#MakeItYOSelf Curiously Awesome Goods: How To Make #RoseWater

rosewater title — “Rose water is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. It is used to flavour food, as a component in some cosmetic and medical preparations, and for religious purposes throughout Europe and Asia. Rose syrup is made from rose water, with sugar added.
Since ancient times, roses have been used medicinally, nutritionally, and as a source of perfume. The ancient Greeks, Romans and Phoenecians considered large public rose gardens to be as important as croplands such as orchards and wheat fields.
It has been suggested that the Persian polymath Avicenna discovered how to make rose water in the tenth century.” ~The All Knowing Wikipedia

I make a lot of my own stuff. We’ll call said stuff Curiously Awesome Goods. Anyone who knows me knows that I make my own deodorant and toothpaste and preserves and lip balm and such. Soap… soon. Anyway. So now we can add rose water to the list of all the toiletries I make myself. What can I say? My skin has about zero tolerance for toxins. So as I was doing my natural toner research, I came upon rosewater. East Indian women have been extolling the benefits of rose water for eons. Not for nothing, there’s a lot of great skin walking around out East.

So then I was like–I wonder if I can make rose water myself. And alas, I can. I suppose then the question becomes, why would I want to? Beyond because I can. Well, according to the Discovery Health website:

“One of the main benefits of rose water is that it acts as an anti-inflammatory, soothing irritated skin [source:Scirrotto]. Some people also use roses as a rich source of antioxidants, which can help strengthen skin cells and regenerate skin tissue [source: Garwood-Jones]. These properties, proponents believe, make rose water particularly beneficial to people with sensitive skin.

Those with dry skin sometimes use rose water as a moisturizer. The idea behind this is that sugars found in rose petals add to rose water’s soothing effect, and its natural oils trap moisture in the skin, helping it feel and look smoother [source: Garwood-Jones]. Some experts even believe that rose water can play a role in reducing damage from sun exposure. Too much sun destroys elastin, the fibers that give your skin its ability to stretch. When those fibers break down, they cause your skin to lose firmness and sag [source: WebMD]. There’s some evidence that rose water may help decrease damage to the skin’s elastin fibers and prevent wrinkles, but researchers are still testing this theory [source: Baumann].” You can read the whole article here.

For someone who has both dry AND sensitive skin, I can say with some amount of emphasis that rose water makes sense to add to my skin care regimen. Particularly with cold, brusque weather not but a few months away. Sure, I could probably get some from my local Indian market, but we all know preservatives and processing have to happen to give anything topical and sold in stores its shelf life. If I can make my own, all the better and so I did. Making rose water is surprisingly easy. It’s literally two ingredients: rose petals and distilled water. That’s it. There are a couple of really jiggy ways to process, but I chose the path of least equipment: a pot (with a lid). I will also say, so far, my dry sensitive skin likes her some rose water. The idea is to apply it with a cotton ball at night like you would a toner and off to bed you go. The rose water removes impurities and helps your skin heal while you sleep. I’ve only been using it a few days, but already my skin is far less dry and rose petal soft to the touch. So. This is definitely one recipe I would recommend to #MakeItYOSelf as an alternative to the store bought kind. Ready?

Step 1: Start with a pot and some roses. I used roses fresh from my mom’s garden, but if you don’t have a garden or access to one that grows fresh roses, I’ll say those apology roses you just got will work fine as well. The only caveat is you don’t know if pesticides were used in growing them or preservatives to ship them. I would suggest washing them really well if you’re going the store bought route. Or find some organic ones. They exist, I’m sure. After you’ve collected and cleaned your roses, you’re ready for step 2.

Step 2: Collect all the rose petals only. You don’t need the hearts or stems. Pour enough distilled water over the petals so they are covered in the water, but not drowning. You don’t want too much water because that will make for a weak rosewater. You don’t want to little or your petals will burn. I can’t give you a definite because your water content will depend on how many petals you’re using. Use your best judgment.

Step 3:You’re going to “cook” your petals on medium high heat until they reach a boil and then you’ll cover them (with the pot lid) and simmer on low until your petals lose their color. I used pink, and red roses in one batch and purple and yellow in another. They both pretty much came out like this, except the purple roses kept a fain hint of purple. The trick here is that the water takes on a pinky tone. The idea is that when the roses have transferred their color to the water, it’s ready. Keep an eye on it. You can add more water as needed. The simmer process can take 20 minutes or 40. If you’re using white roses, I can’t help you here. Try it and see what happens to their color once they’re boiled. Also keep in mind that not all roses are fragrant. Unless you’re using your rose water as a perfume, fragrance doesn’t make much difference if you’re making toner.

Step 4: I used a strainer to pour the finished rose water into mason jars. I also took a spoon and pressed the water out of the rose petals as best I could. Don’t want to waste that good rose oil.

Step 5: Lookie Here! Fresh, all natural, made from scratch rose water! In the future, I’m going to find some apothecary jars to store my rosewater. I’m not the biggest fan of mason jars for this. Also, you can see I’ve yielded quite a bit of rosewater from the pot of petals I started with. You can store these in the fridge for greatest shelf life. You can drink some too if you like as a tea. It’s actually delish!

So that’s the rose water making process. Easy right? A pot, rose petals and distilled water. Like I said, there are some jiggier ways to make it and in the future I’ll look into those ways, try them and share. In the meantime, here’s a great way to pamper your skin with an all natural toner you can make #YOself! Once you make your rosewater, hit up the comment section and tell me how it went! If you happen to be a rose water making expert, share the love! What process do you use? Let me know in the comment section below. Until next time…

Osho Lovianhal (Light the LOVE in ALL) friends,

-e-