DIY Skincare Recipes :: How to Make Old Fashioned Rosewater

Learn how to make your own Rosewater at home with our simple DIY skincare recipe that you can make in your kitchen!

Rosewater is very versatile and can be used as a facial toner, pillow mist, in the bath, as an ingredient in your DIY skincare recipes, and also as an ingredient in food recipes.

Rose is one of our absolute favorite ingredients here at SpaGoddess Apothecary.
The scent of roses soothes the heart and has many lovely benefits for your skin.
Rose is highly emollient, helps fight premature aging, improve tone, texture, and elasticity. Aromatherapists consider the scent of Roses as an aphrodisiac and a balm to the heart. View our organic skincare products made with roses HERE.

Choosing Your Roses

If you've ever been to a rose garden and smelled the roses, you know that not all roses smell the same! Some of them even smell like tea, some are a little fruity, or smell like lemons, violets, or clove. Store bought roses or hybridized varieties grown for their specific color, lack of thorns, or fancy petal display often have no scent whatsoever.
Learn to make your own rosewater from fresh flower petals with our easy DIY recipe on SpaGoddess Wellness Blog.
Some of the most fragrant rose varieties are Munstead Wood, Honey Perfume, Claire Austin, Double Delight, the glorious Mister Lincoln, and so many others. 
For this project, it's important to use the most fragrant, fresh from the garden roses you can find.
It's also important that the roses don't have any pesticides or fungicides. It's especially important since you're likely to be using the rosewater on your skin or in your food. Just like in our skincare products, the quality of your ingredients will be directly reflected in your finished product. Learn more about the holistic healing benefits of Roses in our blog article: The Flower Medicine of Roses.

If you're like me and don't have your own rose bushes (dang deer!), it's still possible to find some lovely roses to work use in this recipe. Contact a trusted florist, family member, friend, neighbor, or seek out a flower farm at your local farmer's market.

A Garden is a Sacred Place

One thing's for sure, you NEVER want to harvest someone's roses without their permission. One year, my Aunt Leah had her garden devastated by an unknown picker, and she was heartbroken. All of her hard work and cherished flowers -- stolen by a thoughtless and selfish passerby. 
Always, always stop to smell the roses!
It's not likely that one rose from a giant blooming hedge will be missed, but it's a good idea to think twice before you pick a bouquet from someone else's garden.  

Learn how to make rose water from fresh flowers on SpaGoddess Wellness Blog

This homemade rosewater recipe makes a heavenly flower nectar fit for a Goddess!

DIY Old Fashioned Rosewater Recipe

Use equal volume rose petals to distilled water, roughly. The tiniest dash of pink Himalayan salt helps bring out the oils.
  1. Place the rose petals in a glass or enamel pot, pour in distilled water to just cover.
  2. Heat until water is scalding but not boiling.
  3. Turn off the heat, let soak for at least an hour.
  4. Strain in tea towel or cheesecloth, squeezing out the petals.
  5. Store in a sterilized glass jar or bottle in your refrigerator and use within a week. You can reuse one of our toner bottles or these glass mister bottles work great too.
    Your rosewater will take on the color and the divine scent of the petals! If you see droplets of essential oil floating on the surface, lucky you!

    This floral water can be used in many recipes, from foods to your DIY skincare recipes like this SOOTHING ROSEWATER EYE DE-PUFFER from our blog, use it as a pillow mist, or put it in a mister bottle and spray on your skin and in your hair for a fragrant aura as lovely as a rose.

    Your homemade rosewater is excellent for mixing into our dry facial masks, and as the liquid for this DIY ORGANIC SKINCARE RECIPE :: GENTLE GLOW WASHING GRAINS from our blog.

     

    Cooking with Rosewater

    There are many interesting culinary treats using Rosewater as well. Rosewater has been used as a flavoring for centuries in Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese cuisines. Rosewater can be made into candies, jellies, and syrups, sprinkled over cakes, and to flavor a milky rice pudding from India called kheer.

    There are all sorts of fun recipes to make with your Rosewater, like these rosewater shortbread sandwich cookies from Martha Stewart.


    Post image and recipe excerpted from 100 Organic Skincare Recipes  written by our founder Jessica Ress. Banner photo is by Briena Sash.