Rose Glycerite – Emotional Balancer

Rose Glycerite for Calming Nerves

I’ve discussed various ways of preserving and using roses, but for my final post on the topic this season, I want to highlight how to capture the physical and emotional benefits of the rose using the easy-to-take, alcohol-free medium of vegetable glycerine.

Rose Glycerite acts as a mild nervine, calming anxiety and jitteryness. Many people find it an uplifting and gentle anti-depressant.

It’s also anti-spasmodic so is a useful treatment for stomach or pre-menstrual cramps.

Because of their antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, cooling and calming properties, roses, and therefore rose glycerite, can be quite helpful for feverish, flushed and upset children (and adults!)

Rose glycerite can also be added to homemade lotions and creams, toners, and aftershaves.

Glycerine is a very sweet, colorless and odorless liquid that is useful for those who want the benefit of an herbal remedy without the alcohol. I buy vegetable glycerine from Mountain Rose Herbs.

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vegetable glycerin and rose petals

To make your own Rose Glycerite, you will need:

Using roughly double the amount of glycerine than fresh flower petals, blend the two in a mini-food processor until thoroughly macerated. Pour into a jar, cap and store in a dark cabinet, shaking daily. After two weeks, remove and strain your glycerite through a fine mesh sieve and/or several layers of cheesecloth.

glycerin and rose petals in a jar

You will be left with a lightly tinted, rose scented and flavored glycerite that should last around a year. You can dose a few drops directly under the tongue or dilute in glass of water or tea as needed.

Just a heads up: this is very sweet! A little bit, goes a long way!

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36 Comments

  1. Pingback: Whiskey Rose Cough Remedy | The Nerdy Farm Wife
  2. Thank you for this. I usually make rose petal jam or rose petal candy with ours. This gives me another idea.

    1. Rose petal jam sounds so amazing! It’s on my list to try next year when my roses come back out. Thanks for stopping by! :)

  3. Wow. My sister is expecting a baby but she suffers from depression issues from time to time. I’m going to try making her a batch of this…I assume the vegetable based glycerine is safe for pregnant women?

    1. I would think so, but I would definitely check with her doctor first! I hope she can take it and it helps! I’ve also read a few people mention roses as being good for balancing hormones for both men and women, but I couldn’t really find any real documentation on that, so was hesitant to post it. I use it more for mild colds than anything, and then usually in conjunction with antivirals like lemon balm & olive leaf. :)

  4. Do you think this would work the same way as an alcohol-based tincture?

    1. I get a lot of my herbal information & how-to from books written by Richo Cech. I love how much he knows about herbs and the making of herbal medicines! I really trust and value what he says, and it is his opinion (at least going by his book “Making Plant Medicine”) that glycerine is “substantially less efficient than alcohol as a solvent” and that it “makes sense to double the tincture dosage when giving glycerites.” So, I think it would work in similar ways, just not as strong of a way. Which is why I do prefer alcohol based tinctures for myself and my family. BUT, if my children were very tiny, I would absolutely use the glycerine based ones for them.

    1. Hi Lisa! Thanks so much for stopping by! I’m glad you learned something new about one of my favorite flowers! :)

  5. I am wondering if this leaves a soapy after taste. I deal with anxiety and am wondering if it would work for that.

    1. Hello Paimbia! I find this tastes VERY flowery. I don’t think it has a soapy after taste at all; more like a feeling that you just chewed up a few fresh rose petals. Coupled with the glycerine, it’s super sweet. However, you only need a few drops at a time. If you drink herbal tea, you could try adding a bit to it or you could dilute it with juice to mask the taste. If you have fresh unsprayed roses to experiment with, you could also try steeping the petals in a bit of almost boiling water and using that infusion in teas plus your bath water. Just the smell of roses is supposed to be calming also. :)
      One other thing you could do, if you wanted to avoid glycerine, is to pour raw honey over rose petals and let it infuse a few weeks before straining out. Then your benefits of the roses would be in your honey and easily added to tea, spread on a cracker or apple slice, etc. I hope it helps if you try it! :)

  6. What a nice article. Do any kind of roses work? I have only Knockouts.

    1. It’s my understanding that any type has benefits, however the more fragrant types are more powerful. I tend to use whatever roses I can get my hands on though & love everything I’ve ever made with them no matter whether I use my antiques, my modern tea roses, my really odd smelling mystery root stock, or mix them all up…. So, I say try them! :)

  7. Very cool!!! We don’t like taking medicines, and avoid them as much as we can. I am always on the look out for a good home/herbal remedy. Thanks!

  8. Thank u! Now I’ve heard that roses are poisonous? If this is true which part is? Maybe I’ve heard wrong?! I loved reading about all the benefits they provide!

    1. Hi Mama Nature, thanks for the great question! Roses are not poisonous to humans. In fact, the leaves can be used in many cases plus some traditional medicines use the root. The only part that will hurt you is the thorns. :)

  9. Roses are my favourite flower in the world, this sounds perfect and I can’t wait to try it! I loved that you linked this up at Seasonal Celebration Sunday!- thank you! Rebecca@Natural Mothers Network x

  10. Pingback: The Mad Scientist: Making An Echinacea Tincture From Fresh Root | The Nerdy Farm Wife
    1. Hi Beryl, I’m not a qualified medical professional to know all the ins and outs of treating diabetes, though Type I does run in my family, so this is strictly just a suggestion of something you could look into as long as it clears with his doctor. My son & I both have had trouble in the past regulating blood sugar and our naturopath put us on a low dose of chromium, which helps regulate things quite a bit. That would need to be double checked with his doctor since it could make a difference in his dosage of medication/insulin. Another thing I’ve heard is that cinnamon is helpful. I try to add an extra pinch of cinnamon to foods, if the recipe can support the flavor of it. Those might give you two places to start looking! Definitely check with his doctor though if you tinker with chromium. Good luck!

  11. Love this recipe! It would also make a great base for a facial cleanser. I would mix with herbal tea or apple cider vinegar and apply with a cotton ball. Might work well in an apple cider hair vinegar as well… New things for me to try!

    1. I’ve also seen some recipes for a toner/moistrurizer spray with witch hazel and glycerin in it. This would be perfect in it:)

  12. My daughter (6 years old) absolutely adores roses. She is also rather hyper, but prone to bouts of anxiety and depression. I am thinking that this use, combined with lemon balm may be something to have her try. She has Type 1 diabetes so teas sweetened with honey are not the best way to introduce her to herbs. These last few days of the school year are trying for her, I’ll let you know how it goes.

    1. Hi Mistie! That’s something I haven’t tried yet. It seems like it should work in a similar way, but you might end up with a different color and appearance in your final product. You could do a tiny test batch and see how you like it though. I hope it works out great for you!

      1. I made some rose water and it works OK so far. Has absolutely no smell but a beautiful full redish pink color. I’m gonna try it with the glycerine now. Can’t wait to see how it turns out. One question tho…when u grind up your roses…how many roses make how much product? I only used 1 tbsp of powder and it made about 5 cups of rose water. I’m still working on the balance of powder to water.

        1. Hi Mistie, That’s great to know about the rose powder and rose water! I’d love to know how the glycerite turns out too with it. I tried to look up how many roses are in so much rose powder, but I couldn’t find any specifics. My roses aren’t too far from blooming (hopefully another week or two!) and I’ll experiment around then and see if there’s some type of conversion number we can come up with. I would think you could fit a lot of dried powdered rose petals into a tablespoon of rose powder!

  13. I read in an above comment that honey can be used instead of glycerine and that it needs to be steeped a few weeks. Can the process be speeded up a bit by heating the honey/rose mixture?

    1. Hi Eddie! You sure can make a rose infused honey, but you won’t need to blend it. Just fill a jar partially with rose petals and then cover with honey, stir to release any air bubbles, then add more honey almost to the top. You could set the jar in a sunny window to jump start things and start using it after a few days (just keep the petals in longer to let it finish infusing at least another week or two). If you do heat up the honey in a small saucepan, keep it under 110 degrees F, in order to preserve its benefits. (Assuming you use raw honey, which has a ton of other health benefits that glycerine doesn’t offer.) A microwave isn’t recommended. Make sure too that your rose petals stay submerged or covered in the honey, by checking and stirring every day or two.

  14. Hi Jan,
    The peonies are just starting to bloom up here on the mountain. The question I have ie this: Cannthe petals be use infused oil/ water?
    Thank you for you hel and wonderful site.
    Sincerely ,
    Ruth

    1. Hi Ruth! I’ve been experimenting a little bit with peonies this year. You could use the petals for infusions, but I haven’t really been able to find any skin or health benefits they offer in my research. White peony root is used in Chinese medicine, I believe I’m remember right anyway, so there may still be a connection I haven’t found yet. Admittedly, I’ve been so busy with other projects and this busy time on the farm, the research on peonies has been shallow! :) You could definitely add them for a label appeal type thing though, if you sell products. They are considered safe and edible, so I’d love to find ways to use them more.

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