Shifting the conversation from oils to waters in plant-based beauty…
In the quiet corners of apothecaries and botanical gardens, there lies a substance often overshadowed by its more potent sibling: the essential oil. Yet where oils dominate with intensity, hydrosols speak in whispers. Subtle, aqueous, and often misunderstood, these botanical waters are used as natural cleansers and deserve their place at the forefront of natural skincare – precisely because of their gentleness, not in spite of it.
The Forgotten Twin of Distillation
To understand hydrosols is to understand the process of distillation itself. When plants are steam-distilled to extract their essential oils, the water that remains – imbued with the water-soluble compounds of the plant – is the hydrosol. For centuries, this ‘aromatic water’ was considered a by-product before its eventual inclusion into natural skincare. It’s a notion that echoes our tendency to overlook the quiet, the understated, the unassuming.
Historically, hydrosols were used as early as the 10th century. Persian physician Avicenna refined the process of distillation to produce rosewater, which found its place not only in medicine and ritual but also in cuisine and perfumery. While essential oils surged in popularity with the advent of modern aromatherapy, hydrosols remained rooted in herbalism, holistic care, and ancestral beauty rituals – still beloved in regions such as North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia.
What do hydrosols do?
Hydrosols are used in many ways – as vegan facial cleansers to gently cleanse and tone the skin, as hydrating moisturisers or as soothing skin sprays, among other uses. The florals refined in the distillation process will determine the hydrosol’s best use. Some hydrate, others soothe and calm. Their versatility makes them easy to adapt into many natural skincare solutions.
Water as Ritual
There is something inherently ritualistic about applying a hydrosol to naturally cleanse and hydrate the delicate skin of the face. A fine mist pressed gently into the skin. A mid-day spritz that returns breath to the face. Unlike essential oils, which demand dilution and caution, hydrosols are ready to meet the skin as they are – unfiltered but not overwhelming.
Their composition – approximately 0.02% of the plant’s essential oil and the rest aromatic water – makes them uniquely gentle, ideal for sensitive skin or moments when the skin is inflamed, hormonal, or simply tired. They do not fight or force; they harmonise.
Take our Organic Rose Hydrosol, it soothes redness, balances pH, and offers a faint, almost ghostlike trace of the rose’s scent – less perfume, more memory. Organic Geranium Hydrosol, an adaptogen in floral form – moisturising dry skin while softening oily patches, as if it listens before it acts.
A Return to the Elemental
In a world where natural skincare is often a performance of maximalism – layering acids, retinols, actives – hydrosols invite us back to elemental care. Water. Plant. Skin. Nothing more. They remind us that simplicity is not synonymous with ineffectiveness, but rather with quiet power.
They are especially well-suited for those seeking to pare back, to reconnect with the skin’s rhythms instead of overriding them. They work not only on the surface but on the ritual itself: the pause, the breath, the tactile grace of caring for oneself without fanfare.
Why Now?
In this climate – both literal and cultural – there is an increasing need to simplify. The consumer, too, is becoming more discerning, seeking sustainability, transparency, and sensorial honesty in their routines. Hydrosols answer all three.
Our hydrosols are made from organic or sustainably farmed botanicals, distilled slowly, and packaged with minimal processing. Their production carries a lighter footprint than that of essential oils, which require vast amounts of plant matter to produce a single vial. And they offer a sensory experience rooted not in artificial fragrance, but in the earth itself.
The Future is Gentle
To say hydrosols are ‘trending’ natural skincare products would miss the point entirely. They are not new, and they do not shout for attention. But they are here. In distillers’ copper alembics. On the bathroom shelves of the quietly discerning. And increasingly, in the hands of those who believe that skincare is less about transformation, and more about communion – with nature, with routine, with the skin as it is. In their vaporous, minimal way, hydrosols bring us back to what matters: care, intention, and the beauty of the in-between.
