Rose essential oil, what is in the bottle and how to use it

In short

• Rose otto is steam-distilled, rose absolute solvent-extracted, and a rose fragrance oil is neither; the back label says which you are holding.
• A bottle sold diluted in jojoba is normal for rose and not a fake, as long as the label says so and gives the percentage.
• It is strong: one drop in a blend with geranium, sandalwood, bergamot or lavender, and off bare skin unless diluted.

Three things sold as rose

Rose otto is made by passing steam through fresh petals of Rosa damascena, the damask rose. The steam carries the scent out of the petals, the vapour is cooled, and the thin layer of oil is drawn off the water.

Rose absolute is made by washing the petals, Rosa damascena or Rosa centifolia, with a solvent that dissolves the scent; once the solvent is taken off, a thick, deep-coloured absolute remains. It smells closer to the living flower, but it is not a steam-distilled oil and is a poor fill for a water diffuser.

The third thing is a rose fragrance oil, a composed scent that may contain no rose at all. It belongs in an oil burner or on reeds, not in a machine built for essential oils.

Why the bottle is so small

Rose petals hold very little oil. It takes a very large weight of them to fill one small bottle, which is why rose costs many times what lavender or sweet orange does. There is no cheap pure rose otto; a low price means a dilution, an absolute, a blend or a fragrance oil.

So rose is often sold already diluted, most often in jojoba, at a low percentage. A diluted bottle is easier to measure and kinder on the purse, as long as the label names the carrier and the percentage. Ready-made pods are the other route; our comparison of electric diffusers that take a pod or a neat oil shows which machine runs on what.

Reading the label before you buy

• The botanical name, Rosa damascena or Rosa centifolia, not only the word rose.
• The method: steam distilled for an otto, solvent extracted for an absolute. The word otto or absolute alone is enough.
• Whether it is diluted, in what, and how much.
• A country of origin, often Bulgaria or Turkey, and a batch number.
• Parfum or aroma oil in the ingredients, which means a fragrance oil however rosy the front looks.

Price is the last check. Pure rose otto at the price of a bottle of tea tree does not exist, so read the back again.

The scent, and what sits well beside it

Rose otto smells of the flower with a green, faintly spicy edge and a hint of honey; the absolute is sweeter and more like a bowl of cut roses. Both take over a blend, so rose works best as the smallest part of one.

Many people find the scent comforting on a grey afternoon, and that is as far as any claim should go.

Using it in a diffuser

Rose is an oil you measure in single drops. In a water diffuser, one drop of rose with a few drops of a partner oil is enough for a room; a jojoba dilution can take a drop or two more.

Pure rose otto sets solid or goes cloudy in a cold cupboard. That is normal; hold the bottle in your hand for a moment and it runs clear again. A thick absolute, or any jojoba dilution, stays out of a water tank, where it films the surface and clogs the mist; if your machine runs on pods, use those.

Rose suits the rooms you sit in: a living room in the evening, a bedroom on a low setting, a bathroom while it is in use. If you want the scent on before you walk in, our guide to diffusers you can set from your phone lists the machines with a timer and app control.

Storing it, and who should ask first

Rose keeps better than citrus, but not forever. Dark glass, a tight cap and a cupboard away from the window and the radiator do most of the work; a bottle that has turned waxy or sour in the nose is past its best and goes in the bin.

We put the monthly running cost of each electric diffuser we compare next to its coverage in square metres and its noise, because a dear oil in a bedroom machine is a different sum from a pod in an open-plan room.