Rose Water Is a Gift from the Gods

The first rose bloom in my patio garden this year

In my never ending quest for beautiful skin, I've discovered what is, in my opinion, one of the beauty world's best kept secrets. We all know to wear moisturizer and avoid sleeping in our makeup, but I've just learned about rose water. 

First off, it smells fantastic. The rose scent isn't overwhelming, and it's utterly feminine, classic, and refreshing. Next, it makes my skin the smoothest it's ever been.

Every morning for the past week or so, I've woken up with morning skin, ie. puffy, tired, and sad skin. I've put some rose water on my handy-dandy cotton rounds and swept it all over my face. Within a minute, the puffiness is gone, I look bright eyed and bushy tailed, and my skin is SUPER SOFT. And, the softness lasts all day long!

Extremely intrigued by the simplicity and beauty of this regimen, I did some research and found some interesting things:

• Rose water is an anti-inflammatory agent, which explains why it made my skin relax. It can also reduce redness and irritation on skin, making it perfect for people with sensitive skin. It tightens the capillaries in the skin to work its magic.
• It is chock full of antioxidants which strengthen skin cells and rejuvenate cell tissue. 
• The sugars and oils found in rose water sooth skin and provide moisture like none other.
• Rose water is believed to lessen the effects of sun damage (still being tested by scientists).
• Rose water is a byproduct of steam distillation. Rose petals are distilled in order to extract the rose essential oil (which is super expensive unfortunately). Then, rose water is leftover! 

AND you can use it on your face, hair, for aromatherapy, and on the rest of your skin! Here are some ways I've been enjoying rose water lately:

1. In the Bath
Draw a bath, and add about a tablespoon of rose water to the hot water. The aroma will sooth and relax your mind as well as your muscles. Plus, you'll have super soft skin once you're done! For added skin-improving effect, add a cup of baking soda, and a cup of epsom salt to the bath.

2. In my Hair
Put some rose water in a spray bottle (the Dollar Tree has a great selection of cheap bottles), and after you wash your hair, spray the rose water into your hair liberally. Since I've been doing this, my hair has been shinier and softer, although the rose smell fades fairly quickly.

3. As Toner/Astringent
This is what I was talking about earlier. In the mornings, I sweep rose water onto my face with a cotton round and enjoy soft, bright skin throughout the rest of the day!

4. Undereye Area Treatment
Sometimes I have puffy bags under my eyes, and relaxing with rose water on the area depuffs all my bags! To do this, take 1 cotton round and cut it in half. Next, saturate both halves in rose water and put in a ziploc bag in the fridge. Once the cotton rounds are cool, take out of the fridge and place under your eyes. This is so refreshing, relaxing, and awakening! 

5. Daily Refresher
While you're out and about, especially during the hot summer days (We have plenty here in Florida), carry a spritz bottle of rose water with you. Whenever you need a pick-me-up, spray a small amount directly onto your face to instantly feel refreshed and cool!

The Rosewater I've been using.
This brand is great.

6. To Set Your Makeup
Rose water is often used to set makeup after applying, so take your spritz bottle full of it and spray a small amount onto your face after applying your makeup for all day longevity.

7. Aromatherapy
I recently bought an aromatherapy distiller which is meant for oils. It has a tea light in the bottom, and a glass dish on top to hold the carrier oils and essential oils. But, I've found that if I use a mixture of a lot of sunflower oil and a few drops of rose water, I can enjoy the aromatherapy of the scent of roses without spending a million dollars on rose essential oils. The scent fills my entire apartment and relaxes me instantly.

8. Baking
I personally haven't tried this yet, but I've read that if you substitute rose water for regular water in cookie recipes, your cookies will subtly smell of roses!


As you can probably tell by now, I'm extremely excited about rose water and am so glad that I can incorporate it into my daily life now. It's a cheap product with a lot of uses. For example, my 8 oz ounce bottle of it cost me about $6, but I've used it plenty and have barely made a dent in the bottle! If you're extra DIY and cost-efficient, you can even take rose petals from your garden and steep rose water on your stove yourself! I highly suggest that you go buy a bottle from your local health and wellness store and enjoy the effects of rose water soon!