By Dev Foster
CN Manager & Hydrosol Afficionado
Is there anything more refreshing than a sweet botanical hydrosol on a hot day?
Floral and botanical hydrosols have always been popular in skincare routines, either post-cleanser or just any time for a quick and nourishing pick-me-up. Hydrosols are actually condensate waters produced during the steam distillation of essential oils, as a by-product. They retain the water soluble vitamin and mineral content of the plant matter, whereas essential oils retain the fat soluble plant content, with few-to-no vitamins or minerals.
As such, depending on the plant used in the hydrosol, it can have beneficial properties for skin health, texture, and tone. Popular hydrosols used in skin care products include rose, lavender, chamomile, witch hazel, and frankincense, among many others.
It’s surprisingly easy to make your own custom hydrosol at home using simple distillation! Yes, without a still. You might have all the tools you need right now in your kitchen already. Today we’ll be making one with lavender, rose, and frankincense.
Find many delightful dried herbs in our bulk section!
Materials:
Large cooking / stock / canning pot with lid
Heat-safe stand (canning racks are perfect if you have a canning pot, but you can use any heat-safe bowl or tin as a stand, or even a large enough rock with a flat surface.)
Heat-safe bowl (to collect hydrosol in.)
Around 3-5 cups of flowers, herbs, etc. Fresh is ideal, but dried is great as well. For this recipe, we’ll be using 2 cups of organic dried lavender flowers, 2 cups of organic dried rose petals, and a half cup of organic frankincense resin, all available in our bulk section.
Distilled water
Ice cubes
The process:
Wash all of your equipment to eliminate potential bacteria.
Place your stand (rock, ramekin, rack, etc.) in the middle of the pot and place your heat-safe container on top of the stand. This container is where hydrosol will gather.
Around the base of your stand, place your flowers / herbs / etc. Cover them with distilled water until they’re just submerged; there’s no approximate amount of water needed.
Turn the pot lid upside down and place it on top of the pot; place a pile of ice cubes in the inverted lid.
Turn on the heating element to low/medium heat beneath the pot, and simmer for as long as necessary; hydrosol can be produced in as little as 25-30 minutes or over the course of hours with replenished ice, water, and organic materials. It all depends on how much hydrosol you want to collect.
The hydrosol itself, at the end of this process, should be translucent. After about an hour with the amount of dried lavender, rose, and frankincense resin used for this recipe, the end result was ~16 ounces of delicious smelling hydrosol. The water your flowers and herbs were soaking in can also be strained and also used as a refreshing botanical spray, or in other skincare products like lotion. Hydrosols keep best in the fridge, and typically last several months or more. Dispose of your hydrosol when it begins to smell off or 'bloom' with noticeable cloudy matter; for this reason, it's often better to keep them in clear bottles rather than tinted glass. Happy DIY-ing!