Rose oil is usually made by extracting the aromatic compounds from rose petals. The most common method is steam distillation:
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🌹 Harvest fresh rose petals — Often fragrant varieties such as Rosa damascena (Damask rose) are used.
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💧 Add petals and water to a still — The petals are placed in a distillation vessel with water.
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♨️ Heat the mixture — Steam passes through the petals and carries their volatile aromatic compounds.
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❄️ Cool the vapor — The steam and rose aroma condense back into liquid.
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🫗 Separate the oil — The essential oil floats separately from the aromatic water (rose hydrosol) and is collected.
It takes a surprisingly large amount of roses: roughly thousands of kilograms of petals can be needed to produce about 1 kg of rose essential oil, depending on the roses and process.
There are also other products called "rose oil." Rose absolute, for example, is generally extracted using a solvent rather than steam distillation and can have a somewhat different scent profile.
Sure! If you want to make it at home, the easiest method is rose-infused oil. It’s much simpler than making true rose essential oil.
🌹 Homemade rose-infused oil
You’ll need:
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Fresh, unsprayed rose petals
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A carrier oil such as jojoba, sweet almond, or olive oil
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Clean, completely dry glass jar
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Fine strainer or cheesecloth
Method:
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Gently wash the petals and let them dry completely.
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Fill the jar about halfway with petals.
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Cover the petals completely with your carrier oil.
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Seal the jar and place it somewhere warm but out of direct sunlight for 2–4 weeks.
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Shake gently once a day.
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Strain out the petals and store the finished oil in a clean, dark bottle.
This produces a fragrant rose-infused oil, not rose essential oil. True rose essential oil requires specialized steam-distillation equipment and a very large quantity of petals.