How to Make Florida Water for Health and Beauty
These days Florida Water (or Agua Florida) is most often used as a ritual tool for spiritual cleansing. Upon searching further I found that before Florida Water became a staple in the realm of spirituality it had a much longer history as a perfume or cologne and even as a concoction for health and wellness.
The name Florida water has nothing to do with the southeastern state of the US, but rather both the perfume and the place are named for the legendary fountain of youth. This gives us a clue to one of the alleged benefits of using this tonic, Florida Water’s youth enhancing properties!
The preparation and sale of Agua Florida goes back hundreds of years. Back when bathing daily was a luxury for most, using a product that not only took the edge off body odor but also imparted health benefits to the user was sought out by both men and women. In these days most folks had access to fresh or dried herbs from their very own garden and grain alcohol could be acquired much more readily than a pre-made perfume.
Over the years, and depending on the availability of herbs, the recipe has changed. Online you can find many variations and ultimately it will depend on the herbs and citruses you have on hand. I assure you, this is a very easy to make beauty product and in this post I will take you through the steps to making your own!
The Ingredients
I am an herbalist and live on a farm with several citrus trees, so all of the herbs and fruits I harvested myself. The spices however, I bought. As a general rule, Florida Water contains 3 types of citrus peel, 3 types of herbs or flowers, and 2 types of spices. Here are the ingredients that I found common across the many recipes from different eras and ended up in my final recipe:
- Citrus Peel : orange, lemon, and grapefruit (If you only have access to one or two of these, that is okay! The most important thing it to find ORGANIC ingredients, either fresh or dried.)
- Herbs : Lavender flowers, rosemary flowers and leaves, and mint leaves. (There are so many other herbs you can add from calendula, to sage and thyme, once again it is essential to use organic when possible and, of course, make sure that the herbs are safe for topical use — as all of the herbs listed here are.)
- Spices : most recipes agree that florida water needs a little spice and so I included two of the most commonly used spices amongst the recipes — cinnamon and clove
- Grain alcohol and distilled water.
- A large, clean jar with a lid that fits tightly.
Once you have all your ingredients before you it is really so simple as separating the leaves from the stalk and peeling the rind from the fruit. With all the ingredients processed and the clean jar before you simply fill the jar halfway with the herbs,flowers, citrus, and lastly the spices. As a general rule it is best to do equal parts of all the herb and peel ingredients and just add a pinch or spoonful of the spices as they are quite strongly scented and expensive.
Layer by layer I added the fresh and dried ingredients until the jar was half way full.
With all the ingredients inside the jar I began pouring over the grain alcohol until the jar was 3/4 full and then topped it off with distilled water. Then, the jar was sealed tightly and put into a dark, cool corner of the herbal apothecary (or the kitchen) and let to steep for a full lunar cycle or up to 40 days.
Once that steeping time was finished I filtered out the solid ingredients and had a wonderfully smelling brown perfume infused with the magic and goodness of each herb, spice, and citrus.
How to Use Agua Florida and Why:
Most often Florida Water is used as a spray and often included in rituals from Santeria, to Witchcraft, and even in meditation practices as a way to cleanse the area of malignant spirits. The finished concoction is best stored in dark bottles so that the sun wouldn’t deteriorate the medicinal properties of the herbs it contains.
Personally, I use this spray mostly as part of my self care routine. I have found this spray to be extremely useful as a deodorant in general and spray it all over myself, and especially under each armpit on hot days or during long stretches of travel.
The mint, clove, and citrus all have brightening properties that give a uplifting feeling right away and especially helpful during long days working outdoors or on endless bus rides when a shower is wanted but unavailable.
Lavender and rosemary are both skin tonics. Lavender is of course relaxing and rosemary is rumored to have anti-aging properties and stimulate hair growth too. I have yet to verify these claims scientifically but, on a anecdotal level I can say that both lavender and rosemary as so healing by their aroma alone. When at home I like to use this spay just after cleaning my face and preparing to sleep for the night. Both the herbs and the grain alcohol have disinfecting properties and go a long way to fight acne, candida and other unwanted skin issues.
