What exactly is Rose Water? Why is Rose Water Clear?
There is a lot of confusion online regarding what constitutes as rose water and what color it should be. The confusion comes from terms being used interchangeably. Let us define terms and create distinctions.
What is rose water? Rose water is the hydrosol of roses. Hydrosols are also known as floral waters, herbal distillates, hydrolates, herbal waters, and essential waters. When water-based products are made from the distillation of fresh flowers, leaves, fruits, and other plant materials, they are considered hydrosols. They are the pure botanical extracts.
What is distillation? To purify liquid by boiling it to vapor, then condensing it by cooling the vapor, and collecting the resulting liquid. When the vapors condensate to a liquid, that liquid is distilled.
Consider the fact that when you boil anything in a pot, the condensation on the lid is always clear, regardless of the color of the item being boiled. This is why rose water is clear.
Often, people boil rose petals and call it rose water but based on the information above, we know that is not rose water because it is not distilled. When we place herbs in boiled water, we call it tea. A better term for boiled rose petals is rose tea. While floral tea has it's benefits, they pale in comparison to floral hydrosols.
What is the difference between rose tea and rose water hydrosol? Besides the way that these solutions are created, rose water hydrosol is concentrated so it is exponentially more potent and beneficial for your hair and skin.
Let's get in the habit of using the term hydrosol when referring to distilled rose water and let's get used to saying rose tea when referencing the boiled water of rose petals. That way we are all on the same page! Purified rose water hyrosol is the main ingredient in The Rose Water Moisturizer by Love, Light & Locs.
Should You Brush Your Locs
Brushing your locs is no new trend. It's a practice that's gone on for ages. There are a few different reasons why people choose to brush their locs and here we will discuss 2 common reasons.
1) Some brush their locs for the prevention of lint accumulation. While brushing your locs won't remove lint that is already imbedded into your locs, it will remove new lint that is on the surface. It's best to brush your locs after lint exposure like after wearing a wooly sweater or laying on an old blanket. It's also highly recommended to brush your locs before washing your hair so that any new lint that may be sitting on the surface of your locs will be removed prior to getting wet. Just like how water helps locs to loc up, water will encourage lint to imbed into your locs.
Remember to clean your brush between uses so that you aren't redepositing lint back into your hair.
2) Another reason why people brush their locs is to distribute product throughout their hair more evenly. It helps to ensure that the product doesn't just sit on the surface of the loc but that it gets to the stands deep within the loc.
Whatever your reason for brushing your locs, be sure to only brush hair that is mostly fully locd since you don't want to disturb the locking process. Also remember to use a soft boar bristle brush for your maintenance. Soft bristles won't disturb your stands and as always, be gentle with your locs.
Check out this YouTube video for more tips on lint prevention:
Tips for Moisturizing Locs
Moisturizing locs is a simple concept yet often people do it all wrong. People tend to focus on oils primarily when oils are truly secondary. Our priority should be water and using water based products.
Washing your hair regularly is important because it's the only time our hair tends to get fully saturated (besides while swimming however ocean and pool water may dry our hair out). After our hair is shampooed, we should follow up with a conditioner that can be easily rinsed out or follow up with an oil like The Horsetail Leaf Growth Oil. Below is a video of my demonstration of the following not so commonly discussed tips to get your moisturizing on point:
1. Continuous Spray Bottles
These bottles create such a fine mist that it's able to be distributed thoroughly throughout the hair. They release a lot of mist with a single spray which is convenient for those with thick and loc hair.
2. Scrunch or Rake
After misting, squeeze the water into the locs so it's not just sitting on the surface. Scrunching is great for your loc curls and raking is great if your locs are straight or in twists or braids.
3. Advance your hydration
Water is what moisturizes hair but you can amplify your hydration with ingredients such as aloe vera juice and rose water like the Rose Water Moisturizer. Rose water (hydrosol) will give your hair the most benefits versus boiling rose petals (rose tea) due to the distillation process making rose water (hydrosol) very concentrated and potent.
4. Seal in moisture
Oil should be used on the hair as a sealant, after it's been moisturized, so that the hydration lasts longer. Oiling hair without moisturizing hair may give an appearance of hydrated hair but it may still feel dry to the touch. Try the Horsetail Leaf Growth Oil.
5. Use Satin
Satin pillowcases are very beneficial when it comes to keeping your hair hydrated. Cotton pillowcases strip the moisture out while satin leaves the hair smooth and soft with the moisture retained.
For an in-depth breakdown and demonstration, check out my latest YouTube video: