18 Ways to Use Rosemary for Natural Skin and Beauty Care (With Recipes!)

Rosemary is one of many herbs that has some serious uses as a skincare and beauty aid. Rosemary is an easy herb to grow and to use as a skin, hair, and beauty product -- and more!

You can grow your own healthy skin, scalp, and hair tonic on a windowsill or in an herb garden!

Jump to:

• Rosemary’s Skin, Hair, and Beauty Enhancing Properties (Or, Why is rosemary good for natural beauty care?)
• Forms of Rosemary for Skin, Hair, Body, and Beauty Care
• Ways to Use Rosemary as a Beauty or Skin Care Product
• Bonus Beauty Recipe for Rosemary Water
• Bonus Beauty Recipe for Facial or Skin Scrub
• Bonus Beauty Recipe: Rosemary Essential Oil Scalp Treatment
• Fun Facts: Did You Know -- Rosemary Edition
• Take Care and Test for Sensitivities - With Rosemary and ALL Natural Skin and Beauty Care!
• More Related Reading, Resources, and References:

Rosemary’s Skin, Hair, and Beauty Enhancing Properties (Or, Why is rosemary good for natural beauty care?)

Truth be told, though we often refer to skincare as part of “health and beauty”, skin care isn’t just for looking good. It is for feeling good, reducing itching, and protecting the skin that protects you. And hair, hydration, and more!

So, the benefits of rosemary in terms of natural health and beauty aren’t just for women. Anyone who wants healthier, more comfortable skin, scalp, hair, etc., can benefit from the benefits of rosemary. Naturally, at home, with an herb that can easily grow in your garden or in your kitchen all year round!

The properties of rosemary that apply to skin, hair, and body care are its

• Ability to reduce inflammation
• Ability to increase circulation
• Function as an antioxidant
• Bioactive compounds are good for skin, hair, and more
• Antimicrobial properties

These work in various capacities to produce improved skin, tone, scalp, hair growth, and more.

Forms of Rosemary for Skin, Hair, Body, and Beauty Care

In cooking, we use rosemary in its fresh and dehydrated (dried) form. In beauty care, we can use both of those forms. There are other options, too:

• Infused carriers such as oils, water, body butters, or lotions
• Rosemary essential oils (diluted in a carrier oil)
• Infusions or additions to beauty and care products, such as shampoos and soaps
• In a water or tonic-type recipe for application as needed
• As body or face scrubs
• Face mask
• Skin mist
• Scalp or skin treatment or ointment

Having a variety of options is helpful because many people do not live in a place where they can grow rosemary in an outdoor garden all year long. However, if you want fresh rosemary, you can grow rosemary as an indoor herb in the winter (or throughout the year).

Rosemary is one of the easier herbs to use for skin and beauty care, because even its culinary form is simply the leaves, removed, dried, and packed. There is nothing extraneous done to culinary rosemary. It would be extremely uncommon for anything to be added to it, either.

The dried rosemary you would buy in a grocery store, online, from a local farmer’s market, or farmstand -- any of this should be ready to use, as is.

Choosing an organic product would be preferable if you’re not able to use what you grow (and know) yourself. This will avoid the potential of applying or consuming rosemary that might have been sprayed with pesticides when grown.

Ways to Use Rosemary as a Beauty or Skin Care Product

There are several ways rosemary can help promote good skin, hair, and beauty care. These are supported by a number of prestigious health and medical resources, including the Cleveland Clinic, as well as numerous ongoing research studies.

These include (but are not necessarily limited to!):

1. Skin repair
2. Cellular rejuvenation
3. Maintaining good skin condition
4. Scar Prevention (Penn State researchers report that the carnosic acid in rosemary is a useful and viable skin repair and healing compound.)
5. Scalp care and maintenance
6. Increasing circulation to the scalp
7. Promoting hair growth for improved, restored hair regrowth
8. Reduce hair thinning
9. Thicken hair
10. Restore hair loss, especially more recent hair loss
11. Alleviating dandruff
12. Alleviating an itchy scalp
13. Reducing fine lines
14. Aromatherapy
15. Use in facial scrubs for skin enhancement, tone, and cleaning
16. Exfoliates when used as a scrub
17. Lightens dark spots in skin
18. More, and more!

Bonus Beauty Recipe for Rosemary Water

1. You will need 3 cups of water and about 6 sprigs of fresh rosemary (3 teaspoons dried)
2. Rinse fresh rosemary under running water
3. Bring the 3 cups of water to a boil
4. Add the rosemary, submerging it in the water
5. Let the rosemary steep for 30 minutes
6. Strain the rosemary from the water
7. Cool completely before using
8. Reserve and store the water
9. Use as a skin mist, refresher, scalp tonic, and more
10. You can even drink fresh rosemary as a refreshing, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant tea!

Bonus Beauty Recipe for Facial or Skin Scrub

1. Mix ½ cup of oats with
2. 2 tablespoons rosemary
3. Grind until fine in a blender or with a mortar and pestle
4. Keep the ground base stored in a covered jar until ready to use
5. To use, mix as follows*: (choose instructions for either oily or dry skin)

*Do not mix the base with the wet ingredients until you are ready to use them, as the mixture will spoil over time.

For oily skin:

• Boil and then cool water
• Mix the base with water until a paste-scrub consistency is formed
• Rub on skin or face
• Let sit up to 15 minutes
• Rinse

For dry skin:

• Mix the base into 2 tablespoons of milk and
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Add oat and rosemary base to the desired consistency
• Rub all over face (or skin)
• Let sit up to 15 minutes
• Rinse

Bonus Beauty Recipe: Rosemary Essential Oil Scalp Treatment

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil over low heat
2. Remove from heat
3. Add 5 drops of rosemary essential oil and stir well
4. When cooled, massage into the skin of the scalp
5. Apply every other day, up to daily
6. This may cause the hair to become oily-looking, which is harmless but may not be preferable for aesthetic reasons
7. To avoid oily hair but get the advantages of the rosemary scalp oil, apply it at night and wash your hair in the morning
8. Relieves dandruff, itching, and stimulates hair growth

Fun Facts: Did You Know -- Rosemary Edition

• Rosemary symbolizes remembrance
• It has been traditionally used in funeral services
• Rosemary symbolizes friendship
• It has traditionally been used in wedding ceremonies
• Rosemary is known to be a memory enhancer via aromatherapy and shows some promise in dementia and Alzheimer's research
• Rosemary can be enjoyed as a tonic tea, too!
• Rosemary is in the mint family
• It carries similar properties to mint, such as reducing stomach upset and settling indigestion
• Rosemary is known as a muscle relaxant and can help with sore muscles and symptoms of sciatica

Take Care and Test for Sensitivities - With Rosemary and ALL Natural Skin and Beauty Care!

Everyone has different levels of tolerance for all types of foods and ingredients, even simple, natural ones. Some people may be more sensitive to compounds in rosemary than others (as can happen with any type of food, herb, or beauty product).

For this reason, it is always recommended that you perform a patch test before you dive into using rosemary on large areas of your scalp, skin, or body.

A patch test is simply using a small amount of your chosen rosemary product or health and beauty aid. Apply it to a small area of your scalp or skin. Then, wait 24 hours to see if there is any reaction or irritation.

If you experience burning or a bad reaction, wash the area with soap and water.

This is smart practice for any type of skin care, health, or beauty aid, whether natural or commercial.

More Related Reading, Resources, and References:

• Healthline
• Healthline
• PubMed Central
• SciTechDaily
• Cleveland Clinic
• PubMed Central
• Southwest Institute of Natural Aesthetics
• Nikura
• Martha Stewart