Is rose water really the acne-curing miracle it’s made out to be? Let’s find out

When it comes to some of the oldest home remedies for healthy skin, nothing can compete with rose water. Got sunburnt? Use rose water! Skin looks dull? Hydrate it with rose water.  Need to detan? Make a face pack with rose water. Want to include a toner to your skincare routine? Why, nothing’s better than rose water.

Also, read: 4 benefits the humble rosewater has for your skin and hair that we bet you didn’t know about

It’s that one ingredient that is common all across skin treatments and is touted to be the hero of a successful skincare routine. For that matter, we’ve almost unquestioningly included it in our lives to give us a healthy glow but it is time we ask ourselves: Does it truly work?

To answer this question, we got in touch with Dr Sachin Dhawan, senior consultant at the Department of Dermatology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram.

“Rose water surely has a lot of benefits, but there are two areas where it can work wonders,” says Dr Dhawan. Wondering what rose water really excels at? Let’s find out. 

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Soothing irritated skin
Our skin can get irritated due to multiple reasons. From the redness caused by acne or the irritation caused by sunburns, soothing your skin even before you look at treatments is important in order to bring relief as well as aid recovery. According to Dr Dhawan, rose water can prove to be very beneficial when it comes to this.

“Using a rose water compress on irritated skin and you will notice its soothing effects,” he explains. 

Also, read: From fixing acne to glowing skin, these 6 benefits of multani mitti are too good to be true

Healing your skin
If you’ve been troubled by skin problems such as acne or rosacea, rose water won’t just be soothing but also healing, according to Dr Dhawan. He mentions that rose water, due to its healing qualities, also acts as an excellent toner. If you’re using it, you don’t need to buy a separate toner for your skin routine.

Moreover, a study titled Pharmacological Effects of Rosa Damascena on PubMed Central notes that rose has antimicrobial as well as antioxidant properties.

The study states: “The medicinal functions of Rosaceae are partly attributed to their abundance of phenolics compounds. Phenolics possess a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as antioxidants, free-radical scavengers, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, and antidepressants.”

So, how can you make use of rose water then?
By making rose water at home, which Dr Dhawan suggests you should do. The ingredients you will need are rose petals and water. Take 100 ml water and add the petals of one rose to it. Keep it out in the sun for at least a day for the water to take on to the essence of the rose. Add this to a bottle and use it whenever required!

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of making rose water at home, you can buy a packaged version. Just ensure that it is 100% pure and has no additives. 

So, turns out, our dadis and nanis have always been right! Rose water can work wonders for your skin after all!