Why You Should Look Into Hydrosols

The Philippines, still, has a very novice concept of aromatherapy. Based on a random survey I did a few years back, 9 out of 10 Filipinos would associate the term Aromatherapy on fragrances or scents alone, disregarding its therapeutic effects.

What are Hydrosols?

Hydrosols are basically created merely as a by-product of the steam distillation process of your plant materials into essential oils. These are the plant waters that were left behind as the essential oil rises to the top or sinks to the bottom and is extracted from the distilling tank following the condensing chamber.

In essence, hydrosols would be the very diluted versions of its essential oil counterpart, carrying trace amounts up to 0.2% of essential oil. The hydrosol usually contains the plant’s water-soluble therapeutic properties that are not present in its essential oil version.

As a Certified Aromatherapist, it has been part of my mission to curb the impression that essential oils are more than just its scent. It is also part of my task to know when to use and not use essential oils; to determine the best healing modality to be used in a given situation.

As someone who is putting effort in learning and practicing animal aromatherapy, it was quite limiting–especially during my early years of aromatherapy study–to admit that most essential oils are not safe to be used around cats.

I have over 55 rescued cats and it was important for me to find holistic ways in dealing with their concerns. Thus, this led me to discover and appreciate the beauty of hydrosols.

When dealing with very small children or small animals, always keep in mind that your hydrosols would be the better solution. Hydrosols are as potent as its essential oil counterpart, albeit a much much safer choice.

I’ve been using my Catnip hydrosol spray to calm down my cats and I see it works amazingly in a matter of seconds! I’ve also been diffusing my local farm-sourced Citronella hydrosol around my cats to keep mosquitoes away (versus diffusing Citronella essential oil in a cool mist diffuser) and it works amazingly just as well.

Fortunately, more Filipinos are now aware of the wonders of hydrosols, and more local producers are now making them available as compared to 2-3 years ago when I had to import everything–and the importation costs can be quite hefty.

Below are some of the locally-produced hydrosols in my collection–I do get in touch straight with the producers and I’ve been using them in a lot of my beauty formulations.

Do you know any other local producers of hydrosols in our country? Do let me know through comments, I’d love to try theirs as well. 😉

PS, Do you want to learn more about hydrosols? Join us in this month’s Sniff Sesh as we articulate 5 different hydrosols from Stillpoint Aromatics (as shown on the first photo of this blog post). Reserve your spot by signing up here.

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