Dry Skin Care Duo SIMPLES – Rose Hydrolat & Moringa Oil

SIMPLES Set for Dry Skin: a two-step, skinimalist facial skincare routine.

The idea is simple: just two high-quality products that benefit the skin. The SIMPLES routine gives your skin a break, requiring only two products – a hydrolat and an oil.

The SIMPLES Dry Skin Set contains: Organic Rose Hydrolat (ROSE WATER) (100 ml) and Moringa Oil (30 ml).

Pure, genuine Damask rose water (hydrolat) from an organic farm, without preservatives or alcohol, with an exceptionally well-balanced aroma – in our opinion, the best in Lithuania. It is distilled specifically to produce rose water, rather than as a by-product of rose essential oil distillation, as is most commonly done.

The ancient fragrant Damask roses (Rosa × damascena) are grown on an organic farm in Bulgaria. The rose blossoms and buds are hand-picked in May–June and distilled immediately. The hydrolat is then left to mature. This rose water is a natural facial cleanser, refresher, and toner. A pure product of distillation, without alcohol, preservatives, synthetic additives or fragrances, and undiluted. Suitable for aromatherapy, cosmetics, and food use.

MORINGA OIL – unrefined, cold-pressed using a manual press.

Moringa oleifera (Moringaceae) – oil moringa. Synonyms: ben, behn oil.

Moringa oil is one of the oldest products used by humankind. According to archaeologists and paleobotanists, it was known in Mesopotamia and Egypt as early as the 2nd millennium BCE. In English-language scientific literature, it is generally referred to as ben or behn oil. Moringa is also known as the “drumstick tree”, because its seeds are contained in long, thin pods resembling drumsticks, and as the “horseradish tree”, because its roots have a horseradish-like aroma.

Moringa is considered native to the southern foothills of the Himalayas, from where it eventually spread to the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. Moringa is a highly valuable tree: it grows rapidly, tolerates drought exceptionally well, and establishes easily in sandy deserts because it is not demanding about soil conditions. Its immature seeds and pods are used as food (their flavour resembles asparagus), while mature seeds are used to produce oil. Moringa leaves, rich in vitamins and trace elements, are eaten like spinach, and remain green at the end of the dry season, when everything around them has already dried out. Dried leaves are also ground and used as food supplements, so it is hardly surprising that moringa is particularly encouraged for cultivation in regions where food is scarce.

Moreover, moringa seeds and roots are considered highly medicinal and have been used since ancient times in medicine for a wide variety of ailments, while extracts of its leaves and seeds are used to purify drinking water. In traditional South Indian Tamil Siddha medicine, the “drumsticks” are considered a remedy for male virility and are used to improve erectile function. It is believed that in ancient Egypt, Moringa pterygosperma oil was used in the preparation of medicinal and perfumed ointments, mixed with frankincense, mastic and other resins, honey, wine, and herbs, and also used for enfleurage.

The fatty acid characteristic of moringa (as well as rapeseed and peanuts) was named behenic acid. It is said that the name may derive from the Persian word behen, etymologically associated with the month of Bahman (February), when moringa roots are harvested. This is a saturated fatty acid, 22:0, which accounts for 9% of moringa oil. The amount of oil in moringa seeds is relatively low – 30–40% – making it a relatively expensive oil.

Sources of information:

• www.treesforlife.org
• Anwar F., Rashid U., “Physico-chemical characteristics of Moringa oleifera seeds and seed oil from a wild provenance of Pakistan”, Pak. J. Bot., 39(5), 2007
• Brun JP., “The Production of Perfumes in Antiquity: The Cases of Delos and Paestum”, Am J Arch, 104.2, April 2000
• Manniche L., “An Ancient Egyptian Herbal”, 2006
• Wikipedia

Rūta Daunoravičienė, © Kvapų namai 2011