Instructions
Benefits of cucumber hydrosol
Cucumbers are part of the gourd family along with melons, pumpkins, and zucchini. They are between 95-97% water making them a good choice for hydrodistillation. The hydrosol has a refreshing and uplifting aroma. The scent smells beneficial for body and mind.
The best use of cucumber hydrosol is to mist your skin prior to moisturizing. See below of the plentitude benefits of cucumber for skin.
For a wonderfully cooling combination, blend organic cucumber hydrosol with aloe vera gel and use as a facial toner or mist.
Other uses
- Cooling spritzer for body and face
- Great for eye compress for tired, irritated eyes
- Minor burns (with aloe vera gel)
- Soothes bug bites, itchiness, inflammation, and irritation
- Great as an aftershave spray
This hydrosol is excellent added to your water, it adds a ‘botanical burst of joy’ to my water! The nutritional value of the cucumber distills into the hydrosol influencing our physiology. Here are some guidelines:
- Add 1⁄2 to 1 tablespoon of hydrosol to a liter of water to enjoy through the day, or about a teaspoon to a cup of water.
- Make ice cubes with a hydrosol and add one cube to a drink of your choice
- Add a teaspoon to a cup of tea or herbal tisane
2 oz Cobalt Blue bottle with spray top $15
Contact Bobbi to order.
THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF CUCUMBER
Most cucumbers are about 97% water, meaning they are rich in structured water. and nutrients such as potassium, vitamins K1 (which helps with blood clotting and bone health), A and C, vitamin B2, magnesium, manganese, and phosphorus. They contain a small amount of protein, about .3g per half cup. And they are rich in antioxidants including beta-carotene, and flavonoids which reduce inflammation and protect against disease.
The skin and seeds of many cucumber varieties contain a bitter compound cucurbitacin, a terpene that may contribute to the fruit’s health benefits (as long as you don’t buy burpless cukes).
Cucurbitacin C contained in cucumber has the effect of improving human immune function and displaying anti-cancer properties for a number of various cancers. It is also anti-diabetic, and cardio protective.
And cucumbers can keep you cool as a cucumber … Cucurbitacins diminished the (3)H- cortisol binding capabilities therefore reducing stress.
The seeds of cucumbers are good for digestion. They reduce digestive (and respiratory) muscle contractions by blocking certain calcium channels. The compounds in the seeds that are responsible for this effect are kaempferol, quercetin, narcissin, and orientin, flavonoids with antioxidant capabilities.
In particular, cucumber seeds play a role in treating myocardial and vascular disorders through dilating endothelium cells (by increasing the availability of nitric oxide), energy generation, and antioxidant capacity. Cucumber seeds have a long history with Ayurveda for reducing inflammation and oxidative stress.
The propylene glycol contained in cucumber can inhibit the conversion of sugars into fat. The cellulose in cucumber has an effect on promoting the elimination of putrefactive substances in the human intestines and reducing cholesterol.
THE SKINCARE EFFECTS OF CUCUMBER
- Improve skin texture
- Cucumber hydrosol contains a lot of vitamins which are good for the skin. Use daily as a facial mist prior to moisturizing. Cucumber hydrosol is also a good choice to mix with clay and make a facial mask. It makes the skin smoother and more elastic.
- Hydration: Cucumber hydrosol is an excellent hydrating agent, making it a good choice for dry or dehydrated skin. Its water-based nature helps replenish moisture levels, making your skin supple and revitalized.
- Soothing and Calming: Cucumbers are cooling. If you have sensitive or irritated skin, cucumber hydrosol can provide relief. Its gentle and cooling properties help soothe inflammation and reduce redness.
- Balancing: All hydrosols have a natural astringent effect, this makes cucumber hydrosol also beneficial for oily or acne-prone skin. It helps regulate sebum production, minimize pores, and promote a balanced complexion.
- Anti-Aging: Cucumber hydrosol contains plentiful antioxidants that help combat oxidative stress, which contributes to premature aging. Regular use of cucumber hydrosol may help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and promote a youthful-looking complexion.
Isn’t that just cool as a cucumber???
About Hydrosols: They are under appreciated currently! They have so much to offer. They have valuable therapeutic, cosmetic, and culinary properties. They are less known than essential oils yet they have been used for 3000-4000 years. Written records by Egyptians, Hippocrates, and others used them long before essential oils. In the past plants were distilled for their hydrosols not essential oils.
They are sometimes called hydrolats or floral waters —they are distilled.
The word “hydrosol” is derived from the Greek hydro, meaning water, and the Latin sol, meaning solution. When plants are distilled, an essential oil and a hydrosol are produced.
Hydrosols, are the water product of distillation. They carry the hydrophilic (water-soluble) components of the plant, as well as microscopic droplets of essential oils in suspension. Hydrosols have 1% or less of essential oils in them.
(Essential oils are also a product of distillation —essential oils require much more plant material. Essential oils are the lipophilic (fat soluble).)
Hydrosols have a wide range of uses, they are much safer than essential oils to use —they can even be used for children and babies —and they are safe for animals. How to employ:
- Are best used to help add moisture to your skin care routine by spritzing on your face and body prior to moisturizing.
- Are anti-inflammatory and also cooling, useful with aloe vera gel to cool pitta /inflamed conditions e.g. too much heat in the body causing outward representation on the skin.
- Are effective wound healing agents.
- Can be used as effective toners.
- Hydrosols can be mixed with clay to make a clay mask
- Hydrosols can be added to baths
- Are safe for internal use (try a teaspoon in a glass of water for a refreshing drink). If you are sensitive to acidic foods, citrus hydrosol are quite acidic and might not be your best option to enhance your water.
- Can be supportive to cooling or relaxing of the body/nervous system/mind (think aromatic spritzers). A true hydrosol is NOT water with essential oils in it, most spritzers are. The best spritzers are true hydrosols.
How to use hydrosols?
Most common:
#1 mist face and body prior to oil or moisturizer. This helps your oil to seal the moisture into your skin.
Water attracts water, when you just spray your face or even take a bath without moisturizing the water from the shower or spray will pull the water from your skin. However if you mist your face with water or hydrosol, then immediately apply moisturizer or oil the water in your skin will pull the water on the surface inward to deeper layers of your skin providing better moisture in your skin.
- Need to uplift your mood? Use grapefruit hydrosol or any citrus hydrosol.
- Want to brighten your skin or balance your hormones? Use rose geranium or tangerine hydrosol.
- Working on a big project, school, or learning and remembering something? use rosemary hydrosol.
- Feeling a little congested? Try the red bottlebrush (eucalyptus) hydrosol.
- Have a little cut or scrape? Use yarrow hydrosol
- Need an astringent hydrosol to clear oil and/or pores? Try Lemon.
- Need a powerful anti-bacterial? Use Niaouli (tea tree family) hydrosol.
Use as a toner, pour a little on an organic cotton pad or ball. Or blend 2 different hydrosols and add a little aloe vera or witch hazel hydrosol and make a toner. I offer these here.
In your hair! Mist your hair and fluff it with your fingers, hydrosols help to keep your hair clean and fresh. Rosemary is particularly good for your hair, helping it to grow in thicker. Rose Geranium or Grapefruit hydrosols are nice because they are a little astringent and will help to remove oil or dirt from your hair.
Add 1 tsp to a cup of water and enjoy.
Air spritzer – works great in the bathroom
I gargle with hydrosols! My favorite to gargle with is rose geranium.
Eye Pads – soak a cotton pad in hydrosol and lay one on each eye — this is nice when the hydrosol is chilled.
Feeling a little hot flash? Spritz your face with a hydrosol.
Medicinal:
Eye infections, of any type that I’ve experienced have been nipped in the bud many times by me spraying one of my hydrosols on at the first sign of any symptoms.
Poison Ivy – I have found hydrosol helpful at receiving itch from poison ivy — specifically rose, chamomile, and peppermint, used singly.
Spray on a cut or wound to aid in healing and cleaning. Yarrow is especially good at this, it is a wound healer.
Use as a gargle or mouthwash, you can spray the back of your throat with any hydrosol then gargle with the same hydrosol. They can also be used for mouth affections such as canker sores. I like to use my red bottlebrush or niaouli hydrosols for sore throats.
Compresses – after you heat the water and wet your cloth, wring it out, then add a few spritzes of hydrosol.
Other:
Use in your clay mask recipe to make the clay paste – and you can use hydrosols after applying the mask —spritz your face with a hydrosol to keep your mask from drying out too quickly.
Add up to 1 tsp to your neti pot water
Use 1 cup in a foot bath and hand bath.
Add 1-2 cups to your bath (not very practical for most, but if you happen to have an abundance of a certain hydrosol).
In the laundry you can dampen a washcloth with hydrosol and put in dryer to help freshen stale or stinky clothing.
In the Kitchen
Add them to herbal teas or water — add 1 tsp in a cup of water up to 3x per day. This can be helpful to prevent catching something while traveling, or if you do have a cold it can help boost your immune system.
They can improve digestion when taken in water 10-20 minutes prior to eating or after eating to support detoxification.
Freeze it in ice cube trays and use in iced tea.
You can even cook with them, they can add nice flavor when some of the water for rice is substituted with hydrosol. For best results add toward the end of cooking to preserve their benefits and aromas. You an also spray them on a hot dish just before serving.
Try soaking nuts in a tasty hydrosol like rose geranium or orange.
For Animals
Would cleansing
Fur rinsing in cases of inflammation, dermatitis, parasites and more.
Spray their coats with lavender or rose while brushing them —or to help repel insets or ticks.
As a compress for sore joints
Restlessness, stress, or fear —orange, tangerine, marjoram, lavender, or any floral hydrosol.
How to store:
Hydrosols can be kept for up to 3 years if stored in a cool, clean place, They are best kept refrigerated.
They can be frozen to preserve them longer.
They are best stored in glass containers.