Rose Water is the hydrosol (aqueous products of distillation) portion of the distillate of rose petals. It is used for cosmetic, medicinal and to flavor food, as well as religious purposes throughout Europe and Asia. Rose Water and it's oil companion is one of the oldest skin care and grooming products. Rose Water used to be added to baths and to treat mild skin conditions. Many cosmetic products hold some form of rose component.
Rose Water Benefits
Rose Water has many benefits, some including it's anti-inflammatory properties which helps reduce redness from overheated or irritated skin. It is a good cleanser, aiding in cleaning dirt and oil from the pores and effectively preventing acne and pimples. The best time to use Rose Water is at night, which helps cleanse your face from all impurities.
Making Your Own Rose Water
Rose Water may be made from simply pouring boiling water over rose petals (it should be one part rose petals to two parts water) and straining when the water is cooled. You can store it in a sterilized jar in the refrigerater where it can stay as long as a month.
Hope this helped, and I apologize if I've left anything out or if I gave wrong information!
The way I have seen is to place a bowl that has been elevated in the center of the pot, then to spread the roses around it, and cover them with distilled water. Bring it to a boil then put a pot on upside down so that the liquid will flow to the middle and drop into the bowl. So it's basically making Rose water through condensation.
There are thousands upon thousand types and hybrids of roses that have been cultivated and bred through selection by humans last thousand years.And almost all of them no longer have the chemicals that make the rose healing plant.Roses are bred normally for bigger flowers and longer stems as the ones that you can find in the flower shops.Note that most of them do not smell whatsoever.And not even all smelling roses have the same content of the good chemicals required for the production of rose water .Two two types of roses that are used for making rose water and rose otto or rose absolute are Rosa damascena and Rosa centifoglia .They are climbing roses and if you do not prune them often they become massive tall bushes that look like vine ,but the smell of them is absolutely exquisite.They smell divine and very very strong.Their petals are very soft in if you press them between your fingers you can sense slightly oily, but perfumed substance.Also they have many petals in the flower.My paternal grandmother had one massive bush of Rosa damascena we loved to sniff it every time we used to go visit her.I have standart rose and miniature roses plus one climbing one and none of them smell even remotely like that.In fact the only one of mine that has slight scent is rosa Black Baccara.
If you are about to make rose water I rather suggest that you find the right type of rose petals in order to achieve better results.
