Roses have been saying "I love you" for thousands of years.
Ancient Persia grew them in its gardens. Cleopatra (so the story goes) strewed them across her banquets for Mark Antony. Sufi poets filled their mystical verses with them. And a Mughal legend tells of a palace canal filled with rosewater, from which the first attar of roses was skimmed.
Maybe it's habit. We give roses because we've always given roses. But I can't help feeling there's more to it than that, and I think it begins with the flower itself.
What Is the Damask Rose?
The Damask rose (Rosa damascena) is a fragrant pink rose prized for rosewater and rose oil, grown for centuries in Iran, Turkey, and Bulgaria. In Persian and Ayurvedic practice, it's traditionally used to cool, calm, and lift the spirits. Its petals are eaten in teas, jams, and sweets, and the rose itself has long been the flower of love.
Rose is in both of our rituals, in every jar of Élixir d'Extase and every tin of Chocolat de Joie. To me, that's a little bow to one of the oldest love stories between people and a plant.
Why Does Rose Feel So Calming?
Anyone who's sunk into a rose-scented bath knows it feels different. There's a particular kind of surrender in it.
Modern studies, most of them small and most of them on rose oil and its scent, have started to explore why rose feels so calming. The research is young. The feeling is ancient.
To me, rose has never been about forcing the body into anything. It's loved for what it softens: the clenched jaw, the tight belly, the long day you're still carrying. And underneath all that, there you are.
Rose in Tradition: What the Grandmothers Knew
For centuries, rose has been an emotional companion as much as a flower. Across Persia and South Asia, rosewater perfumes sweets and is sprinkled over guests as a welcome. In Ayurvedic kitchens, petals are slowly preserved in sugar to make gulkand, prized as cooling in the summer heat.
Rose tea has been steeped for heartache, for celebrations, and for the long evenings when the body wants to soften. The grandmothers who brewed it were passing down something generations had felt for themselves.
Rosewater and Rose Oil: A Labor of Love
Rosewater has been distilled in Persia for more than a thousand years, and the Persian physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna) is often credited with refining the process.
Rose oil asks for even more devotion. It takes roughly 3,000 to 5,000 kilograms of petals to make a single kilogram of rose otto, the steam-distilled oil, which is why it's one of the most precious essential oils in the world.
What gets me is how much is in there. Rose oil holds more than three hundred identified compounds, many of them in tiny traces, which is part of why its scent is so hard to copy.
Rose in Élixir d'Extase and Chocolat de Joie
In Élixir d'Extase, rose is steeped in raw, unfiltered honey from a regenerative farm in Upstate New York, alongside kanna extract, shatavari, damiana, vanilla, and Ceylon cinnamon. Every ingredient except the kanna and the honey is organic. Here, rose meets shatavari's deep nourishment, damiana's warmth, and kanna's calm, uplifted mood.
In Chocolat de Joie, our vegan chocolate made with Deer Jade, rose petals are folded into single-origin cacao from Manabí, Ecuador, beside blue lotus and kanna extract. Their perfume opens slowly as each piece melts on your tongue.
In both, rose is the softness at the edges, the scent that tells your body it's evening.
A gentle note on safety. Both Élixir d'Extase and Chocolat de Joie contain kanna, which acts on serotonin, so never combine either one with SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, or any other serotonergic medication. Skip both if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, and if you take any prescription medication, ask your doctor first.
An Invitation to Soften
For thousands of years, people have reached for roses in moments of love, grief, celebration, and surrender. Maybe instinct always knew that the rose is both a symbol of those feelings and an invitation into them.
So the next time a rose finds you, in a garden, a cup of tea, a spoonful of honey, or a piece of chocolate, let it slow you down.
Breathe it in.
Let your heart open, just a little.
xo, Nana 🌹
Frequently Asked Questions
Is rose an aphrodisiac?
Rose has been tied to love and desire for thousands of years, from Persian poetry to Cleopatra's legendary rose-strewn banquets. Modern research on rose and desire is small and early, so think of it as a traditional flower of love rather than a proven aphrodisiac.
Can you eat rose petals?
Yes. Petals from roses grown without pesticides are edible and have long been used in rosewater, teas, jams like gulkand, and sweets. Just skip florist roses, which are often sprayed with pesticides.
What is the difference between rosewater and rose oil?
Both come from distilling rose petals. Rose oil (rose otto) is the tiny amount of essential oil that separates out, roughly one kilogram from 3,000 to 5,000 kilograms of petals. Rosewater is the fragrant water left behind, gentle enough to cook with.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is for information only and is not medical advice. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.