, watercolors by Patrick MORIN, Aroma Thera Editions . Extracts from the book '41 essential oils essential for treating yourself differently' and '48 essential oils which every home needs to be healthy' by Isabelle Delaleu and Isabelle Pacchioni, Publications of the Mandadori France group. Botanical illustrations by Agathe Haevermans.
The properties, benefits and method of use are given for information; they cannot in any case constitute or replace medical information that only health professionals can provide. For any use of essential oils for therapeutic purposes, please consult your GP or pharmacist.
The properties, benefits and method of use are given for information; they cannot in any case constitute or replace medical information that only health professionals can provide. For any use of essential oils for therapeutic purposes, please consult your GP or pharmacist.
