Rose Water: How to Make It

Rose water smells great and can be used in a lot of different ways. It can be used as a hydrating facial mist, hair perfume, cooling mist, and linen freshener, among other things. Rose petals can be eaten, and rosewater can also be used in cooking.

I replace some or all of the water in recipes for things like soap, hair rinse, and hair detangling spray with rose water. (Also, it won’t have much of an effect on the final color of your soap and won’t make it pink!)

How to Start From Scratch to Make Your Own Rose Water

If you like making your own beauty products or cooking unusual foods and have access to roses from your own garden, you have to try this recipe!

Rose water can be made at home in two fairly simple ways:

Simmering vs. Distilling

The easiest and fastest way is to heat dried or fresh rose petals in water. The end result is water that smells and looks like roses. This method works best for recipes and uses where the food won’t be sitting around for a long time.

A hydrosol is what you get when you distill something. It is also easy to make, though it takes a little more time. A rose hydrosol is clear and lasts a lot longer on the shelf.

How to Choose Rose Petals

Roses come in more than a hundred different kinds. If you are lucky enough to have roses in your garden, you can use them to make rose water. If you want to pick your own roses, do it first thing in the morning when the flowers smell the best.

Roses can also be bought, but they should come from a natural source. It’s important to use rose petals that haven’t been treated with pesticides so that your rose water doesn’t taste like chemicals.

You can use dried petals, too. These are good. They come from the Damask Rose and smell great and can also be eaten.

Lavender flowers are also a good choice. Follow the directions below for the dried petals, and use lavender water instead of rose water in the recipes that call for rose water.

Uses for Rose Water

There are so many ways to use rosewater. Here are some of my favorites.

Sprays with Scents

One thing many people miss after they have made the switch to healthy options in beauty care is the scented aspect of commercial products. Often times those artificial fragrances are the selling point for perfumes, soaps, and shampoos, but they are also one of the more dangerous ingredients used in these products.

Rose water is a great base for making sprays that smell like perfume. For example, natural shampoo cleans your hair and keeps the natural balance of oils on your scalp, but it doesn’t leave a perfumed scent that lasts. You can make a simple hair perfume to give your hair a hint of a floral smell. You can also just put a little bit of rose water on your wrists and neck to get a light scent.

Perfume for hair: Mix 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract with essential oils in a 4 oz glass spray bottle and fill to the top with rose water. Spray it on your hair as it dries, and style it as you normally would. This is also great for a second (or third) day of hair. Spritz a bit on to freshen up. Put them in the fridge. My favorite mix right now is 3 drops of Patchouli, 4 drops of Ylang Ylang, 3 drops of Rosemary, 4 drops of Cedarwood, 5 drops of Lavender, 4 drops of Grapefruit, and 4 drops of Cedarwood. Bergamot Linen Freshener: Put rosewater in a spray bottle to make a linen freshener. You can also add a few drops of essential oil, like rose or lavender. Before you go to bed at night, mist your sheets.

Skin Care: Rose water is also great for taking care of your skin. Rose water helps keep the skin’s PH in balance, reduces redness and irritation, tightens pores, and cools and calms skin that is too hot.

• For a facial toner, keep rose water in a bottle made of dark-colored glass. Add a drop or 2 of lavender or rose essential oil and apply to your face with a cotton ball after you shower or wash your face.
• Cooling Mist: Store rose water in a dark-colored bottle with a fine mist spray top. You can keep it in your purse for on-the-go use or keep it in the refrigerator for extra cooling. Mist your face to cool and refresh your skin.
• To treat a sunburn, put equal amounts of rose water and apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle. Then, spray the mixture on the sunburned skin.

Mood Improvement

Rose water is also a great way to lift your mood. You can spray it on yourself like a cooling spray and breathe in the scent to make yourself feel better. Add 1–2 cups to your bath water for a relaxing soak.

Uses in Cooking

• In Tea: Add rose water to taste to your herbal tea.
• To flavor yogurt, start with a teaspoon of rose water per cup of yogurt and add more to taste.
• Lemonade: For a more complex taste, add a splash to your lemonade.