Cucumbers are said to contain erepsin, an enzyme reported to have skin-softening properties.[1] Additionally, the EU Inventory of Cosmetic Ingredients (CosIng) and INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) classify the water of cucumber fruit as "skin conditioning" – in other words, it maintains the skin in good condition.[2]

Our hydrosols are distilled using fresh plant material that not only allows capture of all the volatiles, but most importantly, the cellular water from the living plant. It is this cellular water, imbued with nourishing minerals and fatty acids, that make it dynamic and vibrant compared to using dried out material with a resulting loss of those important skin-refreshing and aromatic molecules.[3] Aromatic hydrosols contain the water-soluble active principles of the plant. They retain a tiny amount of essential oil compounds (about 0.2 grams/liter) – mostly the gentler, more hydrophilic aromatic esters and alcohols – and are subsequently unlikely to cause skin irritation.[4]

The gentleness of hydrosols is ideally suited in the delivery of their attributes for children, the elderly, and those with pronounced sensitivities. They are also a profound and delightful way to experience and appreciate the life force – with all its potentiality for wholeness – found in the aromatic waters of the plants.

PLEASE NOTE: The hydrosols we offer are specifically distilled for the hydrosol, not as a co-product or even a by-product. The plant's cellular water and many components – normally lost under pressurized short steam runs for essential oil, or by using dried material – are what the producers specifically distill for by using only fresh plant material right from their farm or from local farms to ensure that the plant material is as fresh as possible.[5]