Learn how to make rose water using either fresh or dried petals to create a clean beauty staple!

While roses may be the flower of love, they also have great hair and skin care benefits! I’m going to show you how to make rose water so you can make the pure goodness of this flower a part of your daily ritual.

The process of how rose water is made is a very simple and relatively quick procedure that pays dividends. Not to mention it smells heavenly!

You can use rose water on both your hair and skin, and it’s a non-negotiable step in my daily skin care routine for me. For all that rose water does, you would think it’s super complicated with lots of ingredients, right? Wrong!

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What Are the Ingredients in Rose Water?

The ingredients are in the title! Just rose petals and distilled water are all you need on how to make rose water spray. Amazing, isn’t it?

Roses are truly a miracle flower, for all that rose water can do for our health. Inhaling the sweet aroma of the concoction can drastically improve your mood, it balances the pH of your skin, and helps to keep your hair and scalp feeling fresh.

By pulling the essence of the flower into the water, we can then put the water on our skin or hair to reap the benefits. You can even drink the water if you feel so inclined!

How Do You Make Homemade Rose Water?

All you need to do is boil about ½ cup of fresh rose petals (or ¼ cup dried petals) with enough water to fully cover the petals. If using fresh rose petals, make sure that you give them a good washing under the sink with a colander.

Once the pot of petals has come to a boil, bring the temperature to a simmer. Let the petals simmer in the water for a bit, then strain and cool. For me, I let my pot simmer for about 10 minutes or so.

Your rose petals should be free of all their color, while the water should be a nice light pink, depending on the kind of roses you’re using. Don’t worry if your petals turn a weird green or brown color instead. You’ll still get a great bottle of rose water.

You’re essentially making a huge cup of rose tea! Once everything has cooled, you can put it in an amber misting bottle, spray and go. An amber spray bottle is super important because it slows the expiration process by allowing less sunlight to pass through the bottle.

This is exactly how to make rosewater toner that I spray on my face every single morning. It’s certainly a sad day when I run out and I must go about my routine without the smell of fresh roses permeating my bathroom.

Can I make Rose Water with Tap Water?

You certainly can, but just keep in mind that it may not last as long, and I don’t recommend drinking it. All those minerals and other junk in tap water can create an environment that’s ideal for growing harmful bacteria.

That’s why I say you should use distilled or filtered water instead of tap water. If you use a reverse osmosis or other kind of water filter in your home, you should be fine. Or you can always grab a bottle of distilled water next time you’re at the grocery store.

You want your homemade rose water to last as long as possible! Not to mention you want it to smell great. Using distilled or filtered water will help prevent bacteria from growing in the rose water which will ultimately ruin the smell.

How Long Does Homemade Rose Water Last?

If you keep your rose water in the fridge, it should last approximately two weeks. But if you keep it on your bathroom counter, then it should last one week.

I know that the shelf life of this stuff seems obscenely short, but there’s more than one way you can use it! Misting it on your face every morning is only one amazing way to use rose water.

You can modify how to make rose water for hair by adding some of your favorite essential oils for a fancy hair perfume. Or you can spray it in any room as a nice air freshener.

If your homemade rose water is about to go bad and you’re still left with a good amount, just pour it in a nice bath and enjoy the heavenly smell one more time. Light a few candles and turn on some relaxing music while you’re at it. 😉

Choosing Your Rose Petals

Now here comes the part that tends to be a bit more complicated than it needs to be. If you have a rose bush outside in your garden, then you’re good to go! But it’s not like that for everyone.

The last thing you want to do when choosing blooms for your homemade rose water is to go to the grocery store and buy those super processed-looking roses that have almost no smell.

You know what I’m talking about, right? Those red (or pink or whatever color they are) roses that all look exactly the same, like they’ve never seen the light of day and smell more like chemicals than their legendary scent.

These roses are sprayed with chemical pesticides that I’m sure you’d rather not spray on your hair and skin, let alone drink. It’s true that you can easily rinse pesticides off of any given surface, but these roses don’t have the smell you want.

Based off that, here are your options with choosing roses:

Find a local florist that sells organic roses. This solves the pesticide problem, and you’ll be supporting a local business!

Give dried rose petals a try. If you don’t live anywhere near a business that sells organic roses, this is your best bet. Just make sure that they are organic or culinary grade! This will ensure they are high quality. These dried rose petals on Amazon earned my seal of approval.

What I ended up doing was a bit of a compromise between these two options. I went to my local Whole Foods and asked their florist if they sold organic roses.

The florist had never heard of organic roses, but she knew that the ones they sold were fair trade and sustainably farmed. She let me look at the boxes they came in and I couldn’t find the little organic seal, but they had just about every other seal you could think of.

I decided it was good enough because none of the roses looked “fake” and I could smell them through my mask. If you live near a Whole Foods, this could be a great option for you! This bouquet photographed beautifully.

How to Preserve Homemade Rose Water

While it’s true that homemade rose water will last you about a week, there are some ways to stretch its shelf life a little bit further. Make sure you do these things to make your rose water last:

Get an amber spray bottle. Like I said earlier, an amber spray bottle will diminish any light exposure to the rose water, which will slow the expiration process. The key is to keep it in a cool, dark place. These ones here are my favorite!

Keep it in the fridge. Speaking of cool dark spaces, your fridge is an excellent place for that! The cool temperature will also inhibit any bacterial growth.

Disinfect your spray bottle. You don’t want any kinds of dust or impurities in that bottle! A dirty spray bottle is just begging for the product to have a shorter shelf life.

Add one tablespoon of witch hazel. While it’s not a super strong preservative, like I talked about in my natural preservatives article, it’s great for short-term products like this. Witch hazel is an astringent, which can inhibit bacterial growth. And it’s good for your skin as well!

And hey, if all of this sounds a little nuts, I get it. I don’t want to worry about my rosewater expiring this fast either.

If the short shelf life gives you anxiety, there’s nothing wrong with buying your own rosewater! I’ve been buying this brand since day one and I still use it now. One bottle lasts me well over a year!

How to Make Rose Water

Use dried or fresh rose petals to make the ultimate skin care staple! This rosewater will soothe your skin and lift your mood.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Active Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Materials

Instructions

Pluck petals from roses until you have 1/2 cup. This came out to about 5 stems for me. Measure out your dried petals, if using.
If using fresh rose petals, rinse them in the sink in a colander to wash off any remaining dirt or pesticides.
Place your petals in a small boiling pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil.
Once boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer for 10 minutes, or until all color has left the petals.
Remove the pot from heat and allow the water to cool.
Once cooled, strain out the petals using the colander and transfer the rosewater to your amber spray bottle using a funnel. Add the witch hazel, if using.
Enjoy! Spray on hair and skin for best results.

Notes

If you plan on drinking this rose water, please get organic dried or fresh petals! The pesticides on traditional grocery roses are not meant to be eaten.

Uses for Homemade Rose Water on Hair and Skin

Now that you have your lovely homemade rose water ready to go, let’s talk about the many ways you can use it!

Hair Care:

Make a hair perfume—Add essential oils like lavender or bergamot to your amber spray bottle. Just give it a good shake and use on days when your hair needs a refresh! Or you can simple leave it as is for some added scent to your locks.

Skin Care:

Facial toner—I have used rose water on my face as a toner every day since my clean beauty journey began and I have no intention of stopping! Just mist it on your face after cleansing and apply your serum or moisturizer while your skin is still damp, as per my skin care guide for beginners.

Sunburn relief—Rose water has very soothing properties which can help take the edge off of a minor sunburn. Spray it as often as you like to the affected area for a speedy recovery, in addition to some of my favorite sunburn remedies.

Other uses:

Air freshener—Lift your mood by spraying a cloud of rose water! You can use it as a base before adding any essential oils for a desired boost. If it can go on your hair, it can go in the air! (I’ll see myself out)

Add to culinary dishes—I have yet to try this but rose water lemonade sounds incredible! You could serve it at your first summer party in who knows how long.

How to Make Rose Water to Drink

Along that same vein, making rose water to drink is the exact same as making rose water for your hair and skin! You can totally drink the water once it’s cooled.

If you make rose water with the intent to drink it, then I would definitely make sure that you use organic roses. Again, I don’t want you drinking pesticides that were meant for plants and not people!

Final Thoughts on How to Make Rose Water at Home

Roses are one of my favorite flowers. That’s why it’s the logo for Essential Moves to Wellness! They’re good for the body, mind and soul.

I spray my face with rose water every day as a part of my morning ritual, and I have no intent of stopping anytime soon. It makes my skin care products go on my face easier, and it always lifts my mood.

I hope you enjoy your new homemade rose water! Let me know what you think in the comments below.