Top tips: rose hip oil

Jan Kusmirek, author of Liquid Sunshine: Vegetable Oils for Aromatherapy, who founded the Fragrant Earth company, talks about rose hip seed oil.

'Clinical trials with rose hip oil show that it contains essential nutrients which make it an exceptionally active product for tissue regeneration, improving skin texture and reducing scars and skin discolouration. It is the single most effective oil for use as an anti-scarring agent for all types: refractile, hypertrophic, hyperchromic and even against cheloid or age-hardened scar tissue. It is excellent for serious friction burns. It needs to be used daily over time.

'It can be applied directly to the body or in formulations to treat surgical scars, burns and marks. Ideal combinations can be made with essential oils and particularly the herbal oil, Centella asiatica.

'So many people use it for anti-scarring that they tend to forget it is also one of the best anti-wrinkle oils. It is used in cosmetic products for smoothing out facial lines and wrinkles, slowing down skin ageing, moisturising and hydrating. It is a rich oil unsuited to massage and a little on the heavy side, making it ideal for rich, nutritive creams, lotions and cleansers.'