ROSE HYDROSOL

I should first of all start by explaining what hydrosols are... Hydrosols are flower waters and are created during the distilling process of plant materials (the process of extracting essential oils).  Basically they are like an essential oil, just not quite as concentrated.  I'm choosing to focus on Rose Hydrosol today, but there are many other types of hydrosols out there.  Rose Hydrosol is simply just Rose Water (hydrosol is just a fancy name).  This product has ton a of uses! It is used in Aromatherapy, Cooking, Skin Care, and many other beauty applications.

I've been using some Rose Water on my face every morning and night as a toner after cleansing my face.  I have to say, I'm impressed with the results!  My skin feels tighter, is more radiant, and my makeup application has become effortless!

For use as a toner, I just soak a cotton ball  in the rose water and wipe it across my face after I'm finished washing it.  This helps to restore the pH balance instantly.  The whole purpose of a toner is pH restoration.  When you wash your face the natural balance of the skin is disturbed, and the skin has to work twice as hard to re-balance the pH levels.  The balancing can take up to half an hour if your skin is doing it on its own, but is achieved instantly when you use a toner immediately after washing.  This is because, the toner restores the acid and alkali balance of the skin.

Toners are designed to penetrate pores, refresh and cool the skin while clearing away any excess oil, impurities and dead skin cells that were not  removed with your cleanser.  Toners are there to make sure that all the cleansing product has been removed from your face.  This helps to bring out the even more radiant you!

Rosewater can be used directly on the skin, unlike an essential oil, because it isn't as concentrated.  Its tempting sometimes to just use the rose water as the entire cleansing process (skipping the whole washing of the face), but that isn't what it is designed to do.  Make sure you are cleansing your face properly before using a toner, in order to obtain maximum results.  A good way to know if your cleanser is doing its job properly is by run a cotton ball soaked with rose water (or any other toner) on your face after you have washed it and examine it to see if the cotton ball comes away clean.  If your cotton ball comes back clean your cleanser is doing its job.  If it comes back dirty, you  might want to consider switching products or try washing your face again.

Rose water has been used for centuries, and is one of the oldest beauty secrets there is.  Its use dates back to ancient Egypt... so if it has been used for that long...who am I to argue?  The other great thing about this is the Aromatic benefits!  The use of Rose can be used to help reduce stress and heart disease, it can be used as an antidepressant and can help balance hormones in women. 

Once again, Rose Hydrosol isn't the only hydrosol available (its just the one I currently have).  You can use other products for your skin, depending on your needs.  Here are a couple of examples:

Normal/Sensitive Skin:  Try using Rosewater or Sandalwood
Oily Skin:  Witch Hazel, Juniper or Lemongrass should help

The great thing about this is its inexpensive!  I paid $10.00 US for 16 oz of this product.  If you think of it in relation to use, you're looking at spending hardly anything.  I figure you can get 20 uses per oz that's 330 uses per 16 oz bottle, which ends up being 3 cents per application.  I think I could live with that! (unless for some strange reason I can't do math, and I'm way out to lunch on this!)