44: Rose Hydrosol Benefits and Uses

Liz Fulcher:  This is the Aromatic Wisdom Podcast, Episode 44.  Today I’ll be sharing about that spectacular aromatic water called Rose Hydrosol.  

 
00:50 Hi Everyone!  Welcome back to the podcast.  It's so good to have you here with me! My name is Liz Fulcher and I'm the host of the Aromatic Wisdom Podcast.  I've been wearing Rose-colored glasses for past month, honestly. I have just spent the past 4 weeks immersed in all things Rose for a class I taught called “Rose Deep Dive”.    Oh my Word it was so much fun!  I know a lot about Rose, but man, when you want to really know something, teach about it. 

Because it was a deep dive I wanted to really get into some very specific, deep aspects of rose such as the different Latin binomials like Damask Rose, May Rose, White Rose and the various extractions like Rose Concrete, Rose Absolute, Rose Otto.  And finally, with this podcast and my daily use of it this month, I'm covering Rose Hydrosol - I’ve been totally immersed in rose and I’m feeling so happy and  joyful because I've had this exquisite aromatic on my desk, in my kitchen, spraying my face with it, using it in body lotion. 

If you’re feeling down or it’s dark where you live - right now it's winter here in Pennsylvania so the timing is perfect to use Rose (not that there’s every a bad time) - Rose really lifts the spirit when the days and your mood are grey and dark.  So to round out the whole Rose experience this month, I thought I will do my last podcast episode for February on Rose Hydrosol.  🌹

If you like today’s topic, I have two online courses you may enjoy, a Deep Dive into Rose and Hydrosols for Health which is a comprehensive training on the therapeutic properties of the aromatic waters and their applications. 

Here’s an overview of 4 things I’ll be covering today: 

1. I’ll start by What is Rose Hydrosol
2. Then I’ll share some of the wonderful Benefits of Rose Hydrosol and what makes it such a valuable aromatic water to own . It's one of the top 5 hydrosols I’m never without. 
3. Then I’ll give some Suggestions for Using Rose Hydrosol. 
4. And finally, I’m going to talk about the importance of finding a Good Quality Rose Hydrosol and how to do that. There is a LOT of garbage being sold!

Okay, are you ready to dive into the aromatic water known as Rose Hydrosols?  Let do it! 

1.  WHAT IS ROSE HYDROSOL?
Rose Hydrosol is a heavenly aromatic water that is produced when rose petals are distilled.  If you love roses, you’re going to love all the rose extractions, including Rose Hydrosol.  

The distillation doesn’t use that tall column that you commonly see when talking about distillation because the petals sort of melt into mush and it’s hard to obtain a really good hydrosol - or even an essential oil in that way.  Instead, the whole flower head is immersed in water and distilled that way. This is called Hydro-distilliation. So the rose blossoms are added to water in the still, are brought to a boil  which produces steam that percolates through the rose mass.  Then the steam that is produced is collected where the water and the oil produced are then separated.  

The Species of Rose Used
The two most common species of rose that are used to produce Rose Hydrosol are Rosa x damascena and Rosa x centifolia.  It's more common really to find the beautiful sweet Damask Rose (Rosa x damascena).

This distillation process that I just explained is also used to extract the essential oil which is known as Rose otto.  Because it requires so many roses to obtain essential oil, some artisan distillers will distill only for the hydrosol. 

The term Rose hydrosol may also be called Rose hydrolat.  The terms are interchangeable with hydrolat being more popular in Europe, but here in the USA where I am the term hydrosol is the more commonly used and understood term. I have asked my students in Australia and New Zealand what term they use and they’ve all said 'hydrosol'.   So I think hydrosol is the more common term, but use whatever term is appropriate for the region where you where you live and use your waters. 

2. BENEFITS OF ROSE HYDROSOL
 
 I'm going to cover about five or six properties that make Rose Hydrosol so magnificent.  In my experience, the two areas where this aromatic water really shines is when used for the skin and the emotions.  Below are just a few of the wonderful benefits of this gorgeous aromatic water:

• Anti-inflammatory:  Its strong anti-inflammatory properties make it a really good choice then when you've got a hot, inflamed situation because it both reduces inflammation and is cooling.   So if you have red, angry, acne or eczema, or if you've got some psoriasis patches, you know those kinds of skin conditions that are hot and uncomfortable, spray it with Rose Hydrosol.  If you have a sunburn - which is another hot situation - you can spray that combined with 50% Lavender Hydrosol and 50% Rose hydrosol.
  
  
• AntiBacterial:  Like all hydrosols it's got antibacterial and antiseptic properties, again, great for the skin, in terms of fighting acne, and any kind of skin infections, bacterial skin problems. It's a really good choice, and again it is cooling for these conditions. 
  
  
• Cooling the Body:  I did say it's cooling, so for example, hot flashes, spraying a little rose hydrosol on the back of your neck on your face, especially if it's been in the fridge is delightful when you're having a hot flash.  
  
  
• Cooling Emotions:  When you're angry and upset and have an emotionally heated situation, Rose Hydrosol is a really good choice to mist yourself with it. Take some deep breaths. It smells amazing, and it's sort of an infusion of love.  I like to use Rose hydrosol also when I'm nervous before I have to do, for example, a presentation then Rose Hydrosol is good choice.
  
  
• Anti-depressant:  If you have a situation where you're feeling agitated, nervous or depressed, Rose Hydrosol is a great antidepressant. Now I'm not talking pharmaceutical grade, of course, so don't quote me on that. But if you're going through a blue phase or having a dark period of of the soul, as they say, really immerse yourself with rose in general and all of the extracts of rose including Rose Hydrosol. 
  
  
• Anti-aging:  Rose Hydrosol is wonderful for anti-aging! Now I'm not saying you can use it and go out in the sun and you won't age, but there's a reason why it's often used in beauty products and aimed at reducing wrinkles. It does have some anti-aging effects. I am over 50 and therefore I'm going to have over-do-skin which has seen a lot of summers and I do have some damage. I find that when I mist Rose Hydrosol on my face,  very shortly after I use it I can see a softening of my skin and the pores are smaller; the whole terrain of my skin just looks healthier.

3. A FEW WAYS TO USE ROSE HYDROSOL

Cooling and/or Anti-Anxiety Mist: Again, it's a great cooling mist. Keep in the fridge in a bottle with a spray top. Have an extra bottle in your purse. Store any extra in the refrigerator. Mist on face, arms, hands  to cool skin and freshen up.  When you're traveling - and we WILL be traveling again as things are starting to open up - take Rose Hydrosol with you and spray it for calming down for anxiety. It's great for anxiety and just to feel fresh. 

Facial Toner: To 1 oz. of Rose Hydrosol add a drop of Lavender or Rose essential oil and apply to your face with a cotton ball after you shower or wash your face to keep skin smooth and toned.

Clay Facial for Skin: Add 1 teaspoon of white clay to 1 tablespoon of Rose Hydrosol and add 1 scant drop of Rose oil. Let it integrate, and apply the clay masque to your cleansed skin, let it dry, gently rub the clay off with fingertips, rinse thoroughly and follow with a Rosewater spray. This would be useful for any teenager, mother, man or young person as it is healing, tonic and adds suppleness to the skin.

Sunburn Relief: Mix equal parts rosewater and Rose vinegar in a spray bottle and spray onto sunburned skin for relief.

Baby Wipes:  A wonderful way to use Rose hydrosol is for making your own baby wipes.  One of the things I love about my course Hydrosols for Health is that I give a lot of ways to use hydrosols. So there's a lot more in there than than what I'm indicating here.

Other:  You can add it to your bath, you can add to a baby's bath water. Gosh, I mean honestly anything that you can do with water you can do with Rose 

4.  HYDROSOL QUALITY
Alright, let's move into number four determining the quality of hydrosol. This is a huge conversation and really important.

So here are some ways that you can determine if what you're buying is actually a good quality Rose hydrosol.

If the person from whom you're buying it - whether it is a shop or an online store - is calling it "rose water", or "floral water", or if the product is going by any other name than hydrosol or hydrolat, that is a red flag for me.  First and foremost because those are not the correct words for the product.  If this is the case then start asking some questions. 

If they're calling it floral water is could be essential oils added to water.  So the first question is, "how is your rose water produced?"   If they say "I don't know", then run away and find someone else.  If they say, "Oh, we add essential oils to our water", that's fine because they're being honest.  But it's not the product that you're looking for.  So the answer should be, "Our aromatic water is made through hydro-distillation.  They might even say 'steam distillation', which is it's okay because they are saying 'distillation'.  If the Latin name of the plant that was used to produce this water is not on the bottle, then again, that's not a good sign.  I would ask what plant was used in the making of this product. Most likely the Latin binomial on your bottle will be Rosa damascena or Rosa centifolia.   There is a beautiful white rose Rosa Alba, that's from which the