DIY All-Natural Pore-Perfecting Rose Facial Toner
Body DIY DIY Skincare & Beauty Natural DIY
Many people associate roses with beauty and romance.
But me? Roses make me think of my grandfather. Specifically his nose.
You see, my grandfather’s honker was a bit bulbous, and my dad had this joke: “Before Pop-Pop was born, God asked him what type of nose he wanted, but he thought God said ‘rose’ so he asked for a big red one.” Good one, Dad.
But let’s get back to the whole “beauty” association…
(Though Pop Pop, your nose was glorious.)
Roses have wonderful skin benefits.
These fragrant flowers are antibacterial, ant-inflammatory, and rich in vitamin C, a potent antioxidant. They are also a natural astringent, helping to tighten pores, while the flowers’ nourishing oils moisturize.
Combine these properties with witch hazel — a super effective natural astringent — and you have yourself a fantastic facial toner.
So let’s get to it!
DIY All-Natural Pore-Perfecting Rose Facial Toner
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup dried red rose petals, pink rose petals or whole rose buds
- 1/3 cup organic witch hazel (since you won’t be able to get 100% of the witch hazel out of the soaked roses)
- A 2 oz. glass bottle or jar
Directions:
Combine the roses and witch hazel in a clean, sterile jar, and secure the lid. Give the jar a few little swirls to get rid of any air between the roses so they’ll effectively soak up the witch hazel.
Let the jar sit for 2 days, then strain the now rose-infused witch hazel using a clean piece of cloth or a coffee filter — squeeze the roses to get as much of the witch hazel out as possible. You’ll notice the roses have lost their pigment by this point and are white (like those to the right in the image below).
Lastly, simply bottle up the rose-infused witch hazel (again, in a clean, sterile bottle) and there you have it: your very own all-natural pore-perfecting rose facial toner.
I had never used a facial toner before this DIY…
I would simply wash and then apply my face oils.
But I love this simple recipe and will definitely continue to use it as part of my daily skincare routine. Because of roses’ unique astringent and moisturizing power combo, it has really helped to soothe my skin, which tends to get a little more irritated around the change of the seasons (it’s really very bratty).
52yo male. Skin care recommendation? Eye creams? Thank you. The toner is awesome
I totally understand that concern — yes, I link to the store where I buy my organic dried roses in the post.
I love this, and very much want to try it. But I live in an area where roses without chemicals is a unheard of. Could I use rosewater instead? Is there a site you order them from, the roses? Please let me know, I am a die hard fan, and my daughters and I are making a full turn around of all of our cosmetics and face products.
Do you have a good Facial Moisturizer for older, dryer skin? 52yo male. Thank you.
Hi, Neha! YAY! I’m so happy the EOs have been helpful for you. I have heard that from a few readers — can you get the ingredients through a site like Amazon? Or are there any local herbal shops? They may have the clay.
Hi Nadia!!
I absolutely love your blog!! I hail from India and the essential oils fad hasn’t quite caught up as much here. I have extremely oily skin which has deteriorated with years of neglecting acne. Huge pores and acne marks make my skin look older. I started using Essential oils after coming across your blog one fateful day and i can actually bear looking at myself in the mirror. A few ingredients like betonite clay and witch hazel that you have used for your DIYs are extremely difficult to obtain. But I am trying!!!
Thank you so much!! Keep writing such amazing DIYs always!
Could you use rose hydrosol instead of the petals? Or will it not be the same?
Well they’re organic and you don’t have to go through the process of drying them. That would certainly be an option though if you wanted. They’re also available on Amazon if you’d rather buy them: http://amzn.to/1OisFtS
Have you ever tried drying your own rose petals? I know it’s a fragile process, is there something special about buying them from a retailer like Mountain Rose Herbs? (I noticed they are out of stock)
Love ur site, just stumbled on it while searching for non-comedogenic oils. I’m in Nigeria, dunno how I can get most of d ingredients in ur DIYs
Hi Nadia I must say I’m falling in love with your website! I’m always looking to find ways to combat my annoying skin. I have oily, sensitive, acne prone skin and the past year and a half I went from barley any breakouts to breaking out worse than when I was a teenager. I’m planning on making/using your Oil recipe for oily/acne skin and was wondering if I were to use this toner as well do you think it would irritate my skin because of all the oil combinations? I’ve never used oils before but I’m willing to give anything a shot at this point! Also wondering if you could substitute rose oil instead of the petals and if so how much rose EO would you use? I’ve never used oils before but I’m willing to give anything a shot at this point! Thanks so much!!
Hi! How long is the shelf life of this recipe? 🙂
I love rosewater. Its very soothing to my skin. Secondly, it smells amazing. I combine it with geranium. It helps de stress me.
Will golden witch hazel work in place of the regular witch hazel?
Could we just use rosewater and than add in the witch hazel (like thayers or dickinson?)
I personally apply it with a cotton pad but you could also spry it on – just don’t get it in your eyes!
How do you apply the toner? Spray on, or wipe on?
Could you use any of the rose EO’s instead of actual roses?
I love the story about your grandfather 🙂 and this toner sounds wonderful! I always used to buy rose witch hazel but it’d be fun to try making it myself! Great post!