Why gülsha?
Gülşah Gürkan, the third generation manager of the family business, graduated from Cheltenham College in England in 1993 and Leeds University in England in 1996 as a mechanical engineer.
After serving in the consulting and retail sectors for 3 years, she started working in the family business in 2000.
Since 1965, her family has been a supplier of the raw materials, namely rose oil, rose concrete and rose absolute for the world-renowned perfume and cosmetics manufacturers. Gülşah Gürkan, on the other hand, decided to direct this profound knowledge on the unique benefits of rose to a special skin care series. Being the creator behind every detail of her brand, she brought this skin care series into existence by naming it after herself.
For more than half a century, we have mastered our ability to obtain essential ingredients in the rose petals in the purest form by devoting ourselves to discovering the healing secrets of the rose.
From the flower Rosa Damascena which is harvested once a year in May, a very valuable kind of rose essential oil is obtained. This rose essential oil, which contains the life energy of 4 tons of Rosa Damascena flower, is the substance with the highest vibration frequency in the world, resonating at 320 MHz.
Our skin care series, which we have formulated in France with the aim of delivering an effective skin care experience, contains a high concentration of rose essential oil blended with various natural ingredients. While aiming at delivering the most natural, effective and enjoyable experience to the modern women and making their lives easier, we also aim to make them realize the effect of rose in skin care.Our series which provides skin beauty by making “Rose” a part of daily care ritual is formulated without paraben, alcohol, mineral oil, silicone, colorant, and perfume. Our products are dermatologically tested and suitable for all skin types.
There are two main regions in the world where Rosa Damascena is cultivated: Isparta province of Turkey and Kazanluk region in Bulgaria. Isparta, located in southwest Turkey, is known as “City of Roses”. Isparta’s altitude of 1035 meters, its climate conditions such as heat, precipitation, humidity and sunlight, and its geographical location form a suitable environment to cultivate the roses of the world’s highest quality. Every year, oil is manufactured from 10 thousand tons of rose cultivated on an area of approximately 20 thousand decares in the region. The cultivation and harvest of Rosa Damascena are in harmony with nature and provides a self-sufficient economy to Isparta region.
As one of the most important rose oil manufacturing centres in the world, Isparta meets the raw material needs of famous brands in the cosmetics and perfume industry.
The blooming period of Rosa Damascena starts with the warming weather and lasts only one month from mid-May to mid-June. For this reason, it is also known as May Rose. The harvest period begins with the blooming of flowers, and the workers get up early in the morning and get to the rose gardens at the first light of the day. The rose has been harvested by using the traditional hand-picking method for 130 years in this region.
The roses collected and filled in hemp sacks are carried to the sales points in the village square. The roses are then weighed here and are immediately transferred to rose oil factories for distillation.
Roses arriving at the rose oil factories are taken out of the sacks and spread on the ground so that they do not get warm, and the distillation process begins within 6 hours. 500 kg of fresh rose petals are put in three-ton distillation boilers with 1.5 tons of water. The hot water vapour generated in the heaters is passed through the curved tubes under the distillation boilers and boils the water in the boiler. When the water boils, the essential oils released from the rose petals move towards the condenser where they liquefy. The distillation process takes about 1.5 hours. The distillation process is finished by closing the steam valve.
The drain valve under the boiler is then opened and all residual substances in the boiler are drained out. The rose sediment remaining after the distillation is used as fertilizer; thus the process started in nature ends in nature and the natural cycle is completed.
Today, Gülsha A.Ş has a modern factory equipped with Tournaire devices with a total processing capacity of 1500 tons of roses.
The most important industrial products obtained from rose petals are rose oil, rose concrete, rose absolute and rose water. Our rose water product, which we manufacture without separating its precious essential oil and which for this reason we call “Ultimate” Rose Water, is prepared with a unique distillation technique that combines the modern technology with the traditional manufacturing method used for producing completely natural floral waters.
We contribute to recycling by choosing to use glass bottles for most of our products.
We renew our packages with the aim of reducing the use of cardboard in product packaging.
We formulate our products in a manner that will not harm the environment and human health, by using Ecocert-certified and natural ingredients.
The Gürkan family, part of a group of companies which has been operating in textile industry since 1932 and exporting to more than 25 countries, has been providing raw materials to the world’s leading perfume manufacturers since its establishment and has a wide experience in this field.
Thanks to Rosa Damascena cultivation and harvest, Isparta achieves a self-sufficient economy. About 10,000 families make their living by rose cultivation.
Being one of the oldest and most respected families of the region, Gürkan Family supports many farmers in the region, while also contributing to the education of local community with the schools it has founded.
