In 1979, in the midst of the Iranian Revolution, a family sat on a British Airways plane in Tehran anxiously awaiting escape. The mother was an American; the father was a Westernized Iranian on the Revolutionary Guard’s assassination list. Their daughter, Shiva Rose, was 10 years old.
Fifteen years later, when she had just given birth to her first daughter, Rose was diagnosed with a severe autoimmune disorder. Rose became convinced that the trauma of her family’s departure from Iran was partially responsible for the illness, and she began a journey of seeking holistic, natural remedies that would calm her body and her mind. The more she learned about holistic living, and the more she experienced the benefits of natural products for her own body, the more she wanted to share her knowledge with others.
In 2011, Rose launched her holistic lifestyle blog, The Local Rose, documenting her journey toward healing. A few years later, she founded her eponymous skin care line, offering nontoxic beauty products made with potent natural oils, sold internationally online and in stores.
American Essence spoke with Rose from her home in rural Texas about her childhood in Iran, the power of the mind to heal, and the importance of beauty and wellness rituals.
American Essence: What was your childhood like in Iran, and how do you think it has directed your current path?
Shiva Rose: We had a traumatic departure, but before that, I remember a simple life—walking to the village to get bread, having goats around. My mother cooked Iranian food. I remember the beauty of Iran; we would go hiking in the mountains. I remember the Persian New Year in the springtime. I remember going to the bazaars in Tehran, the smells of saffron and rose, things I use in my products now.
In the first three months of the Revolution, things were in such an uproar. There was a window when the Shah escaped and Khomeini was being brought in. It was mad chaos, but it was also an opportunity for my father to get us smuggled out. He was a talk-show host and considered very Western, so he was on the list to be assassinated. He realized he had to act quickly. A handful of British Airways airline attendants were stuck in the country, and British Airways organized for them to escape, and our family managed to get on the plane. This was after three months of martial law.
Later, when I got autoimmune issues, I traced some of it back to that emotional trauma. Sometimes we bury it as children and it comes up later in life. But something like that also gives you resilience and foresight. It’s why I packed everything up and left for Texas in 2020 when the pandemic was just starting. I had a premonition to leave, and it came from my childhood. My partner was in Texas, and we had bought land here. I didn’t know if the states were going to shut down and I wouldn’t be able to get there.
Living in rural Texas now feels like I’ve circled back to the simplicity of my childhood. I first felt a yearning when I was going through a divorce and I wanted to go back to nature to heal my heart. I bought a house and started growing my own food and keeping bees. My mother was a beekeeper when we were in Iran.
AE: What was your experience of autoimmune disease, and how did holistic living help you to become well again?
Ms. Rose: Despite a lot of clues in my early 20s, I didn’t find out until I was 25 and I had my first daughter. I didn’t seem to recover from the birth. I thought, gosh, this motherhood thing is hard! Six months after the birth, I still had dark circles, my hair was falling out, I looked terrible, I felt bad. My body ached; I felt like I was a hundred years old. The enamel came off all my teeth.
I had what looked like a bruise on my back, so I went to a dermatologist. He took one look and said, “You need to see a rheumatologist immediately.” The rheumatologist did blood work, and then he sat me down and said I had lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and scleroderma. Scleroderma is a hardening of the collagen, and it was hardening toward my lungs. He thought maybe I had a year to live.
However, I’m a rebel, and I said no, that’s not my story. I got up and I left. I found a holistic doctor who said he would get me to feel better within a year. Our minds are so powerful; if we believe something, it can become true.
I was a vegetarian at that time, and in retrospect, I’m appalled that I put my body through that. If I was living it now, I would be eating liver, bone broth, butter, and all the things that help to create strong immunity. But I changed my diet and started eating non-GMO foods and using supplements.
I learned about detoxifying the body and started incorporating daily detoxification routines into my life. I still detox my body every day, with rituals like drinking hot lemon water, oil pulling, tongue scraping, and juicing occasionally. I also love coffee enemas.
If you can get the body to detox, it can start doing what it’s supposed to do. I was never one to eliminate: I never sweated, and I was never able to use the restroom consistently. Once you get the body to do all the things it’s supposed to do, then you’re on the way to healing.
AE: Why did you start your skin care line, and what are your favorite products?
Ms. Rose: I remember getting a lump under my arm when I was 22, and I made the correlation that, oh my gosh, it’s the antiperspirant I’m using. I realized that our bodies absorb everything we put on them. You can eat processed food, and your liver will get rid of most of the junk. But when you put a cream or something on your skin, your skin is your largest organ so it absorbs everything and it goes straight to your bloodstream.
My first product was a face oil. At that time, 10 years ago, nobody was using oils on their face, but I was and I loved what it did for my skin. At that time, you could get healthy, green products in health food stores, but there was only one other company that I knew of that was elegant and chic and yet nontoxic. I realized there was a niche in that market for beautiful, natural skin care products.
The face oil is made with organic oils including rose hip seed oil, which acts like a natural retinol; jojoba, which is the closest thing to our skin sebum; kukui nut oil, which is what Hawaiian women use for their skin and hair; and the rose scent, which is not too sweet. My line nourishes and builds your skin. You want to add, you don’t want to strip your skin.
I love the radiant rose water—it’s like a super vitamin for your skin. I also love the masks. There’s a honey-nectar mask that I love. It’s got beautiful honey, which is so good for your skin; papaya, which naturally exfoliates; and plum oil, which nourishes.
AE: Do you have anything new up your sleeve?
Ms. Rose: I’ve got some new saffron products, and that relates to my Persian roots. Saffron is being discovered now by the West. It’s so powerful if taken internally and also topically. It brightens the skin, it smells amazing, it uplifts the senses, it’s a powerful antioxidant. I just love the smell of saffron, and it carries me back to my childhood.
Interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
From Aug. Issue, Volume III
