In the hush of Lori’s pre-dawn orchards, where the Debed’s silver ribbon threads through terraced stone and the first robin’s call stirs the air, Rosa damascena opens its guarded petals like a secret shared only with the light. One by one, hands that have known these groves since childhood lift the blooms—spring’s velvet tears—while later, when frost paints the leaves, the same hands gather the ruby hips that cling like embers to the stem. At INSIDE Skincare Labs, we receive both gifts: the distilled essential oil, a sigh of summer, and the cold-pressed hip oil, a pulse of autumn—sustainably coaxed from Alaverdi’s 5,900-foot terraces, where volcanic earth and mountain chill forge a fragrance and potency unmatched. For those who seek beauty that feels like memory, Damask rose is Armenia’s quiet revolution.
The rose arrived as a love letter. In the 12th century, Queen Tamar of Georgia sent cuttings to the monks of Haghpat; within decades, Armenian distillers were bartering rosewater for Venetian glass. Village girls in Tumanyan rinsed their hair in it to “catch the moon,” while healers in Stepanavan pressed hips into salves for frostbitten cheeks. Silk Road ledgers list vardagan oil at twice the price of saffron; a single vial could ransom a knight. In Lori, the roses learned to bloom twice—May for petals, October for hips—each harvest a covenant between soil and sky.
Science merely translates the poetry. Rose oil’s geraniol and citronellol quiet inflammation and coax collagen. Rose hip oil’s natural retinoids and omega-3s fade scars and brighten shadows. Together, they hydrate, refine, and protect—petal and fruit in perfect counterpoint. We distill at dawn, press at dusk, using solar heat and CO2 to preserve every volatile note, every seed-bound secret.
Hand-harvested by the same families who planted these bushes before their grandparents were born, each drop is a promise kept. From Haghpat’s stone cloisters to your morning ritual, Damask rose remains Armenia’s crimson heartbeat. Discover it in our Hydrating Mist and let this ancient love story rewrite your skin.
