Monday, May 3

DIY Rosewater Facial Toner

I was flipping through the current April/May edition of Natural Health and saw they had a recipe for Rose Toner.  I've made it before, but it's been a while, so I was really excited to be reminded of it again and it just so happens to be that our climbing roses are abounding with gorgeous bright magenta clusters right now. Perfect timing!
This stuff is super easy to make, so you should definitely try it if you have (pesticide free) roses in bloom at your house too.  Rosewater is known to help clarify the skin. It tightens pores, decreases redness and inflammation, tames breakouts, removes excess oil while not drying the skin out.
(Hehe, don't let the bottle throw you. The husband teaches science and so we have a variety of bottles that were once used to store chemicals in a past life. They are a nice size, and I think they're kinda neat and pretty despite the labeling, so I use them to store astringents/toners, bath salts, oils etc.)

So, the Rosewater.  Pick about 2 cups of petals and give them a quick rinse off.  Put them in a pot with 2 1/4 cups water (I use distilled, but regular filtered water would work as well).  You want the petals to be just covered by the water line.  Turn on the heat, but when the water starts to boil, move the pot off the burner and let cool for about an hour.  I like to stir every few minutes or so.

Here's what it'll look like:
The petals will float after you put in the water. That's okay.  That's why it's good to stir every so often. ;)

 
After a few minutes, the petals will start to fade and stain the water.

Petals are almost completely faded. The house smells really pretty right now!

At the end of the hour cooling, voila! Translucent petals and pretty pink water. Perfect! Now just strain the petals and pour the liquid into a sterile container. The rosewater is good at room temp for 4 or 5 days, or you can double its' life by storing in the fridge.

To use, moisten a cotton ball with the rosewater and sweep over a clean face. You could  even pour some of the sweet smelling, pretty concoction in your bathwater. The recipe will make about two cups, so shoot, do both!  Or share some with a neighbor. :)

Variation: Add a splash of witch hazel in if you have oily skin.You can also throw a few fresh rose petals in with the rosewater for an even prettier presentation.

 Now go get to picking some petals! :)

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