For Dr. Hauschka Skin Care products, we use rose extracts that have been prepared in several different ways: essential rose oil, rose water, rose wax, oil extracts from dried rose petals, aqueous, rhythmitised extracts from fresh rose petals and extracts of wild rose fruits (rose hips).
Our essential rose oil is extracted from Damask rose petals through steam distillation — a process that preserves the full complexity of the flower’s aromatic and skin-active compounds. It takes an entire hectare of roses to produce a single kilogram of oil. That concentration is part of why it appears in so many Dr. Hauschka formulas, and why the quality of its sourcing matters so much.
We source our essential rose oil from independent farming partners in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Iran and Turkey. They obtain the oil from Damask rose petals through the use of steam distillation. It takes about a hectare of roses to obtain a kilogram of the valuable oil, which is used in many Dr. Hauschka skin care products, e.g. in Rose Nurturing Body Oil. Our partners grow the roses using certified organic or Biodynamic cultivation methods. Our agricultural consultants visit each country regularly, sharing expertise and supporting the partners’ ongoing development.
For partners just starting out in rose cultivation, we go further. We provide grants for the purchase of rose cuttings or the construction of distilleries because building a new organic supply chain from the ground up requires more than a purchase order. It requires genuine investment. With the aid of our support and guaranteed purchase prices, new jobs and better living standards are created locally. In Afghanistan, for example, the cultivation of roses offers people an alternative to growing opium poppies.
The rose oil, water, and extracts sourced through these partnerships appear across our Rose collection and beyond.
