Is Rosehip Oil the Secret to Celebrity Skin?

What do Gwyneth Paltrow, Victoria Beckham, Rose Byrne, The Duchess of Cambridge, and Victoria’s Secret model Miranda Kerr have in common? (Aside from being impossibly beautiful, famous, and successful, that is.) They all reportedly owe their radiant complexions to a secret weapon in the fight against aging skin: Rosehip seed oil.

Here’s a closer look at this “miracle skincare product,” along with why it’s shaping up to be the next big thing in skincare.

The 411 on Rosehip Seed Oil

A pressed seed oil extracted from the seeds of wild rose bushes in the southern Andes, as well as throughout South Africa and Europe, rosehip seed oil is packed with vitamins, antioxidants and fatty acids resulting in a potent cocktail of beauty benefits. Just how amazing is rosehip seed oil? It's been heralded as “the next coconut oil" by Huffington Post.

New York-based dermatologist and assistant clinical professor of dermatology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center Dr. Jessica Krant told Fox News, “Rosehip oil, also known as rose hips oil, is a light, absorbable oil that has shown benefits for both the face and scalp. It contains beta carotene, or vitamin A, which is known to help promote a healthy skin cell life cycle, as well as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory components.”

Echoed dermatologist and assistant clinical professor of dermatology at New York University Dr. Julia Tzu, “Rosehip seed oil does contain a blend of bioactive ingredients that can potentially be beneficial to the skin, for example vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids, and essential fatty acids. It may be potentially beneficial as an anti-aging product because of the antioxidant ingredients it contains. Its high vitamin C content suggests that it may also be useful for treating dark spots, since vitamin C decreases the pigment-producing ability of the skin.”

An Ages-Old “Secret”

Rose hip seed oil isn’t exactly new. In fact, its use dates all the way back to ancient times. Celebrity facialist Joanna Vargas told Huffington Post, “Rosehips were a remedy that was used by the ancient Egyptians, Mayans and Native Americans all because of their healing properties.”

Which begs the question: Why is the trend only catching on just now with the rest of us? Said Vargas, “I think the beauty industry is turning more and more to these healing ingredients as an alternative to the chemicals we have relied on in the recent past.”

And because it’s natural, it’s also gentle -- making rosehip seed oil a suitable solution for even the most sensitive skin.

Huffington Post recently declared the powerful rejuvenating and restorative properties of rosehip seed oil to be “better than Botox,” while Miranda Kerr told PopSugar Beauty of the skin-loving treatment, “I like to wear rosehip oil at night. It’s full of that many antioxidants and it really works on a cellular level too to rejuvenate the skin. I put that on at night and I wake up glowing.”

The takeaway? Given its popularity among the A-list crowd, the odds are high that if you notice a celeb showing off particularly gorgeous, luminous and dewy skin, rosehip seed oil is part of their beauty arsenal.

About the Author: Jane Pitte Jane founded Sheer Miracle Mineral Makeup in 2004 after a lifetime of searching for makeup and skincare that didn't irritate her ULTRA-sensitive skin. Sheer Miracle offers minimalist mineral makeup and organic skincare handmade weekly by real humans. When she's not playing with makeup, you'll find her sneaking off with her husband on weekend getaways, planting lots of flowers, making the hottest, tastiest pico de gallo with her kids or spoiling her two Japanese Chins - Rocco and Bailey - half to death.