rose water

In my aim to get back down to basics and exclude plastics and unecessary chemicals from our lives I have begun to expand my repertoire of homemade toiletries and cleaning products.  I have used rosewater and witchazel as a toner since I was a little girl and I recently discovered the best make up remover EVER.  Olive oil and witchazel, I have never seen anything remove so much grime and make up.  I was about to order some more rosewater in order to replenish my moisturiser when I looked out at the garden, heavy with roses and wondered if I could make my own.

Reader I did 🙂

I collected about 4-6 pints of rose petals and placed them in my huge soup pan.  I then placed a brick in the middle.

I placed a metal bowl on the brick and covered the petals and just over the top of the brick with water.

Then I placed my wok over the top and brought the water to a rolling boil.  Once it was boiling I reduced the heat to let it simmer and placed handfuls of ice in the wok.

Ta da my home made still.  As the water evaporated it hit the icey cold wok, condensed and then dripped into the bowl on the brick.  I emptied the bowl regularly and let it keep simmering for about 30 minutes.  Much longer and I reckoned the product would become too weak.

Unfortunately this is not a scratch and sniff blog, but I can assure you this smells divine.  My first 3/4 pint of rosewater made with my own rose petals.  Now I can replenish my moisturiser.