This sweetly fragrant, refreshing facial toner has become a fast favourite of mine. It smells deliciously of roses, features several soothing and lightly hydrating ingredients, and leaves my skin feeling revived and gently cleansed. It’s also crazy easy to make (no heat required!) and uses just a handful of pretty simple ingredients. I think you’re going to love it, too!
Want to watch this project instead of read it?
This DIY was inspired by Thayer’s—a skincare community perennial favourite. At $10 for 350mL (12 fl oz) it isn’t absurdly expensive or anything, but it is a very simple product that you can easily make at home for less. I’ve also made a few little changes because I can’t leave well enough alone 😜
For starters, my DIY version uses more rose hydrosol than I suspect the Thayer’s one does—their ingredient list has the rose hydrosol after the vegetable glycerin. Given glycerin is usually used at pretty low percentages (especially in a watery leave-on product like this one where its stickiness is likely to be noticeable) that means the original was probably pretty low on rose hydrosol. That’s likely why their product also includes a rose fragrance—they aren’t getting a ton of scent from the hydrosol. We’re getting all our rosy goodness from the hydrosol, though. Swoon.
I also included a bit of panthenol, aka vitamin B5, because it is skin magic. From Lotion Crafter: “Studies have shown D-Panthenol promotes stimulation of epithelization, granulation, mitigation of itching and has an anti-inflammatory effect. When used in formulations over the course of three to four weeks, it has the potential to improve the appearance of the skin, including dryness, roughness, scaling, pruritus and erythema. Further, its moisturizing properties improve stratum corneum hydration, reducing transepidermal water loss and maintaining skin elasticity and softness.” See? Skin magic! As of this writing there is a world-wide shortage of panthenol (sob), so if you don’t have & can’t get any I have listed some suitable substitutions after the recipe.
We’ve also got some witch hazel for some refreshing astringency, but you won’t notice its characteristic musty scent in the end product. Some aloe vera juice brings wonderful skin-soothing goodness to the toner, and a touch of vegetable glycerine adds some non-sticky humectant power.
The vast majority of the ingredients in this recipe are mostly water, and the 2.5% that isn’t will readily incorporate and dissolve with a bit of mixing. You could even make this straight into your bottle, cap, and shake to combine. Easy peasy!
Want to watch this project instead of read it?
Rose Witch Hazel Facial Toner
45g | 37.5% distilled water
24g | 20% aloe vera juice
24g | 20% witch hazel
24g | 20% rose hydrosol
1.2g | 1% vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)
1.2g | 1% panthenol powder (vitamin B5) (USA / Canada)
0.6g | 0.5% Liquid Germall Plus™ (USA / Canada)Weigh the all the ingredients into a small heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Stir to combine.
Once the solution is uniform, transfer it to a 120ml/4oz squeeze bottle. You’re done!
To use, dispense some toner onto a cotton pad or ball and swab the skin with it.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this toner contains water, you must include a broad-spectrum preservative to ward off microbial growth. This is non-optional. Even with a preservative this project is likely to eventually spoil as our kitchens are not sterile laboratories, so in the event you notice any change in colour, scent, or texture, chuck it out and make a fresh batch.
Substitutions
As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.
- As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams this recipe will make 120g.
- You can use a different hydrosol if you prefer
- Your witch hazel can contain alcohol or be alcohol free—mine was alcohol free
- Sodium lactate or sodium PCA will work in place of vegetable glycerine and/or panthenol
- If you have a concentrated aloe vera powder (100x or 200x, that sort of thing), I recommend making an aloe vera stock with it for recipes like this. For 100x that would be 1% 100x aloe vera powder, 0.5% liquid germall plus, and water to 100%. For 200x powder you’d need 0.5% 200x aloe vera powder, 0.5% liquid germall plus, and water to 100%.
Ohhhh nice! I just ran out of my usual facial toner (the recipe is actually going live in a few minutes!) so I think I’m going into the work room to create this! With a few tweaks. Of course. ‘Cause we can’t leave well enough alone!
Excellent inspiration!
Woo! Enjoy it 😀
Hi Marie. How long is the shelf life for this? 🙂 Just an estimate Will do.
I still have the bottle I made for this blog post and it’s still fine 🙂
If I want to add some drops of Essentional oil , how will be
You will need a solubiliser like polysorbate 20. Just remember to mix the EOs and solubiliser well before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.
Olivem 300 is also another good option. In my experience, it is less tacky.
Please don’t—you’d also need to incorporate a solubilizer, and there’s a very good chance that will negatively impact the leave-on skin feel of the product.
I have an FAQ on the general idea/process here, but for this formula I do not recommend it.
I am almost out of my toner so I am going to try it. I think I am going to use alcohol free witch hazel now that the temperatures are dropping and leave the alcohol version for summer. I am glad I still got a fair amount of panthenol because it such a great ingredient.
Woohoo, I hope you love it!
FYI–Thayers makes a Rose scented witch hazel which is alcohol free! Bought it on Amazon. Made a similar toner–but like MsBarb–had to make a couple tweeks. I added 2% Niacinamide; and used Propanediol instead of Glycerin (no stickies!). Yay!
That’s what inspired this product 😉 The products I’ve found are not just rose scented witch hazel, though. The full ingredients are “Purified Water, Certified Organic Witch Hazel Ext Blend (Hamamelis Virginiana Extract (Witch Hazel*), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice (Filet of Aloe Vera*)), Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Rosa Centifolia (Rose) Flower Water, Fragrance (Natural Rose), Citric Acid, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Seed Extract”.
Enjoy your toner, it sounds lovely!
Is it possible to infuse fresh herbs in this recipe without changing anything else? I’d like to use a tea in place of the water if that would work.
Thanks for the info
Please don’t—that will introduce a very large preservation challenge, and the tea will oxidize in a matter of hours, providing no benefits, only food for bacteria to devour and infect your toner :/
Are you saying herbal infusions should not be added to lotions ?
Not necessarily, but homemade infusions in water do definitely create a preservation challenge, and with something like tea, where the benefits vanish within hours but the preservation challenge remains, it doesn’t seem worth it to me. I am far from an infusions expert, though—I’d recommend checking out the work of LisaLise to learn more as she has spent years in this area 🙂
If I wanted to add hyaluronic acid to this? Could I, and how would I do that? I am thinking that it should be as simple as removing from the liquids and adding the HA to that. What percentage of a 1% solution would you use in this recipe? I noticed in other recipes like the rose silk hydrating sheet mask you use 20% HA solution. Would that be a good place to start with this one?
I’ve been thinking about doing exactly the same thing and I’m actually testing something similar right now! 20% HA solution is a good amount as 0.2% HA has been found to be effective 🙂 Keep in mind this will make the end product more viscous & happy making!
Hi! So I made two versions of this cause I saw this comment and had some free time on my hands haha. I LOVE this toner as is but I have also been using 1 drop of pure HA solution on my face daily. I decided to combine the two steps… all I did was use HA solution in place of the distilled water (my stock was nearing expiration and needed to be used up soon). I equally appreciate the qualities of both and initially there really isn’t a big difference between the two. The one without definitely has a more “refreshing” and hydrating toner-like quality while the one with it has an “HA-like” quality. Lol, it’s hard to describe unless one has used pure HA solution. I guess I’d have to use the HA one long term to decide if it’s worth the swap? For now though, I generally gravitate towards Marie’s version. Thank goodness I made a tiny batch since HA can be slightly $$ 🙂 Marie, I’m eager to see what you formulate with HA 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing, Elizabeth!
Hi,
I’m thinking of making this and some other of your recipes and buying your book which looks amazing. I just had one question, i noticed that a lot of the recipes use Liquid Germal Plus. This is not available in the UK, is there any other preservative available in the UK that i can use instead. thanks
Have a look at mysticmoments.co.uk Janki, they stock preservatives. Hope that helps.
Hey Janki! I’ve detailed many different preservatives on this page—it’s hard for me to recommend anything without knowing what you have access to. Germaben II is popular, as is Optiphen Plus 🙂
Can another preservative be used? There is nothing in the substitutions section about that.
Yes, but make sure you understand the preservative you choose and ensure it is compatible. I’ve compiled some information here 🙂
Nice article! I plan on trying it. I have Rose petals & Hips I have harvested this year. Now to decide how to extract their goodness. I don’t already have Rose Hydrosol, so want to put my harvest to use. : )
Lovely! You should definitely check out Lisa Lise (https://lisaliseblog.com) to learn more about extracts—she LOVES them and has written all kinds of super helpful information about them 🙂 Happy making!
Lotion Crafter carries a witch hazel hydrosol, would that be just as good to use in this recipe? The alcohol free witch hazel from windy point is nice but the shipping cost is just too high for us to justify it’s use. But we would still like to stay away from any alcohol. Thanks!
Yup, definitely!
Hi Marie, could I substitute niacinamide for the panthenol? Thank you and this will save me soooo much money
Kind of, yes, but I’d recommend reading about both of them in the Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia (https://www.humblebeeandme.com/diy-encyclopedia/) to learn about how they’re different + differing formulation requirements. Happy making!
Hi Marie!
I looked through the encyclopedia and the substitutions for this answer so forgive me if I missed the answer to my question. Could I leave out the panthenol? It’s the only ingredient I do not have. Also, I have fresh aloe from a plant. Could I use that or will the germall not be enough to keep mold away?
You can, but I do recommend looking it up in the Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia (https://www.humblebeeandme.com/diy-encyclopedia/) to get a better understanding of what will be lost performance-wise. Also, be sure to replace it with some more distilled water to keep the formula in balance! I don’t recommend using aloe fresh from the plant—it spoils pretty enthusiastically in my experience. Happy making!
Thanks for replying so quickly! I will just wait until I have both ingredients I need. I just got some lovely white rose hydrosol from Mountain Rose Herbs so I look forward to using that in this recipe. Also, you have inspired me to get my diploma in natural skincare formulation so thank you! Also, your book is AMAZING and I have made about 4 recipes out of it. I LOVE it and can’t live without it. Thanks for all you do!
Oh my goodness, white rose hydrosol sounds AMAZING! Thank you so much for your kind words and support ❤️
Just made this tonight and it turned out AMAZING! I did buy the aloe juice but, wish I had gotten the aloe powder much more cost effective. Thanks for this great recipe Marie!
Woohoo! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Hello Marie,
I have just finished up making two bottles of this, for me and my friend, and a thought crossed my mind to check the pH level of it, it came out 3.0. What do you think of this, isn’t it a little acidic?
Yes, that does seem more acidic than we’d like, but it’s really surprising that it’s that low given there are no strong acids in this formulation. Are you certain your pH meter is properly calibrated?
Hi.. in india I didnt find supplier for rose hydrosol and germall plus. My supplier has rose water in edible grade . Can I replace geogaurd ultra for germall plus ? Also can I use rose water instead of rose hydrosol?!
Hello! Please read this and this for your answers 🙂
Hi Marie! I’d like to make this toner and was thinking, why you decided to add distilled water at all since it has no or low benefits to the skin? Can I use both hydrosols mix and skip water totally?
Think of it a bit like this—why drink water when it has no nutritional benefits? Why not only drink juice/tea/etc.? It’s more or less the same in skincare—just because it doesn’t contain vitamins/fibre/etc. doesn’t mean it isn’t beneficial. Hydration is a massive benefit! You COULD use more hydrosols, but that will dramatically increase the cost of the formulation and amplify its scent, which I did not want here. Happy making!
Thanks for reply! I already have a bottle of which hazel and rose hydrosols which I need to use, also scent is not an issue for me, so will definitely give it a try! Can you help me with the question, I have only access to fluid form of d-panthenol (75% solution), how should I add it instead of the powder?
This is answered in the encyclopedia 🙂
Hi Maree,
I just want to say firstly that you are a great inspiration!
I want to make your Rosewater witch hazel Toner but in a 100ml bottle adding blue tansy EO can you help a novice in how to adjust, what solubiliser would you recommend? I have panthenol oil not powder and I have propanediol could this serve as a solubilizer?
Thanks in advance x
I read up on the powder to liquid in the encyclopedia Thankyou
Hi Maree,
Could I switch out the panthenon powder here for inulin?
and another glycol like propanediol?
Thanks in advance
Hi Maree,
I just made this recipe but added an essential oil. Would you suggest adding a solubilizer like polysorbate 20 at 1%?
Thanks in advance
You’ll definitely need a solubilizer, though 1% won’t necessarily be enough. Learn more here 🙂 Happy making!