How to make homemade rose lotion?

Rose has been used in skincare since ancient Egypt. Queen of flowers offers, besides its heady scent, well-known benefits for skin and remains one of most used plants in beauty rituals to this day.
If you can easily buy rose lotions or rose waters, it is relatively simple to make your own when you grow enough rose bushes in garden. How? We tell you everything!

Rose lotion: which skin type?

An ally for sensitive skin, rose is often used for dry skin care. But rose has a place in many bathrooms since, besides its soothing properties for dry skin, it is both purifying for oily skin (thanks to its slightly astringent side) and regenerating for mature skin (to fight first wrinkles). Choosing rose as beauty secret lets you enjoy its hydrating and soothing virtues for all skin types, even as a treatment such as a lotion, less rich than a cream or an oil.

How to harvest roses and how much?

Quality of a homemade lotion lies in picking petals that must be freshly harvested and selected, early morning. Pick only quantities needed to obtain a maximum 200 ml bottle, this homemade lotion having limited shelf life.

Homemade rose lotion recipe

Even easier to make than a rose floral water which requires distillation, rose lotion is simply an infusion of petals. As with any cosmetic preparation, be vigilant about hygiene of all ingredients in recipe.

Ingredients

100 g untreated rose petals (ideally centifolia roses but any garden roses will do)
250 ml mineral or distilled water

Equipment

Large saucepan
Small glass bottles, preferably opaque or coloured, previously sterilised, with airtight cap
Muslin and fine strainer or chinois

The method

Make sure petals are fresh, free of small flies or impurities
Heat mineral or distilled water.
At first simmer, turn off heat and fully immerse rose petals in water
Infuse for 24 to 48 hours
Strain (optionally through muslin) to remove as many impurities as possible, then bottle
Close each small bottle
Label with date
Store in refrigerator

My tips for using and storing rose lotion

Your 100% natural rose lotion will become part of beauty routine, and you will soon not be able to do without it. Apply to cotton pad to perfect make-up removal and freshen skin. This type of homemade cosmetic is the perfect tonic to use after oil cleansing for enhanced scent, or after facial cleansing morning and evening.
Homemade rose lotion has one small drawback: shorter shelf life than rose water obtained by distillation. This additive-free homemade lotion must be kept in refrigerator for maximum two weeks. Prepare small amounts at a time to avoid wasting rose-petal harvests.
Reuse small bottles (100, 150 or 200 ml) to recycle your own containers.
If resealing a glass bottle with a cork stopper, use only new or clean stoppers, previously boiled and air-dried.
Allergy to rose is rare; nevertheless, always test homemade products on skin in small amount. If after 48 hours you notice no irritation or unusual reaction, you can use freely.

This rose lotion is also edible, and you can use it to flavour oriental desserts, ice creams and cocktails, for a gourmet yet very floral touch.