Rose Attar

No other flower has inspired as much poetry, lyrics, love or longing, and no other flower expresses them better. Rose worship flourished 5000 years ago and it never much let up. Her scent is a feminine fragrance par excellence, sensual and erotic, yet assertive. If one reads the old herbals one might think that a whole system of medicine could be devised entirely based on the virtues of Roses: Rose tea, rose water, rose oil, rose wine, rose pomander, rose pastilles; the list goes on. Rose oil has always been a favourite, though expensive cosmetics item, and rosewater, a by-product of essential oil production, is equally cherished. Since ‘still rooms’ have become a thing of the past, such luxurious, yet simple natural treats have sunk into oblivion, making way for the advance of chemical replacements. Yet, even the cosmetics industry cannot do without roses. Although chemists have tried to manufacture an ‘aroma-identical’ synthetic rose oil, no-one has yet managed to reproduce the real thing. Thus huge quantities of roses are still grown solely for essential oil production, most of which is consumed by the perfume and cosmetics industry. Unfortunately, as with all expensive oils, Rose oil is frequently subject to adulteration. Cheaper essential oils or even perfume oils are often used to stretch the product and the profit margin. In mythology, Roses are sacred to Venus and depending on the eye of the observer, signify love, beauty, purity and innocence or passion and eroticism. Rose has the ability to somehow merge all these paradoxical aspects of femininity into its simple yet complex nature. Her many silken petals are like the veils that shroud the female mysteries.