Shady Lady’s passion for plants goes beyond the garden. We love to make the most out of what is available in each season.  As a result we have made a selection of beautiful ingredient driven products from what is growing in my garden in order to share them with those around me.

What the heck is a Hydrosol? 

These pure botanical extracts are harvested using traditional method of steam distillation. This involves slowly steaming the plant material in a copper still, which causes the cell walls to bust open, releasing the medicinal elements of the plant. As the steam rises it passes through the botanical material carrying particles of essential oil and phytonutrients through the still. As the vapour rises then falls through the condenser it cools back into a liquid form - the Hydrosol. 

The aromatic waters result from nothing other than distilled plant material. The plants used are grown and harvested by me to ensure there are no toxic chemicals within the plant material. Harvest times and plant health are integral to the potency and quality of the hydrosol, something difficult to ensure in mass produced botanical products like essential oils. Each hydrosol is made by me, using a traditional copper still and demineralised water to ensure there are no contaminants that might lessen the shelf life of the product. Some products may contain 1% citric acid as a preservative to improve shelf life. 

Hydrosols are gentle but still generate results. Each herb is best used for different purposes but as a general rule they make wonderful skin clearing and hydrating face toners to be spritzed before or after moisturising. They can be used in conjunction with oils and serums to aid absorption of the oil into the skin. Some can be used as a body or room spray to revitalise your body or space.

Hydrosols or essential oils?

By using steam distillation to make a hydrosol and by using the entire product rather than just the oil, hydrosols contain the full spectrum of medicinal constituents and aromatics within the plant. Essential Oils on the other hand only include the extracted oil based compounds from the plant, this smaller range of concentrated volatile aromatic oils come with a large risk of misuse and burden of safety considerations. An astounding amount of plant material is required to create just one drop of essential oil. Hydrosols are a much safer and sustainable alternative.