The rosemary herb must be one of the most well-known and versatile herbs around, and for his reason, Rosmarinus officinalis has gained great popularity.  The cosmetic application has a variety of uses.

The therapeutic properties of rosemary include that of tonic, astringent, as well as reducing skin fragility, and are found in most of Sher Ray Organic Cosmetic’s super serums.

Topical use includes help for healing wounds and reducing skin fragility while boosting the skin in general, since it has a great ability to increase circulation.  It also contains antioxidants which have anti-ageing properties as they reduce damage caused by free radicals.  The antioxidants contained in rosemary is the active element why it was used centuries ago to help keep meat from spoiling and to help fight infection- since the powerful antioxidant effect helps to retard oxidation and inhibits the action of some micro-organisms.

It grows as a bush of between 1.5 to 3.3 feet in height and can even grow as high as 6.5 feet.  The flowers are pale blue and gather in tiny bunches.  They have a small, bell-shaped bilabiate calix with three teeth, and the corolla is long with two very clearly marked lips, the first with two lobes and the second with three.

Rosemary is widespread around the Mediterranean region and the leaves and flower heads are the parts of the plant which are used.  Sher Ray Organic Cosmetic’s Rosemary Extract is mostly from the leaves.

The main constituents of Rosemary include essential oil, rosmarinic acid, protein, tannin, borneol, boron, diosmin, camphor, saponin, bitters, flavonoids, resin, organic acids- such as phenolic acids and triterpenic acids.

The flavonoid diosmin is reputedly more effective than rutin in reducing skin fragility.

The chemical composition consists of the following substances:

• Essential Oils
  • The essential oils are constitutes by terpenic derivatices in concentrations of between 1 and 2%, falling to only 0.5% in the dry plant.  The main derivatives involved are: a-pinene, usually found in its racemic form, camphene, 1, 8-cineol, camphor and borneol.
  • The therapeutic properties of Rosemary oil are antiseptic, tonic, and anti-inflammatory.
  • Polyphenolic derivatives
    • Rosemarinic acid
      • Made up of caffeic and hydroxydihydrocaffeic acid found in quantities of 2-3%
• Bitter ingredient
  • Picrosalvin or carnosol.  This diterpenic lactone has two hydroxyl functions in o-position.
• Flavonoids
  • Made up of flavone glucosides
• Rosmaricine
  • It is an alkaloid whose structure is not widely defined.  Triterpenic derivates
  • Ursolic acid
    • Found in quantities of 2-4%

The ingredient Rosmarinus officinalis extract is used as an anti-microbial agent, skin conditioning agent (miscellaneous and occlusive) antioxidant and fragrance ingredient in Sher Ray Organic Cosmetics.  It is classed as a biological product.