What is hydrosol? Can it really deeply hydrate the skin?

Nowadays, skin care products are beginning to claim to be pure natural essences. To be honest, I really don’t know how true what these merchants say is.

What is Hydrosol?

I started to get in touch with hydrosols at the end of 2016. I became very interested in this by-product obtained when extracting essential oils. Because my skin has become sensitive due to my own abuse, I thought I should simplify my skin care methods, so I started to buy hydrosols that claim to be pure and natural with no additives.

The first brand I came into contact with was from France, called Florihana, commonly known as "F house". The three hydrosols are orange blossom, lavender and rose. Then I tried another aromatherapy brand, OShidhi from Germany, commonly known as "O's". I bought German chamomile hydrosol, and later I bought helichrysum hydrosol (it smells like feet after it dries). This bottle has been in the refrigerator for 3 months, and I haven't used it up yet.

The reason I didn't use it up was not because of the stinky feet (ahem, stop laughing and be serious), but because I found that applying the hydrosol directly on my face seemed to be useless. Later, I bought two sets of books on aromatherapy and took a quick look at them, and found that using the hydrosol in this way was a waste of talent.

In the process of my contact with hydrosols, the most common effect I heard was that hydrosols can deeply hydrate the skin compared to ordinary toners and lotions, and can effectively improve the dehydration of the deep layers of the skin.

However, the human dermis rarely lacks water. Its water content is about 80%, and the source of water is not rubbing something on the surface of the skin, but through eating and drinking water, the body supplies it with nutrients from the inside.

Only a few essence products can provide nutrients deep into the skin by applying skin care products on the epidermis. The main ingredient of pure dew is water, and it contains very few effective hydrating and moisturizing ingredients. Even if it is the small molecule water claimed by the merchants, it cannot provide moisture to the deep layers of the skin when applied on the epidermis. If it can really deeply hydrate the skin as they say, then we are deeply hydrating the skin every time we take a shower and wash our face.

As for the epidermis that is in direct contact, the effect is similar to spraying mineral water on the face. To achieve more skin care effects, the role of toner is much more significant.

In addition to hydration, let’s take a look at the other effects that many hydrosol merchants claim when used on the epidermis.

Among the several kinds of hydrosols I have used, the main function of German chamomile is soothing, moisturizing and repairing, lavender is for acne removal, moisturizing and repairing, rose is for moisturizing and whitening, orange blossom is for astringent and moisturizing, and helichrysum is for removing closed comedones.

Let me first talk about my experience using it. Chamomile does have a soothing effect. It is quite effective when I spray it on my face when it is red due to sensitivity. However, the other types of hydrosols are just average. For example, the effect of helichrysum hydrosol on closed comedones is not obvious. At most, it can slightly relieve the stinging. In the end, the closed comedones problem was not significantly improved until I used essence.

After understanding the ingredients in detail, I found that these effects do exist, but the effects may not be significant.

After reading relevant books, I found that the main ingredients of essential oils and hydrosols are acids, alcohols, aldehydes, esters, histamine, monoterpenes, phenols, etc. Many of these ingredients have one thing in common: they have anti-inflammatory, antiviral and bactericidal abilities[1]. This also explains why many hydrosols have soothing, anti-allergic and anti-acne effects.

The composition of geranium essential oil and hydrosol can be confirmed by the following composition analysis [2]:

▲ Results of chemical composition analysis of geranium essential oil and hydrosol

And what are their effects on the epidermis? Let's continue to look at the relevant data of geranium essential oil and hydrosol. Geranium essential oil and hydrosol have certain antioxidant capacity. Comparing their antioxidant capacity with vitamin C, the data obtained are as follows:

It can be seen that Vc has the strongest ability to scavenge DPPH free radicals and ·OH, and hydrosol is better than essential oil. However, compared with Vc, the antioxidant capacity of geranium essential oil and hydrosol is relatively weak.

In the book "Aromatherapy Formula Handbook", there is little introduction to using hydrosols directly on the face. Instead, it introduces many methods of combining hydrosols with essential oils to make facial masks or toners. It seems that under the guidance of an aromatherapist, good results can be achieved. In any case, what is certain now is that applying hydrosol directly on the face may not produce the same significant effects as described by the merchants.

I now sincerely feel that applying hydrosol directly on the face is a waste of resources.

Hydrosols are milder than essential oils and are suitable for a wider range of people. Although the effect of applying them directly on the face is limited, if they are taken orally or mixed with other skin care products under the guidance of an aromatherapist, the effect may be much better than applying them directly on the face.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that there is a certain threshold for using pure dew for skin care and internal consumption. If you are preparing to get started, it is recommended that you learn more about it or consult a reliable aromatherapist. Anyway, I confirmed one thing today: applying hydrosol directly on the face really has little effect and is even a bit of a waste.