Spring is literally right around the corner and perhaps the best gift the season brings is gorgeous-smelling flowers. Whether you’re into roses, tulips, orchids or other blooms, finding new ways to infuse fresh blossoms into your life is key in embracing all that spring has to offer. Reality TV star-turned designer and beauty expert Lauren Conrad recently dished on how to make floral water spray on her blog, The Beauty Department.
Tools needed
To create this unique perfume at home, you’ll need a few key tools and ingredients. You’ll need a large metal pot with a glass lid, a ceramic ramekin dish that can withstand high heat, flowers of your choosing, a cutting board, bottled water, a turkey baster and ice.
Even though you can use many different types of flowers, Conrad offered up a few that she’s already tried and loved. Her favorites include rose, jasmine, lavender, honeysuckle, peony, sage, verbena and frangipani.
Make it happen
Start by placing the ramekin bowl in the center of the large pot to act as the catch bowl – this is where the floral water will fall. Next, take your flowers and peel off the petals, then chop them up slightly to help release the scent even more.
When the flowers are prepared, place them in the pot so they surround the ramekin bowl and then add 11/2 cups of room temperature water for every cup of flowers you put in. Conrad suggests using bottled water just to be on the safe side. With water and flowers in place, take the glass lid and place it on top of the pot upside down and then pour a tray of ice on top.
Move the pot to the stove and start to “cook” it on low heat – the coldness of the ice helps to produce condensation under the lid, which helps to pull out the scent of the flowers. Use the turkey baster to remove the ice as it melts and be sure to keep an eye on the petals inside the pot. As soon as all the color is drained from the flowers, remove the lid. If all goes well, you should be left with a bit of clear liquid inside the ramekin bowl.
Grab the handy turkey baster and use it to transfer the pretty-smelling flower water in the ramekin dish into a clean perfume bottle or another glass jar with a tight lid and then use the liquid as perfume. Conrad recommends redoing the process a few times if you want to make a full bottle.
Source: Teleflora – Create Your Own Perfume with Fresh Flowers
