We’re in the middle of winter, and your skin may need a bright, fresh pick-me-up. This simple facial toner contains just three ingredients: rose water, witch hazel and lavender infused aloe vera liquid. Witch hazel is a great astringent, and aloe vera liquid is soothing for chapped or irritated skin. In combination with the gentle scents of lavender and rose water this is an easy, skin-loving mix.
What You’ll Need:
1 cup Witch Hazel
1/2 cup Rose Water
1/2 cup Lavender Infusion (made from 2 tbsp of dried lavender in 5 oz. of Aloe Vera Liquid)
8 oz. Bottles
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!
INFUSION: To make an infusion, spoon two tablespoons of dried lavender buds into a seal-able tea bag. Iron the bag closed and then place in a heat-safe jar with 5 ounces of pure aloe liquid. Place in a double-broiler on low heat for two hours. Leave two inches of space between the top of the jar and the water. For more information on infusing liquid, check out this skin soothing oil tutorial.
TONER:
ONE: Begin by pouring 1 cup of witch hazel into a sanitized (a quick dip in 5% bleach water will take care of that for you) measuring cup.
TWO: Next, measure and pour 1/2 cup rose water.
THREE: Finally, measure and pour 1/2 cup lavender infusion.
FOUR: Combine all the liquid in a single sanitized bowl and give the liquid a good stir
FIVE: Using a funnel, pour the mixture into the 8 oz bottles.
SIX: To use, pour a little toner on a cotton ball and apply to face avoiding the eye area.
Optional: You can store this toner in the fridge or use a water soluble preservative at 1% (.16 ounces), like Germaben II to give this a shelf life of approximately 9 to 12 months.
Does this require a preservative when selling it to customers?
Hi Keci!
A preservative helps prevent mold and bacteria and extend the shelf life of this toner to 9 to 12 months. You can definitely add a preservative at 1% if you like. Germaben II or Optiphen ND would both work for this recipe! You can read more in the Talk It Out Tuesday: Preservatives post: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/talk-it-out-tuesday-preservatives/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi Amanda, I want to make this toner but I don’t want to use parabens in my products. Can you recommend another preservative, maybe a natural one? And if it’s natural, what woud the shelf life be? Lastly, are the other ingredients in this recipe (witch hazel, rose water and aloe vera liquid) natural ingredients?
Thanks!!
Hi Andaluza!
We have tried several natural preservatives and found they don’t work well at preventing mold and bacteria. However, you may like Optiphen. It’s paraben and formaldehyde free! It can be used at .5-1.5% in your recipe. You can read more in the Talk It Out Tuesday: Preservatives post: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/talk-it-out-tuesday-preservatives/
Also, natural is an umbrella term that can be applied to almost anything that comes from nature. That means that natural isn’t regulated. We typically consider “natural” anything that doesn’t have synthetic ingredients. For instance, our aloe vera liquid comes from nature, so it may be considered natural by some. The term can mean different things depending on who you ask! You can read more in the Natural vs. Organic post: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/natural-vs-organic/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
If I use this recipe and use bottles. Do the bottles have to be bleached? If so how do you bleach the caps and prevent them from being ruined if they are plastic with a liner or metal or a spray top?
Hi Tree!
Dipping your bottles in the bleach water solution will help keep bacteria or mold from growing, so it is a good idea!
To do so, add 1 oz. of bleach to 1 gallon of distilled water and dip all your equipment in. Then, dry them off with clean paper towels. I’ll include a video on making lotion that shows you how.
Because the bleach is very diluted, your bottles should be just fine! We disinfect our bottle tops and haven’t had any problems with damage. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
How to Make Lotion From Scratch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGOyGbPmtLw
I am very interested in making my own toner, but I am not a fan of aloe vera… is there anything else I could use in its place? Also would it be ok to add tea tree eo or rosemary eo?
Hi Tracy!
If you don’t want to use Aloe Vera, you could use plain water 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Hello,
I was wondering if I could sub out the witch hazel for a chamomile tea. I want to create an after sun spray. I would of course use a preservative . What do you think? Thanks so much!
Hi Jodi!
Oh, that’s a fun idea! If you are using a preservative, I don’t see anything wrong with using tea instead 🙂 I bet that would smell great too!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
I like your toner recipe with Germaben, and I just bought some from Brambleberry. I don’t see a lot of other toner recipes online that use this particular preservative. Does the 1% rule apply to all/most toners?
Also, what’s the danger if I use too much or too little?
I’m looking forward to trying this out and experimenting with other toner ideas.
thanks so much for the inspiration.
Hi Deanna!
1% is a good general usage rate for most preservatives. For a more detailed look at different preservatives and their usage rates, you may find this blog post helpful! The usage rate depends more on the preservative type, rather than the product you are using it in. If too little is used, it’s more likely that bacteria could grow.
Perfectly Preserved: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/perfectly-preserved/
Germaben is a great preservative to use for this recipe, because it is a water soluble preservative 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
If I skipped the lavender infusion and instead just combined witch hazel, rose water, and plain aloe vera liquid, would I still need a preservative to make the mixture shelf-stable?
Hi Katie!
Because you are not changing the amount of liquids, the same rules still apply. You can store this toner in the fridge or use a water soluble preservative at 1% (.16 ounces), like Germaben II to give this a shelf life of approximately 9 to 12 months. If you plan on selling this toner, I definitely recommend using a preservative to be on the safe side 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Can I use Phenonip as the preservative in this and if so how much?Thanks!
Hi Angie,
You should be able to use Phenonip as a replacement for the preservative Germaben. The usage rate is the same of: .5-1% of the total weight of the recipe and must be used at temperatures lower than 200 degrees.
I have a great tutorial on preservatives that I have used many times for my own projects. 🙂
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/talk-it-out-tuesday-preservatives/
Hope this is helpful.
~Kevin with Bramble Berry
I made this last weekend, and I really like it! It smells lovely, and my face, while still a bit on the dry side, is no longer really tight and dry, with a few flaking spots as a bonus. So glad I don’t have to try and find a moisturizer again (they either do the exact opposite, or work for a while before they end up feeling greasy, and possibly cause breakouts too). The instructions made two bottles, so I gave one to my mum and she said she likes it too. 🙂
Hi Karin!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this toner recipe :). If your skin is still feeling a little flaky, I would recommend using a gentle scrub 2-3 times a week. This will remove that dead, flaky skin, and allow your skin to receive moisturizing properties better 🙂 One easy way I like to do this, is by creating a simple paste of baking soda and water in my hands, and very gently scrubbing my face after it has been washed. Then you can follow with the toner, and a moisturizer if you’d like.
I hope this helps, this time of year is brutal when it comes to dry skin!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
I was just studying about the wonderful healing benefits of Aloe Vera today and was going to come up with some type of toner. Checked my email today and here is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the great recipe, can’t wait to try it.
Hi Annie!
I’m so glad you have found this recipe to be helpful! It’s so easy and refreshing for the skin 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Can I add a preservative such as Optiphen and Poly 20
and some Jojoba beads as Exfoliant or what can you recommend?
Can I add a preservative such as Optifen and Poly 20
and some Jojoba beads as Exfoliant or what can you recommend? I am trying to create a Liquid Facial Cleanser with Exfoliant.
Hi there!
Because this product is not a cleanser per say, I would not recommend adding jojoba beads. Instead, I would add jojoba beads to a soap! This product is meant to be sprayed on the face, or applied with a cotton ball :). You can use any water soluble preservative you’d like, we recommend Germaben II 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
I bet this would be a wonderful mist during the hot summer too, especially if you kept it in the fridge.
Hi Jeanne!
You’re so right, I can’t wait to use this in the summer. I’m thinking about putting it in a spray bottle for mid-day pick-me-ups! 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Could I use glycerin instead of aloe vera liquid for this? I’m not sure if glycerin is good for the face, but I’m intrigued that it may be more moisturizing than aloe vera.
Hi Janelle!
I would recommend staying with Aloe Vera for this recipe 🙂 Because it is not meant to be washed off and glycerin is rather thick, Aloe Vera makes for a better texture while still being very hydrating and soothing. I hope this helps 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
With a homemade infusion of lavender water (that doesn’t come pre-preserved as hydrosols do) I don’t think that preservatives should be optional in this. The infusion will likely grow mold-even in the fridge- loooooong before it’s used up.
Hi Molly!
We did not use a preservative in this recipe for a few reasons. The first is that our Witch Hazel contains 14% alcohol, which is enough alcohol to preserve itself. As for the rose water, it is preserved with sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate which is why it does not grow mold by itself!
That being said, a water soluble preservative can be used at 1% if you’d like to be safe! We would recommend Germaben II for this recipe 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Hi Amanda,
you mention that you have to use a preservative to conserve water more time, my question is if i use benzoate sodium and potassium sorbet together, do i have to use 1% for each or 1% combine. thanks!
Hi Andrea!
I would recommend using 1% total in this recipe. If the product has more than 1%, it can be a bit drying on the skin. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thank you, this looks awesome!
Is there anything you would recommend in place of the rose water, like could I use green tea?
Hi Michelle!
You could replace the rose water with green tea, but if you do I would definitely recommend using a preservative at 1% of this recipe. The rose water is preserved with sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate which is why it does not grow mold by itself! But if you are going to be adding additional water based products that don’t contain a natural preservative, I would recommend adding one 🙂
-Amanda
Where can I find a measuring cup that would allow me to measure precisely in ounce that is less than an ounce, for example, 0.8 oz, 0.9 oz?
Thanks!
Myca
Hi Myca!
For this recipe you don’t need to be super exact in terms of ounces (unless you’re planning on using a preservative with it) but if you’re looking for a way to measure your products in ounces, I would recommend using a scale :). We have found this to be the most exact way to measure our soaping ingredients!
You can find a few different types of scales at Bramble Berry 🙂
Scales: https://www.brambleberry.com/Scales-C207.aspx
-Amanda
Would you need to use any preservatives? I currently make a Chamomile-infused Tea Tree toner and after several weeks I had mold growth. I added preservatives (Optiphen and Poly 80) and that fixed it. And it helped the tea tree oil mix into the toner. But it’s a best seller!
Hi Amanda!
We did not use a preservative in this recipe for a few reasons. The first is that our Witch Hazel contains 14% alcohol, which is enough alcohol to preserve itself. As for the rose water, it is preserved with sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate which is why it does not grow mold by itself!
That being said, a water soluble preservative can be used at 1% if you’d like to be safe. I’m glad you found a recipe that worked well for you! 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Is it possible to infuse witch hazel with fresh herbs and if so how? Can I leave out the rose water and just add aloe vera? Would the alcohol in the witch hazel cause CP soap to volcano?
Hi Gail!
While I have never infused witch hazel, I did a little research and it seems to be something that you can do. I would recommend doing a cold infusion, by adding the herbs and letting them sit in the witch hazel for about 8-24 hours. This way, you’re not boiling out the alcohol. You could certainly switch out the rose water for aloe vera if you’d like, but in that case I would definitely recommend adding a preservative :).
I would not recommend using witch hazel in cold process soap. The alcohol in the witch hazel could certainly cause some interesting things! Some soapers do you use liquids that contain alcohol in cold process soap (beer, wine, champagne) but the alcohol is boiled out first.
I hope this helps!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry