This homemade DIY Rose Water is made using organic roses, is surprisingly easy to make, and can be used within recipes, as a beauty product or even a scented room mist!
I’m not sure if it’s just me but i’m absolutely obsessed with rose water and have been super excited to start making my own. While it’s not the cheapest, to make organic DIY rose water (unless, of course, you grown your own roses in which case you need to start making it right now!), I think it’s lovely to not only be able to use your own within recipes, for beauty and health benefits but also great as a gift for a friend.
If you’re wanting some inspiration on how to use the DIY rose water then feel free to check out my Vegan Strawberry Rose Tart, Raw Vegan Cheesecake : Raspberry, Rose + Earl Grey, Rosewater & chocolate turkish delight smoothie bowl, Strawberry, rose & oats breakfast smoothie, Rose & Raspberry Smoothie bowl etc.
It can also be used in countless cocktail and summer drinks recipes, as well as for a natural facial toner , within body moisturizer and as an all-natural room spray.
Plus, you need only 2 ingredients and half an hour of your time to make this DIY rose water. Note * Just make sure that you use organic, edible roses.
Benefits of Rose Water usage :
This rose water is completely chemical-free, made using just distilled water and organic rose petals. This means that it works brilliantly both as an all-natural beauty product as well as for recipes to be ingested.
The General Benefits of rose water:
- Roses, in general, have a lovely smell which can be used to reduce anxiety and help you to relax – meaning it’s great to be used as a room spritz! You can even spray it onto your pillow at night to help you sleep better.
- Similarly , some have found that rose water can be used against depression. Both ingesting it and using it for it’s scent.
- Rose water apparently has some fairly powerful antiseptic properties, which can help prevent and treat infections.
The Benefits of rose water for Beauty:
- Rose water has amazing anti-inflammatory properties, which makes it great for treating skin irritations, eczema , rosacea – reducing redness and can even have a positive effect on acne.
- It can actually help maintain your skins pH balance, control excess oil and is great to use as a cleanser to remove oil and dirt from your pores, as well as a toner.
- It’s antibacterial properties mean it can also be used to help heal scars and wounds.
- It also helps to hydrate your skin , so great to use as a moisturiser.
- Rose Waters’ antioxidant properties can aid in regenerating skin tissue and strengthening skin cells.
- Rose Water is also great for hair-care, being used as a natural conditioner, to treat scalp inflamation as well as help control dandruff.
- There are studies which also shows that rose water have anti-ageing properties, thus being used to reduce the appearance of fine lines & wrinkles.
The Benefits of rose water when ingesting:
- Rose water has been used as a natural treatment to soothe sore throats and cold symptoms. Apprently helping to relax muscles in your throat too.
- Some studies have found that rose water can be used to aid digestion, improve bile secretion and relieve digestive issues such as bloating and an upset tummy.
- Not only does rose water help with skin moisturising when used as a beauty product, but it also works great when ingested as part of a rose water/tea to help hydrate your skin from within.
- Because of it’s anti-inflammatory properties, drinking rose water/tea can help relieve inflammation and have a positive effect on fluid retention.
- Once again, as with the benefits of using it as part of your beauty regime. Ingesting rose water can have anti-ageing properties , including reducing fine lines & wrinkles and lightening dark spots.
What are some of your favourite uses for rose water? I’d love to know in the comments below! Also, feel free to tag me in your creations @AlphaFoodie. 
The Organic Rose Water Recipe:
All you need is 4-5 blossoms of fragrant organic roses, water and some ice cubes.
- Remove the rose blossoms from the steps and carefully rinse them to get rid of any dust or little critters.
- Put a bowl at the center of an empty saucepan, then add the rose petals around the bowl.
Note: make sure there are no petals in the bowl as this is where the rose water will collect. - Add water (enough to cover the petals) and bring the heat up to make it simmer. Put the cover on, upside down.
The cover will help catch the rose water vapour for this distilling method. - Add ice to the top of the saucepan cover.
As soon as the ice melts, add more ice cubes. This helps with the condensation of the evaporated rose water.
Keep repeating this step. - In about 30 minutes, the rose water will be ready. It should have condensed into the bottle in the middle of the saucepan.
Carefully remove the bowl as it is hot. - Pour the rose water in a clean glass container. Store in a cool dry place (I store mine in the fridge for up to 3-4 months).
2-Ingredient Organic DIY Rose Water
Ingredients
- 4-5 blossoms of fragrant organic roses
- ice cubes
Instructions
- Remove the rose blossoms from the steps and carefully rinse them to get rid of any dust or little critters.
- Put a bowl at the center of an empty saucepan, then add the rose petals around the bowl. *
- Add water (enough to cover the petals) and bring the heat up to make it simmer. Put the cover on, upside down.
- The cover will help catch the rose water vapour for this distilling method.
- Add ice to the top of the saucepan cover.
- As soon as the ice melts, add more ice cubes. This helps with the condensation of the evaporated rose water.
- Keep repeating this step. In about 30 minutes, the rose water will be ready. It should have condensed into the bottle in the middle of the saucepan.
- Carefully remove the bowl as it is hot.
- Pour the rose water in a clean glass container. Store in a cool dry place **
Video
Notes
To pin this organic DIY rose water for later:
is it alright if the water isn’t a pinkish hue when it’s done? most other tutorials show it kinda pink in the end
Hi Liyla,
Yes, it’s perfectly normal for the water to be very clear – this means you’ve collected the distilled water which has no impurities.
EASY AND I LOVE ALL THINGS ROSES. NEVER KNEW HOW TO MAKE MY OWN ROSE WATER, THO. BUT I HAVE MADE MY OWN ROSE TEA. ITSSO LOVELY AND LIGHT AND IS SO REFRESHING.THANKS FOR MAKING THIS AVAILABLE!
Thank you so much for your comment, Terri. 🙂
I agree with you
I am just wondering how long after I have made and bottled the rose water do I have to wait to use it as a toner? Does it need to age?
Hi Jess,
You can use the rose water right away, no need for it to age.
Hello I love the tips will be trying ASAP. As far as ingesting how much is enough in each setting and how often.
Hi Eriel,
You just need a few drops when you want to use rose water as a cleanser or moisturizer.
You can also use it when cooking – in sweets, cocktails, and other dishes. Usually, the recipe will tell you how much to add. If you want to experiment yourself, I’d recommend starting with 1 tsp and then you can add more to taste.
There are a lot more tips on how to use rose water here on the blog post.
How fresh would you recommend the roses? Just opening or have been open for a while?
Hi Christina, as long as they are still fragrant, it doesn’t matter! I have a method coming using dried roses too! Fragrant roses to start with is the key!
I tried your method for making rosewater and it looks nice clear as water but when i smell it the smell is not good it is little weird, i mean there is no fragrance in my roaewater.. is it normal??
Hi Simran,
Were the roses used fragrant? If not, then the rosewater won’t have a pronounced aroma either. The more fragrant the roses, the more fragrant your rose water will be. Rosa damascene (damask rose) and Rosa centifolia (centifolia/”cabbage” rose) are great choices but others would work just as well. I hope this helps.
Hello alpha foodie;
Why can’t we use the rosewater that has the petals inside is it harmful even after removing the petals?
Thank you !
Hi Liz,
Rosewater that is used for cooking or for cosmetics is made by distillation (the process of evaporating the water & then condensing it back to liquid). The distilled rosewater has had all of its impurities removed so it’s safe to consume.
The water in which the petals sit has simply been heated up and thus it’s not as clean. While it smells nice and you can put in a spray bottle to freshen the air in your room, I wouldn’t recommend using it for cooking or for cosmetic purposes. I hope this helps.
If i can’t find organic roses, can i use Flower shop roses and clean them out with cool water to remove any chance of chemicals? Would that suffice?
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, it will be great to clean them carefully with water. However, I would still highly recommend using organic roses (maybe some shops can supply with such) if you want to use them for baking or for cosmetic purposes. As a room mist, any fragrant roses would do. I hope this helps.
Hi ! Is it distilled water or normal water will be fine ?
Hi Soledad,
It is safe to use normal water (filtered or water that you would drink).
Why wouldn’t you use the water the roses are sitting in. Every single video I’ve watched strains the roses and uses that water??????
Hi Kay,
Rosewater that is used for cooking or for cosmetics is made by distillation (the process of evaporating the water & then condensing it back to liquid). The distilled rosewater has had all of its impurities removed so it’s safe to consume.
The water in which the petals sit has simply been heated up and thus it’s not as clean. While it smells nice and you can put it in a spray bottle to freshen the air in your room, I wouldn’t recommend using it for cooking or for cosmetic purposes. I hope this helps.
Hi! I am wondering for the purpose of looks, would I be able to add this to a dropper with dried roses in it?
Hi Majerle,
I would advise against this – the dried roses would introduce impurities to the pure distilled rose water and then it won’t be good for baking or for cosmetics.
The water, in which the petals sit during the process, smells nice and you can put it in a spray bottle to use as air/room freshener – for the purpose of looks, you could add dried roses in it. But please note that this water is not the pure distilled rose water used for cooking. I hope this helps.
Could you keep the water the petals are simmering in by putting them in a cheese cloth and straining the water? Or only the water in the center bowl is good to keep?
Hi Amanda,
Only the water in the center bowl is good to keep. The idea is that we keep the vapor which evaporates and then condenses into liquid – that’s the rose water which is safe to use for baking/consuming or using for homemade beauty products like face toners etc.
If you don’t want to get rid of the water with the petals right away, as it still smells nice, I guess you could just leave it on the stovetop or transfer to another container (with or without the petals) and keep it around for a day or two to enjoy the aroma.
I hope you enjoy the rose water.
Hi, what is the shelf life of this rose water? Do we need to add any preservatives?
Thank you
Hi Maria,
You can store the rose water in the fridge for about 3-4 months without the need of adding preservatives.
From another recipe I simmered the petals in distilled water. I had about 30 roses. The water is very very dark red. I then put that in glass jars in the frig and threw away the petals. I’m now trying your recipe with about 25 roses. How do I use the rose water to lighten brown spots and soothe rosacea and exema. Wrong spelling.
Hi Betsy,
Thank you for your comment. I know that rose water has anti-inflammatory properties and can thus help reduce skin redness. However, as I am not a doctor/dermatologist, I would suggest talking to a medical professional to discuss your personal needs. 🙂
Can you use a pyrex for this? I know hot pyrex put into cool makes it break but if its a consistent adding of ice?? Or can i use one of the regular glass sauce pan lids with the plastic or metal handles??
Hi,
You should be able to use a regular glass saucepan lid, especially if it has a handle right in the middle. When placed upside down, that will help the condensation (rose water) drip straight into the bowl placed in the center of the saucepan. I hope this helps.
Hello,
I’d like to ask if this method would work with dried rose flowers? Many thanks
Hi, Yes it is possible. However, the method is slightly different. I haven’t actually given that method a try yet. However, as far as I know, you need to add water to the dried rose petals and then heat that mix. I’ll try and give that DIY a go and find the best method.