Certified organic — Ecocert, EU and USDA
Damask rose petals, picked by hand before sunrise in May, steam-distilled the same day. Water and rose, and nothing else — no alcohol, no preservative, no fragrance added back in.
Kelaat M’Gouna sits at the foot of the High Atlas, on the edge of the Dades valley. The Damask rose has grown there for three hundred years, planted as hedges between the fields, and the whole valley is harvested in three weeks every May.
The petals are picked before sunrise, because the oil they hold starts to leave as soon as the sun is on them. They go to the still the same morning. Distilled any later and what you get is scented water, not rose water.
Rose water is a hydrosol: the water that comes off the still with the steam, carrying the part of the rose that is water-soluble. It is not rose essential oil diluted, and it is not water with rose fragrance stirred in — both are sold as rose water, and both smell stronger than the real thing.
Ours sits between pH 4.5 and 5.5, which is close to the skin’s own. That is the practical reason it suits a face after cleansing, where tap water — hard and alkaline almost everywhere in Europe — leaves skin feeling tight.
It carries no preservative. Keep it away from heat and light, and once it is open, the fridge is the best place for it. It will keep for months, and it is better cold anyway.
Plain about what it does. Rose water refreshes, soothes the feeling of tightness and prepares the skin for what comes next. It is a cosmetic, not a treatment. If your skin reacts to something, ask your doctor rather than an oil or a water. As with any new product, try a little on the inside of the forearm first.
It goes on before everything else, and it works best when the next thing goes on while the skin is still wet.
On a cotton pad, or sprayed straight onto the face. It takes off the last of the cleanser and leaves the skin damp, which is how an oil wants to be applied.
Two pads soaked and left on the closed eyes for a few minutes. Cold from the fridge, better still.
A spray over makeup, in a dry office or on a plane. It does not disturb what is already on the skin.
It is what you mix ghassoul with instead of tap water — which is hard and alkaline almost everywhere in Europe.
One line would do — rose and water — so here is the rest of what tells a distilled rose water from a scented one.
| Botanical source | Rosa damascena |
|---|---|
| Origin | Kelaat M’Gouna, Valley of Roses |
| Method | Steam distillation |
| Alcohol | none |
| Preservative | none |
| pH | 4.5 – 5.5 |
| INCI name | Rosa Damascena Flower Water |
A true rose water smells faint, slightly green, and the scent fades within a minute of going on the skin. If it smells like a perfume and the scent stays, something was added. If it is perfectly clear and never clouds, it has been filtered hard or it was never distilled at all — ours can go slightly cloudy in the cold, and clears again at room temperature.
The roses come from the cooperatives of the valley, where the same families have picked them for generations. The petals are distilled in a single pass, bottled, and nothing is added at any point — no alcohol to stabilise it, no preservative to lengthen its life, no fragrance to make it smell more like people expect a rose to smell.
It is certified organic by Ecocert Greenlife, to the Ecocert standard, and carries the EU organic leaf and the USDA organic seal.
100 ml and 300 ml, in glass. Shipped worldwide with duties paid, so the price you see is the price you pay.
Rose water is almost never bought on its own — it is the step before something else, and the orders show it plainly.
Prickly pear seed oilThree in five rose water orders include it. The rose water goes on first, the oil straight after, while the skin is still damp.from $39.98
Ghassoul clayHalf of them add the clay. Mixed with rose water instead of tap water, it makes the mask Moroccan women have used for centuries.from $21.60
Argan oilThe everyday oil, lighter than the prickly pear. Same order: water first, then the oil.from $21.60