From: *Lavender Lane
So many people over the years have written me requesting the recipe for making their own ROSEWATER that I decided share this easy, fragrant, old-timey recipe. Handed down from yesteryear, you will scarcely believe how easy it is to make. This recipe is meant to yield about 1 gallon of Rosewater.
You will need a clear gallon container, about 1 gallon of distilled water, enough fresh rose petals to fill the jar 3/4 way full, and 1 cup of Vodka. Hint: Your sun tea jar will work great for this and is completely safe to be reused. Make sure your container is clean and fill it up with rose petals about 3/4 of the way. If you want to use your Rosewater for ingesting make sure your petals have been organically grown. Pour the water in until it covers the petals completely. Once your water is in pour in the Vodka. Put the lid on and shake it up a bit so that the ingredients mix together thoroughly.
Place in the sun or on a sunning window sill and wait. Think of this as the same process as making sun tea with the exception of the length of time needed to be completed. You will start to see your water turning color after only a couple of days but for the best results wait two weeks. Strain out the rose petals and you have Rosewater!
NOTE: The unscented vodka has a dual purpose. One--if there is any bacteria on the petals it will kill it, and two, the alcohol helps prolong the scent.
You don't have to use it but if you don't, you may find a little green and blue island floating on the top (mildew--yuk!) Take special care to keep the petals below the water line because if they rise above it, they will mildew too. Suggested uses: Fill a bottle with an atomizer (spray) and mist after bathing or showering. Wonderful for the face. Also, make your own glycerin and rosewater hand lotion too:
In an attractive bottle blend 1/2 rosewater and 1/2 vegetable glycerin. Shake well and it's ready to use. Great for hands, face, rough heels and elbows. Feels wonderful.
2 oz prepared bath oil, 2 oz prepared bath vinegar. Combine and shake well before using.
BODY AND DUSTING POWDER
1 cup arrowroot powder, 25 drops essential or fragrance oil. In a blender or with a mortal and pestle mix very well. That's it!!! Put into a shaker can or in one of our hard-round boxes with its own powder puff.
Although sesame oil has some sun-screening properties, it is not a sunscreen. 1/2 cup light sesame oil, 2 tablespoons coconut oil, 2 tablespoons cocoa butter chuck. Mix all ingredients in a clean, ovenproof container. Heat the mix gently, stirring all of ingredients together. You may place the container in the microwave on high for 1 minute, or heat it gently in a double boiler or water bath on the stove top. Let the mixture cool completely. Place the suntan oil in a clean jar or container with a tight-fitting lid.
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/8 teaspoon tincture of benzoin. (a few drops of fragrance is optional).
Blend all ingredients together into a smooth cream. Place in a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid. To use, rub a small amount of cream under your arms. Yield: 3 oz.
1 teaspoon lanolin, 1 teaspoon beeswax pearls, 1 teaspoon petroleum jelly. Melt lanolin, beeswax and jelly over medium heat in a glass measuring cup in a pan of boiling water. Pour the melted mixture into any of our lip balm jars or tubes. Let cool. Yield: 1/2 OZ.
Clays have been used for centuries in beauty treatments to pull toxins from the skin and to refine the skin's texture. This masque also works for a wonderful full-body treatment. 1 tablespoon day (kaolin-china white), French green, Moroccan red or bentonite clay, 2 to 3 tablespoons rosewater or filtered water. In a small bowl mix the clay and the liquid until you have a smooth paste.
With your fingers, apply the clay mask all over your face and neck, avoiding the eye area. Relax and let the mask dry completely (about 20 minutes). Rinse with warm water. Finish off with a mist of rosewater.
Example: Lavender has its own attributes as does helichrysum have its own. However when they are mixed-instead of 1 and 1 making 2--they magnify each other to the tune of perhaps 5 or 6 or more. May be used day or night or both for a truly enhancing and youthful appearance.
For the magick practitioner wishing to test their skill, Here is a way to do it. It is more difficult and takes much practice. It's also completely natural. You must be relatively advanced as a Witch to use the magical method, but once you learn it's fun and entertaining. This type of magic is commonly called a Glamour. It is really just a matter of taking a desire and making it surface so that it is visible to other people.
Close your eyes. You must have complete focus and be concentrating only on changing the eye color, any other distractions must be cleared from the mind. Now fill your mind with the color your eyes are, right now, naturally. Now see that color slowly change to the color you wish your eyes to become. See it overpower your natural color. Imagine that the color shines like a ray of light from inside your mind out through your eyes. Visualize your eyes becoming that color as the light passes through them. This process should take at least 15 minutes the first few times, and you will have to repeat it after awhile. Glamours fade as you "forget" them.
Upon opening your eyes, you may or may not be able to see the change in the mirror. For a more accurate check of whether it worked, ask someone what color your eyes are. If they know you really well they may see past the glamour. (Your parents may see past it, and often spouses or very close friends, because they know you too well.) The stronger you develop the talent to throw a glamour, the more people it can trick. It will take you practice.
Get some lilac or roses and pull off petals and drop into water (rainwater if possible) chant
"water that falls from the sky above, flowers that grow from the earth below bring your beauty upon me"
Chant till flowers are all in the water do everyday till you feel prettier. Splash your face with the water also when you are done.
On Beltaine Eve, set out a pretty bowl in your yard. If you forget to, don't worry, you can collect the dew directly from the grass with your hands.
Say the following while washing your face with the morning dew, as the sun is peeking over the horizon:
"Blessed dew of Beltaine morn, Help my face be less care worn, Brows unfurrowed, wrinkles smoothed, Crow's feet from my eyes removed. My face a reminder of this Beltaine Day, Beautiful and fair in every way; Hear my words, this spell to last 'Till another Beltain comes to pass, -And, As My Will, So Mote It Be!"
