Has anyone noticed that I'm a little fond of toners? Well I like my complicated liquid skincare cocktails, but I couldn't really go without a simple floral water for too long. Being blessed with skin that wants to be left alone, and a personality that wants to try every skincare product under the sun, things are bound to go terribly wrong at one point or other. I also don't like to overload on 'active' ingredients, so if I'm using a face oil or serum, that I feel maybe is quiet potent, I will pair it up with a floral water rather than a complex toner. My skin seems to especially like rosewater, but boy did it take awhile to find the one I was always happy with. Pukka rosewater has been a staple for many years, but I don't believe I ever did a review solely focusing on it, no time like the present to tell you what makes it such a favourite.
Floral waters in general don't last very long once you opened them up, generally speaking about 3 months. To make them last longer they are often mixed with something else, alcohol is one of the favourites. While of course I do not blindly avoid alcohol in all formulations (but sometimes people do for personal reasons), when a mixture is just rose water and alcohol, my skin is not going to be happy. I often have seen products that say 'rosewater' on the front but looking at the ingredients it would contain glycerine, I don't have a problem with glycerine per say, and do use toners and cleansers that contain it, but if I want a floral water, I want just that!
Rosewater (like many other floral waters) often is a by product of essential oil production, but with the popularity of floral waters you can find the dubiously inexpensive rose waters, which contain filtered water mixed with rose essential oil (since rose essentials oils are so expensive, and those products tend to be very budget friendly, I suspect it most likely to be rose geranium as it is a lot cheaper). The very good artisanal floral water is distilled specifically to create rosewater as the end result (this tends to be the best floral water, of course this process will result in some oil too).
The idea of using floral waters is that they have similar benefits to their corresponding essential oils, but as the essential content is lower they are a great option for people looking for gentler products. Pukka rosewater to quote "is obtained by double steam distillation of fresh, organically grown roses so it naturally contains a high content of between 0.09-0.2% of essential oil, and has a pH of approximately 5.5+/-0.5 depending on the batch." So while it wouldn't always be ph balanced with the skin, I personally find it works incredibly well for me. Pukka rosewater is certified organic with Soil Association.
Now to the shelf life, Pukka give you an expiration date with a month and a year, on their website they state that shelf life is a year from the date of manufacture. So they don't have an after opening shelf life, the container is completely locked tight, you can only use the spray pump to get the product out, you can not unscrew the top or anything. The packaging in this case I believe extends the shelf life, but with any unpreserved floral water, follow your nose no matter what the packaging says, if it says it's good for 6 months but doesn't have that fresh scent like it used too, don't use it. Weirdly enough, in skincare like with food, these "good after opening" dates are an approximation (based on research and tests of course, but still not a 100% guarantee), you need to take into account storage conditions, have you left a bottle open a few hours and forgot about it? And I'm sure we have all come across a punnet of strawberries in a supermarket with the date stating that it's good for a few more days, but you can see one berry that is clearly wearing a furry coat. So just think of floral waters as fresh, perishable produce for your skin, you are meant to use them quickly and keep an eye out for signs that it's going bad. I do want to point out that while I've had this issue with rosewater in general, I've never experienced it with Pukka, however I do find that the expiry date on the bottle does seem to rub off the label after awhile, so I make a point of saving that info on my phone (seriously what don't I use my phone for?).
I like rosewater so much for its cooling effect on my skin, it just feels lovely. In the summer it seems to provide more than enough moisture for me at night, and I also love using it as body spray. The scent of this particular rosewater is much milder than most, and since I'm not a huge fan of overly fragrant skincare it is one of the reasons why I keep coming back to it. Rose is meant to be especially good for mature and dry skin types, but I've been using it since my twenties (so basically for the past ten years) with great results, even though my skin has always been more combo/oily. I'm not a huge fan of boxing people into skin type categories, it's not all that cut and dry, and often it comes down to quantities used. I feel like rosewater in particular could work for many people, provided you don't have a specific allergy/sensitivity and enjoy the scent, as I mentioned this particular one is rather mild.
Have you tried pukka rosewater in particular or do you like a different brand? Let me know in the comments.
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