Floral Waters and How to Use Them – Part 1
People have been using plants medicinally and cosmetically for thousands of years, so why can’t we? Floral waters make great skincare products. They’re straight from nature and so versatile. You can use them on your face, skin, hair and nails. Our skincare nowadays has so many ingredients and chemicals, and don’t get me wrong, sometimes they are needed. But if we can opt for at least one of our products to be natural, why shouldn’t we?
So what is a floral water? Floral waters are a by-product from the distillation of essentials oils of plants or flowers or from steeping flower petals in distilled water. You can also find them under the name of hydrolats. You can use them in your skincare routine to refresh the skin. I love to use them before applying moisturizer.
Today I’m going to tell you about 3 of my favorite floral waters!
Rose water:
Quite possibly the most popular, and ancient, floral water is rose water.
Skin: Rose water is a fantastic toner. You can use it by itself, or mixed with other floral waters, and it will help to soothe and refresh your skin. It’s great for neutralizing pigmentation, sunspots, blemishes or imperfections. It nourishes and relaxes your skin. It can reduce the signs of aging and is a source of vitamin C & E.
Hair: Sprayed on the scalp, it can reduce irritation and is a lovely hair rinse.
Cornflower:
Cornflower is a little blue flower, native to Germany. In France, we call it bleuet (because it is blue). Cornflower is rich in antioxidants, is anti-inflammatory and is great for acne prone or sensitive skin. They typically use cornflower in products for around the eyes, such as eye patches, because of the anti-inflammatory properties.
Skin: Cornflower makes a great toner. It will soothe your skin, reduces puffiness and sign of fatigue. It’s great to treat blemishes and tired sensitive skin and eyes. It can also relieve sunburn pain! If sprayed onto two cotton rounds, you can make your own eyepatches.
Hair: If sprayed on the hair, it can help with hair growth, breakage and dryness.
Orange Blossom:
Orange Blossom is one of my favorite scents, and it turns out, is so nourishing for your skin (and tastes great in cakes!) Orange blossom water is a source of Vitamin C and anti-oxidants.
Skin: If used as a toner, orange blossom water will brighten, tighten and moisturize your skin. If sprayed on a cotton pad, you can use it to remove impurities, reduce redness and soothe a sunburn. It makes a great after sun spray, as well.
Hair: If sprayed on the hair, it can help to balance and reduce dandruff.
Now, it can be a little tricky to find floral waters in the US, especially finding waters with only the one ingredient – the flower or plant. Ideally, we want organic and not too many other ingredients mixed in there. You should be able to also cook with these waters – for example, in the Middle East and North Africa, it’s quite common to bake with rose water and orange blossom water. You can’t do that if there are other ingredients mixed in. So, I would suggest looking for them at a grocery store, preferably an organic one.
That being said, here in Paris you can find them more easily but you need to know where to look. My favorite places to buy my floral waters are in these French pharmacies mentioned in my blogpost ‘Your Guide to French Pharmacies’ and also in one of my most favorite places in the city L’Herboristerie du Palais Royal.
L’Herboristerie du Palais Royal is one of the oldest herbalist shops in France and it is truly incredible. If you’d like to experience it to it’s fullest on your next trip to Paris, it’s one of the stops on my Guided Marie Antoinette Shopping Tour and you’d receive an exclusive gift only available to my clients! You can learn more about the tour here.
If you’d like me to take you shopping for the floral waters, we can absolutely do that during a Personal Shopping session!
Stay tuned for Part 2!
Bisous Bisous,
Joleen