A Few posts ago I talked about the different types of oils that can be used for glowing, dewy skin. In the article, I suggested that you start out with a few drops of oil and massage it in using more or less depending on your skin type.
This sounds all well and good, but I’ve received a few questions about how they can get the oil to work properly because, for many people, the oil just wants to hang out on the surface instead of soaking in. Soooooo, I came up with the Rosewater and Oil Method! It honestly works wonders in helping get those stubborn oils to soak in.
Facial Oils Not Working Out For You? This is How Rose Water Can Help!
Why Mix Rose Water With Your Facial Oils?
So chances are you wash your face before applying your oil of choice. Even if we only rinse our faces with water, the pH balance of the skin becomes disrupted. Normal skin pH is between 4.5 and 6.2 which is considered an acidic environment. This acidity is really important because it inhibits the growth of bacteria like the kind that contributes to acne. Soap and water are alkaline. When we wash our face, it’s very easy for the acid mantle (the protective acidic layer on the skin’s surface) to get out of balance. When this happens, oils can have a very hard time sinking into the skin.
So how do we solve this issue? What is rose water good for?
The pH of rose water is very close to 5.5 which just so happens to be what your skin’s pH should be. Coincidence? I think it’s a match made in heaven!
Using rose water will balance the pH of your skin after you’ve cleansed it. Once the acid mantel’s pH is back to normal (usually around 5.5 for most people), your beauty products (hopefully natural ones!) will absorb MUCH better into the skin. This means that your facial oils will make your skin glow, not look like an oil slick.
Rosewater is also very healing for the outer most layer of the skin and helps repair damage that causes dehydrated skin that can no longer hold in water. In a few weeks of using rose water along with the right facial oils for your skin type, that outer layer should be healed and balanced once more.
If you want to learn more about barrier repair, check out this article.
How to use the Rose Water and Oil Method
Whether you’ve made your own rose water/hydrosol or have purchased it at the store, just make sure it’s good quality. It should smell just like it would if you breathed deeply from a fresh fragrant rose and contain no additional ingredients. Many companies try to pass their rose water as real when all it is is water and rose absolute/essential oil. This is not the same!
Pure rosewater that lacks a true rose scent will not have the proper pH we’re looking for. A good quality rosewater or “hydrosol” that I like to use is by Evan Healy, a brand that can be found at Whole Foods Market. You can also get a really good rose hydrosol by Plant Therapy.
So now that you have a good rose water, let’s get to it!
• Spray your face liberally with rose water…breathe in the calming rose scent
• Gently press the rose water into your skin. Be sure not to rub too firmly
• Put 1-3 drops of your favorite facial oil into the palm of your hand (I like this facial oil)
• Spray 2-3 sprays of rose water into the oil and rub your hands together to mix them
• Gently press the rose water and oil mixture into the skin
• Be sure to get even delicate skin around the eyes to achieve a refreshed look
• Allow the rose water to air dry
Your skin should feel smooth and silky. If it feels tacky, spray another spray or two of rose water on your face and massage gently. The trick is to see how many sprays of rose water to how many drops of oil is right for you.
Once you get it right, your facial oil should soak in and create a silky, refreshed, glowing, and dewy look to your skin! You can even use this for your hands.
Using this method is the perfect way to get oils working properly and you don’t have to be limited to only rose water. There are many different hydrosols to choose from like lavender, melissa, and chamomile.
If you’re interested in learning about how to make rose water at home, check out my article: The Benefits of Rose Water and How to make Rose Water and Rose Water Infused Witch Hazel.
Have fun exploring the realm of hydrosols!
You may also enjoy reading:
Chai Rose Lip Balm
Rose Milk Bath Bombs
Rose Petal Body Scrub Recipe
DIY Smith’s Rosebud Salve
Rose and Spearmint Exfoliating Cubes
I’ve been doing this for the last few months intuitively – great to hear it is actually a good thing to be doing!! Although I don’t spritz rose water with the face oil in my hand as well – I might give that a go 🙂 I have a beatiful rose water bottle I bought in Pushkar, Rajasthan (it is known for its roses) and will be heartbroken when it finishes!!
Thanks for your article 🙂
Hi there! Quick question. The rose water I have (“Leven Rose 100% pure & organic rose water”) is showing a clear 7 on my pH strips. Should I be switching to another kind? It’s well within the expiration date and smells beautifully of roses.
Thanks in advance and thanks for all of the fantastic info on your site! I refer to your comedogenic list of oils so often that I made a cheat sheet in my bullet journal. 🙂
Hi Hollis!
You can lower the PH by adding a really tiny amount of raw apple cider vinegar to the rose water (it’s like 1/4 tsp per 4 cups). I would maybe try that in a small sample of rose water first (like 1TB of rose water and add one drop of raw ACV at a time until you reach a lower PH of around 5.5). You can just keep this small amount in a separate dropper bottle to see how it feels since I’m a bit wary of adding ACV to a whole bottle of beautiful rose water. Btw, the color of the rose water MIGHT change depending on how much rose petal particulate is in the rose water you purchased. 🙂 Hope this makes sense!
Hi Tash!
I have read quite a few of your posts about OCM and they all sound fab! so fab in fact it has encouraged me to give it a try after years of using expensive ‘oily skin’ cosmetics and still looking oily and spotty.
Actually before reading your specific articles on what oils are best to use, I did actually try coconut oil which was lovely but a tad drying. Soon I got myself some Jojoba / Sweet almond and hemp oil. Currently i’m trying out jojoba with lavender and a blend of jojoba and sweet almond with lavender.
I’m finding my skin can feel quite dry in the mornings, throughout the day and sometimes within an hour of cleansing. After reading so many of your posts I’m a little bit confused as to what i should do and I wondered of you could clarify a few points for me?
Normally I would ‘clean’ my face in the morning to refresh and in the evening to get makeup and grime off, should i only use the OCM once per day? if so, what do i do on the other time when my face doesn’t feel dewy or clean?
I have seen here you talk about Rose water, which i now have. It doesnt do enough as just a spray throughout the day but i’m confused about how to use it otherwise.
Are you suggesting before a shower / during a face cleanse that I rub the oil on my DRY face and wipe it off with a DRY cloth, then rub it on again and place a warm (now WET) cloth on my face, wipe off, then spray with rose water (DONT dry it off) and potentially rub in a couple more drops as moisturiser?
OR instead of a WET cloth I wipe the oil off with rosewater on a cotton pad and then re spray and add more oil?
I’m just thinking the latter might get difficult during a evening shower or bath? Would I be cleansing before or after the shower / bath? (because my face will get a bit wet.)
Also… should i be using the same oil for each process? for example do i used the same oil to take off makeup and cleanse?
I’m so sorry for the bombardment of questions but i couldn’t quite find the answers anywhere.
Thanks for your time and advice!
Debbie
Hi Debbie!
The OCM can be customized to what your skin needs. Some people prefer “dry” oil cleansing while others prefer “wet” oil cleansing. For dry oil cleansing, you do not need to wet your face with anything (though I feel like you have to use more oil to really get things clean and depending on what oil you’re using can get expensive). You can use just your fingers or use a cloth but I think dry oil cleansing is better with just your hands or a cotton round dipped in oil for better exfoliating. For wet oil cleansing, you can either splash your face with water or spray on a generous amount of rose water before massaging in the cleansing oil. You can use just your fingers to do this or you can use a damp cloth that is either moistened by water or rose water. The important thing here is to END with rose water on your skin. So no matter how you cleanse, make sure that when you are finished that you spritz on the rose water before applying your moisturizer (which is just a few drops of the same oil you used for cleansing).
I hope this isn’t too confusing! Please let me know if you have more questions! 🙂
Hi,
You’ve probably figured it out by now but just in case… Different oils have ratings on how comedogenic they are. Coconut oil actually has a high rating as does olive oil.
Argan oil, hemp seed oil are some eg that are supposedly 0 although it still varies person to person.
Online there are also ratios on the different types of oil composition eg lineolic acid vs other types within the individual oils, and the percent then changes also the likelihood of skin compatibility.
Good luck!
Thanks for the great info Janerover! <3
Sorry if this is a dumb question but I want to get this right. I am trying OCM again after failing a couple years ago. I used coconut oil and castor oil and gave it months to work but my face turned into a mess. Now that I’ve read up more, I’m trying argan oil, jojoba, and hemp. So do I cleanse with oil first, steam, wipe off excess…. Then apply rose water and then apply rose water with oil?
Hi Felicia!
The way I do it is this:
1. If wearing make-up, use the oil to remove any makeup (you don’t want to work in the day’s grime into your pores) and then wipe clean with a soft cloth.
2. Use a little more oil to “wash” your face and then wipe with a soft cloth.
3. Spray rose water onto the skin after cleansing. Do not dry your face.
4. Apply a little more oil if needed as a moisturizer while your skin is still damp from the rose water.
You CAN mix them together if you like after cleansing, but I find it WAY easier to just spritz your face and then apply the oil you need for moisture.
Hope this makes sense! The oils you chose sound good 🙂 Let me know if you have more questions!
Thank you! That helps a lot. Can I ask you something else?
So I remove my makeup and then oil cleanse on dry skin, I’ve got that. But I have read conflicting things for moisturizing. I definitely feel that I need a little extra oil for moisture (and I am also using the rose water now) after oil cleansing, but I have read that the oil should be applied to a damp face with damp hands (from water). I don’t have to do that, since I am using rose water, right? If I wasn’t using rose water, would you suggest using damp hands/face? Or applying oil after to a dry face?
I also read somewhere that it’s best to oil cleanse and use a DRY cloth to wipe the oil/dirt – I tried that and it keeps my face moisturized and I don’t need any extra oil after (since I didn’t use a wet cloth). The idea here is that the water/wet cloth is weakening the oil method. What are your thoughts? Thanks!!!!
Hello again! Yes, using a damp cloth to wipe of the cleansing oil will make your face dryer. If the dry cloth works better then that’s great! I would just go with using the dry cloth and then skip the extra step to moisturize.
From what I understand, using oil on wet skin helps is soak in better. Think about when you use lotion after a shower. It’s much easier to apply and it absorbs better on wet skin right? I’m not sure about how water weakens the oil’s effectiveness though. I would have to do more research. Also, if you’re using rose water then you don’t need to use regular water. Rose water is WAY better for your skin because it doesn’t disrupt the acid mantle like water does.
Hope this helps!
Great article! Thanks for demystifying facial oils for the rest of us =)
Firstly, I’d like to say that I love your site. I recently switched over to all natural skincare but am having issues putting it all together and am finding all this information very useful!
Secondly, which Evan Healy rose hydrosol do you use?
Thank you! x
Hi Jen!
I’m happy to hear that you’re enjoying my little corner of the interwebs =) I use Evanhealy’s Rose Petal Facial Tonic Hydrosol.
You can often find it at any Wholefoods Market too (that’s where I get mine).
Much love!
x Tash