You may know rosemary as a bold, aromatic ingredient that adds incredible flavor to your favorite meals. Or perhaps you’ve used the rosemary herb’s woodsy scent in aromatherapy to bring stress relief and mental clarity. But these aren’t the only instances of rosemary’s powerful health benefits.
The same active compounds that make the evergreen herb so flavorful and fragrant also give it properties that are beneficial for skin care and cosmetic use.
Below, our Skin Health Experts uncover how the properties of rosemary can benefit your skin to support clean pores, an even tone, and healthy hydration.
The Use of Rosemary In Skin Care
Rosemary extract and rosemary oil can be found as ingredients in a wide variety of skin treatments and cosmetics, from simple bar soap to more complex hydrating serums. While rosemary oil can add a level of soothing aromatherapy to skin care products, rosemary itself is capable of doing so much more to boost the health of your skin. It can also be identified by its scientific name, rosmarinus officinalis rosemary leaf extract, in skin care.
Here are five rosemary benefits for skin that might make it your new go-to skincare ingredient.
#1 Rosemary May Reduce Redness and Inflammation
Rosemary’s strong anti-inflammatory properties can benefit the skin in many ways. Not only can the active compounds in rosemary help to soothe inflammation, but they can also help reduce redness.
What’s more, these compounds also have the potential to combat bacteria that cause acne by suppressing acne-related inflammation. Minimizing acne-related puffiness and swelling can, in turn, provide relief from some skin conditions and clear the way for your ideal complexion to shine through.
#2 Rosemary Can Help Improve Skin Elasticity
Another skin-supportive compound that naturally occurs in rosemary is rosmarinic acid. What’s so great about rosmarinic acid?
It helps boost collagen, which plays a huge role in your skin’s elasticity and firmness, but naturally decreases as we age. By using skincare products that feature rosemary, you may see an improvement in the suppleness of your skin.
#3 Rosemary May Clear Skin and Minimize Blemishes
Along with being an anti-inflammatory, rosemary is also a strong astringent, good for cleaning pores and evening out skin tone.
Keeping your pores clear paves the way for the rest of the products in your skincare routine to do their jobs well. For instance, as an ingredient in toner, rosemary’s astringent properties help remove every last bit of dirt and grime from your face, allowing your moisturizer to penetrate deep into your skin, locking in nourishment and hydration.
#4 Rosemary Helps to Encourage More Hydrated Skin
For a plant that seems more like a prickly, dry pine tree than a water-loving weeping willow, rosemary can be beneficial in encouraging and maintaining proper hydration in your skin.
In dermatology, rosemary helps to balance sebum, keeping your skin’s natural oils at their baseline level to achieve hydrated but not overly oily skin. As an antioxidant, rosemary can also help protect skin cells from damage, making it easier for them to maintain their natural levels of hydration.
#5 Rosemary Can Help Treat Dry, Itchy Scalp Skin
Rosemary’s skin benefits aren’t only for the skin on your body that you can see. The skin beneath your hair (i.e. your scalp) can also benefit from the herb’s restorative properties.
In fact, shampoos and conditioners that contain rosemary extract or rosemary leaf oil can help to soothe dry, itchy scalp skin. This, in turn, can encourage the growth of thick, luxurious tresses. Aside from utilizing store-bought hair care products that contain rosemary, you can also create your own rosemary water hair rinse to promote hair follicle activation.
How to Use Rosemary to Achieve Hydrated Skin
Want to give the rejuvenating properties of rosemary a spin? Look for products that feature the herbal extract alongside other powerful ingredients like hyaluronic acid and algae in skin care. We recommend:
- HydraKate™ Recharging Serum – This product combats skin dehydration with a bevy of hydrating ingredients, including dual-weight hyaluronic acid and rosemary leaf extract. The result is an improvement in skin dryness, dullness, and fatigue.
- HydraKate™ Recharging Water Cream – Designed to tackle tough-to-beat skin dehydration, this cream works to smooth lines, soften skin, and restore your natural glow. Pair it with the HydraKate™ Recharging Serum for a one-two punch of long-lasting hydration.
Get Fresh, Clean, Glowing Skin With Help From Rosemary—and Kate Somerville
When it comes to choosing skin care products, look for ones that include beneficial extracts, like rosemary, which can help naturally restore your skin’s balance, elasticity, and hydration for a beautifully even glow. Our HydraKate™ collection incorporates the best ingredients with aquaporin skin care to ensure proper hydration.
And if you need some help along the way?
At Kate Somerville, our talented team of Skin Health Experts is happy to guide you to skin care solutions that address your individual needs so that you can achieve the beautiful skin you deserve. Our expertly-formulated products are designed to target a variety of issues, from skin dehydration to dullness and fatigue. So, if you’re ready to find your new favorite skin care product and love the skin you’re in, reach out to us today.
Sources:
Evidence Based Complementary Herbal Medicine. Commercial Essential Oils as Potential Antimicrobials to Treat Skin Diseases. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5435909/
Evidence Based Complementary Herbal Medicine. Skin Ageing: Natural Weapons and Strategies. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3569896/
Healthline. 14 Benefits and Uses of Rosemary Essential Oil. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/rosemary-oil-benefits
Journal of Medicinal Foods. Rosmarinus officinalis Extract Suppresses Propionibacterium acnes–Induced Inflammatory Responses. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3624774/
Medicines. Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Properties of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis, L.): A Review. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6165352/
Plants. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L., syn Salvia rosmarinus Spenn.) and Its Topical Applications: A Review. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7284349/
Pharmaceutics. The Stimulating Effect of Rosmarinic Acid and Extracts from Rosemary and Lemon Balm on Collagen Type I Biosynthesis in Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type I Skin Fibroblasts. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8308967/
