Hydrosols or hydrolates are the by-product of the steam distillation of essential oils or the waters produced from plant material distilled specifically for the purpose, i.e.: Hammemelis virginiana, commonly called Witch Hazel. Although they are sometimes known as floral waters this is an inexact term for a number of reasons. First they are not made only from flowers, in fact like essential oils most of the available hydrosols come from herbs, spices, tree branches, woods, or leaves and needles with flowers being only a few of the dozens of types produced. Second, many products available commercially under the name floral waters are in fact either water with essential oils added to them, or synthetic water based scented compounds. In a project given to one of my classes recently 20'floral waters' were sourced and only 3 were in fact what can rightly be termed hydrosols, that is 1.5%. Of the 3 real hydrosols only one did not contain preservatives!

What this illustrates is that education and information are just as necessary for hydrosol purchase and use as for any other aspect of aromatherapy and that it is just as difficult to find the real thing with hydrosols as with our precious and more widely available oils. Which brings me to another issue of importance. Why is it so hard to find more than 4 or 5 hydrosols even in specialty aromatherapy shops and catalogues? We know that every steam distillation produces a water by-product. By rights we should be able to order Cedrus atlantica, Eucalyptus radiata or Salvia sclarea hydrosol as easily as we can the oil. But think about the particular aspects of these wonderful substances. They are water, so they are heavy, approximately 1kg per liter. From a transport point of view for both distillers and brokers why would you go the expense of shipping kilos of water with a value of as little as $15 US to a maximum of $50 or $60 US when a kilo of the same oil would be worth anywhere from $100 to well over $1000.00 US. Does it make good business sense? Not really. Consider also that if the hydrosols are of true therapeutic grade they will not contain preservatives and are therefore extremely susceptible to damage from heat, light or improper storage. Add the factor that many people know very little about these products and therefore the demand is not so great and you have a host of reasons for hydrosols never to leave the distilleries where they are produced.

But things are changing and as consumers' interest in and use of these distillate waters increase so will their availability. So what if you can a reasonable selection of the real thing. How does one devaluate and care for these products. First and foremost they must be kept cool and dark. Ideal storage conditions are a constant temperature of around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. My personal experience is that a constant temperature with little fluctuation is even more important than the 50-degree mark. Temperatures as high as 65 degrees seem to be acceptable. If they are constant. But where temperatures vary, condensation is never far behind and it is the condensation forming inside the bottles that can often cause the degradation or contamination of hydrosols. Also some hydrosols seem more prone than others to 'bloom', or grow moulds. Whether this is in part due to poor filtration or storage is hard to say but certainly Juniper Berry is the most prone of all to bloom, followed by Elderflower and the rarely seen Canadian Fleabane. Remember that essential oils have a long life in part due to the types of chemical compounds that they contain. Hydrosols, which do not hold appreciable quantities of the monoterpenes and other hydrophobic compounds have less 'natural' preservative, and for this reason many companies opt to add some sort of preserving compound to extend shelf-life and get rid of the need for cold storage.

Are hydrosols that have bloomed useless? Hard to say, as sometimes they seem to suffer no damage to their fragrance, but they are certainly not acceptable for internal consumption and earlier this year the FDA forced the recall of some hydrosols for this reason. As long as they seem otherwise untainted, I re-filter them and add them to baths, wash my dog or feed my plants depending on the botanical species involved. However, hydrosols can most definitely 'go off', but it is very easy to discern when this happens as the smell of a hydrosol that has turned is distinct. Sour, musty and bearing no resemblance to any plant material known a 'bad' hydrosol does not require a perfumers nose to recognize. Visibly they may appear fine, usually containing no particulate matter, or unusual colour, but the smell like anything rotten is so off-putting that most people would find it nigh impossible to use them in any way. The rule of them is basically, "when in doubt throw them out", they re not expensive and you'll never regret being over-cautious.

Now to the therapeutic aspect of hydrosols. As someone who grew up with herbal treatments as a normal part of life, discovering homeopathic remedies and the concept behind their therapeutic actions made perfect sense to me. Homeopathics are the vibrational or subtle end of the spectrum of natural healing. Homeopathics in their infinitesimal dose are concerned with rebalancing the "constitution" or "terrain" of the individual. Treatment follows many of the concepts of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese medicine in that the client is considered a whole and sickness is seen as an imbalance of the terrain as opposed to a disease to be eradicated. So it is that I look at hydrosols as the equivalent of a 'homeopathic' version of essential oils. Gentle and safe in their pure state, highly effective in extremely low dilutions, and with few contraindications or safety precautions here is the subtle, constitutional form of aromatherapy. The analogy can be drawn further as modern 'homeopathy' allows for the prophylactic and treatment oriented use of remedies. Yes bronchitis is an imbalance in the system but it is also an infection and more than a dozen remedies will 'treat' bronchitis simultaneous with balancing the constitution. So it is with Hydrosol-therapy. For bronchitis you could look at Inula, Eucalyptus globulus or polybractea, Rosemary CT verbenone, Oregano, Ti Tree or Winter Savoury. Chosen wisely any of these could address the bronchitis but they will also stimulate the bodies' natural immunity and support the overall function of our diverse systems. In other words the hydrosols act both constitutionally and specifically on our health.

It is worth pointing out that new medical research indicates that weak or compromised immune systems can sometimes respond negatively or shut down in response to powerful treatments. Hydrosols may offer safer, less stimulating health support in these cases and many trials are exploring this possibility.