Everybody loves roses. Whether you’re getting them from your beau on Valentine’s Day or just growing big, beautiful reds in your garden, they always seem to make the world look, feel, and smell like a better place.
But roses aren’t just pretty flowers you can use to decorate your work desk or snip in your plant box. Some people love roses not for their aesthetic appeal, but for more practical purposes like for nourishing their skin or making their room smell nice. Others, on the other hand, use it on their hair.
You heard that right – rose extracts are much-loved in the hair world. They have tons of benefits for your mane, including perfuming it, making it more hydrated and shinier, and even growing your hair long and strong.
And what is the best way to do that? With pure, potent, fragrant rose water.
In this post, I’ll be taking you through how to make rose water for hair growth.
Table of Contents
What Is Rose Water?
Rose water has been around for centuries, first gaining popularity in the Middle Ages for its countless benefits to health and beauty.
It’s made by distilling the petals of the rose in water and steaming it.
This helps extract all the nutritious juices and enchanting rose aroma and infuse it in the water.
While rose water was mainly used as a natural perfume in those days, it also had so many benefits since then – specifically for the skin.
Roses contain vitamins A, B3, and E – all of which are known to be good for calming down the skin when it’s irritated and inflamed.
It also has intense anti-inflammatory properties that can eliminate redness and itchiness that often come with acne issues, rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis.
Rose water also has antiseptic properties that can treat infections.
It’s also rich in antioxidants, making it a great weapon for healing damaged skin and preventing the onset of the signs of skin aging, like wrinkles and age spots.
But while rose water is a terrific ingredient many beauty companies put in their skincare formulations.
Pure, distilled rose water has tremendous benefits for another facet of the beauty world – hair care.
Benefits of Rose Water For Your Hair
Rose water has tons of benefits for your hair – from light hydration to maintaining the pH balance of your scalp.
And the good news is that it’s pretty safe for all hair types to use, whether you have virgin hair or have gotten chemical treatments at the salon.
Hair Growth
First, let’s talk about the main benefit you’ve come here for: hair growth.
Since rose water contains vitamins A, C, and E, among others, it does a good job of growing hair because of how it nourishes your follicles with these.
But that’s only the direct way rose water helps grow hair. It also helps it indirectly.
Hair loss and breakage are some of the most common reasons why growing long hair can be challenging for some people.
Rose water helps prevent these by maintaining good scalp health.
Rose water has anti-inflammatory properties that can calm down your scalp when it’s irritated from chemical processes or irritating styling products.
Because rose water shows extra love and care for the scalp, you can rest assured that you’ll find no hair thinning or breakage from damage.
Balances Excess Sebum Production
Aside from aiding in healthy hair growth, rose water also has many other benefits not just for the hair, but the scalp as well.
One of the most popular of these is how it serves as an astringent that can clarify your scalp and balance excess sebum production that results in oily skin on the scalp in the first place.
Having an oily scalp can lead to issues like dandruff, an itchy scalp, and bacterial infections.
But pH-balanced rose water helps manage your overactive sebaceous glands.
Related Post: How To Use Tea Tree Oil For Dandruff
Tames Frizz
Rose water also helps tame frizzy hair because of its hydrating properties.
This is great if you have thick, curly hair that needs extra help with manageability and detangling.
Leaves Hair Shiny
It also gives your hair more gloss and shine, revitalizing it to look more full of life.
And don’t forget how amazing your hair will smell with each use of rose water either!
Choosing Roses For Your Rose Water
You can easily find rose water in many beauty stores and online shops.
However, these products may be overpriced.
The best way to obtain rose water is still to make it yourself at home.
That way, you know that it’s made with top-quality roses and no additional fillers.
The first step of making your own rose water is by choosing the right kind of roses.
Organic Roses
It’s always best to use organic roses, preferably grown from your own garden.
Make sure you harvest them early in the morning when they have morning dew on the petals and are the most fragrant.
If you don’t have a garden of roses, don’t worry.
You can buy them, but make sure that you source only organic flowers that aren’t drenched in pesticides or any other hazardous chemicals.
Opt for a farmer’s market or florist instead of buying it at a drugstore or supermarket.
Color
You should also consider what color you want your roses to be.
A rose’s color determines how fragrant your finished rose water will be later on.
Red and pink roses typically have a stronger, more noticeable, classic floral scent (and more petals per stem too!).
Meanwhile, lighter-colored ones like white and yellow roses have a more subtle scent, with notes of clove and citrus.
Pick whichever fragrance you prefer.
How To Make Rose Water For Hair Growth
Now that you know what roses you want to use, you can start with the distilling process.
And don’t be nervous, the entire process is relatively easy.
Ready? Here’s how you can make rose water right in your own kitchen:
Rinse The Petals
Carefully pull the petals off the rose stems and drop them all into a big bowl of water.
This water isn’t going to be your final rose water – it’s just the first rinse.
Swirl the roses around the bowl with your hand to ensure you’re cleaning the petals well.
This step is very important so that you can be sure you’re getting rid of all those nasty contaminants that might be on your roses, like bugs, dirt, soil, and more
When your petals are thoroughly clean, drain all the water out.
As an optional step, you can choose to put your petals on a wooden board and chop them up into smaller pieces.
This will help the juices from the rose come out more.
But using whole petals is fine as well – in fact, this can even help provide a more consistent color in your finished rose water.
Cover Petals With Water
Pour all your rose petals into a pot.
Then, add the water.
You shouldn’t use too much water, as this can completely dilute the nutrients and fragrance of the roses.
It will also make the rose essence less potent, and therefore less effective on your hair growth journey.
Pour in just enough so that all the petals in the pot are submerged and covered with water.
Then, put the pot’s lid on top to cover it up.
Let It Simmer
Place the pot on your kitchen stove.
Turn on the heat and let your rose and water combination simmer.
Leave this on your stove for about 15 to 30 minutes.
This will give your water enough time to drink up all the color, fragrance, and vitamins your roses have to offer.
Check on the color of your petals now and then.
After a while, they should lose their color and look completely white, pale, and even “cooked”.
Keep an eye on this part because all the color can drain out in just a matter of minutes.
Allow It To Cool Down
Once the rose petals’ color fades, take it off the heat.
Put the pot in a dry, undisturbed area and allow it to cool down.
This should be done in about 30 minutes to an hour max.
Remove Petals From Water
Remove all the rose petals from the water with a ladle or colander.
Then, transfer the rest of the remaining water into your glass jar, making sure to run it through a sieve or strainer to be sure you’re getting the smallest bits of petals out.
This jar is where you’ll be storing your rose water from here on out.
You can take rose water out of the jar as needed, or fill up some empty spray bottles with it and refill as you run out.
Correct Storage
You can keep the jar in a cool, dry place, but to prolong its lifespan, you can store the glass jar in the refrigerator too.
Note though that since this is a DIY product with no preservatives and chemicals, it may not last as long as store-bought, lab-produced rose water formulas.
When refrigerated, the rose water can last you up to a month.
And you’re done!
Freshly made, floral-smelling rose water that can aid in all things hair, skin, and aromatherapy.
Easy, wasn’t it?
How To Use Rose Water On Your Hair
So now that you have pure and potent rose water at home, you’re ready to use it to help your hair grow thick and voluminous.
The good news is that rose water is a very versatile hair care ingredient that can be used for practically any step of your hair routine, from washing to moisturizing.
It’s completely safe to apply rose water directly to your hair and scalp, since it doesn’t have any active ingredients that could be too strong or irritating.
However, if you have allergies, you might want to reconsider using rose water (even if the scent alone can be tempting!).
Here are some of my favorite ways to use rose water in my hair care routine:
Pat Directly Onto The Scalp
If you have an itchy scalp or issues with dandruff that just won’t go away, rose water’s antimicrobial and pH-balancing properties might be of help.
It also strengthens your follicles, making hair growth more possible.
Use a cotton ball and dip it into your rose water, and then gently spread it across your scalp.
This makes for a great massage before you hop into the shower, too.
Let the rose water settle for about 10 minutes, and then wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner.
Combine It With Your Shampoo
Keep a tiny bottle of rose water in your shower so that you can dilute your regular shampoo with it whenever you want.
This gives your hair a rosy scent.
Moreover, it’s another way to feed your follicles the vitamins found in roses.
Rinse After Shampooing Your Hair
Instead of rinsing out your shampoo with water, be a little more creative and use rose water.
Of course, you’ll need to make a big quantity of rose water for this to be sustainable, but the effects are amazing.
It will help keep your hair strong and moisturized, which will help in the long run to prevent breakage and hair thinning.
Thus, your hair can grow faster and in a healthier manner.
Spritz Your Hair Throughout The Day
You can put your rose water in a spray bottle and use it as a hydrating spray whenever your hair needs extra moisture.
It’s great for when you’re noticing a little frizz in your hair and need a quick way to tame it.
While these are all terrific ways to try rose water for hair growth, make sure not to use rose water every single day.
This can result in an imbalance of your scalp’s pH, which can end up hurting your hair growth journey.
Conclusion
Rose water is a great ingredient to incorporate in your regular hair care routine to nourish your locks and balance your scalp.
With the love and support it gives your mane, it’s sure to aid in growth so that you can finally reach the hair length of your dreams.
If you’ve been wondering how to make rose water for hair growth, you’ve seen how it’s super easy to make.
In the same way, it’s a breeze to use in any step of your hair care routine.
Just follow the steps I’ve detailed above, and you’re sure to create hair-loving, sweet-smelling rose water of your own for your beauty regimen.
Make rose water every month to enjoy the full benefits of this much-loved flower extract.
With religious use in your tresses, your hair will grow longer and stronger before you know it.