Making some rose water ...

 I am always up for a challenge. I saw a clip on instagram by Foraged.by.fern about making your own rose water & I thought 'why not, I have loads of roses'.  We do not use chemical sprays at home so our roses are safe to use. 

The method is to collect fragrant rose petals, put them in a pot with about 2 cups of water & insert a heatproof bowl in to the centre. 

Invert the lid & put ice cubes on the top of the inverted lid so the boiling water in the pot condenses when it hits the cold lid & the droplets are collected in the bowl.  Another instagram account, gardeningconnect, had a similar one today so I decided to have a go. 

How simple these things sound. I tried several pots until I found one that would accommodate the bowl I had. The lid was too close to the bowl for the steam to run in to so I popped 3 forks along the rim to give it space & that helped to the lip of the bowl was free from the lid. This is the distilling method of doing it.  I had to add more ice cubes several times & in the end there was some clear liquid in the bowl. 

However, the rose petals had pulped in the pot & that remaining liquid had simmered to a deep pink colour from the roses. After straining it, I thought it might to to add to a bath as it would contain the concentrated rose oils. 

Fern's suggested uses from her instagram are:

🧁 Stir it into sweet treats! Stir it with icing sugar to make a floral glaze, add a splash while you’re making cakes or pastries or use it to flavour a rice pudding, sorbet or panna cotta!

🌬 Spritz it as a cooling face mist! Put the rosewater into a spray bottle and use it to feel refreshed while it calms any redness and inflammation

✨ Use it a heart medicine! Just a few drops of rose water in your favourite drink or onto your tongue will help open the heart to loving energies, while easing sorrow and grief

🛌 Use it as a pillow spray! The fragrance of rose has been shown to help people feel less stressed, so a little spritz on your pillow will help you sleep soundly

An interesting one. The simmering method of the petals remaining in the pot produces the deeper pink colour, the distilling method produces the clear liquid, as confirmed on this post about the methods of making rose water. 

Will I repeat it? I don't know, I will try both out cosmetically & then decide but you never know until you try something. 

Do send some hints my way if you were successful with rose water ... 

Thank you for stopping by, you are always welcome, 

Dee 🥀🌹💐