Derived from Latin, a Hydrosol is a chemistry term meaning hydro “water” and sol “solution”. Hydrolates, Plant Waters, and Floral Waters are all referring to the same. Flower water is the popular term but is limiting as hydrosols are also distilled from the bark, branches, wood, leaves, needles, roots, fruit, and seeds of plants. Suzanne Catty defines hydrosols as such, “the condensate water co-produced during the steam or hydro-distillation of plant material for aromatherapeutic purposes [essential oils].” When distillation of an essential oil is complete and the oil is filtered off only about 0.05ml of dissolved essential oil is remaining in the waters, like a supercharged tea. From the holistic aromatherapy perspective, hydrosols are used therapeutically to treat ailments of both body and mind, as a part of a person's whole state and wellbeing, on a gentle, subtle, and yet practical level. They are a flexible medium useful in many universal holistic health practices. Aromatherapy is simply one part of a spectrum of many plant therapies, as is traditional eastern and western herbalism, homeopathy, flower remedies, and so on. Quality is very important, true hydrolats for therapeutic purposes require proper distinction, as there are many adulterated, synthetic, and non-organic variants available.
From an interconnected frame of mind, some see hydrosols as holograms of a distilled plant; where a single drop of hydrosol can contain all the information of the whole plant. Hydrosols embody the aroma, elements, and environment that nurtured the plant's growth; the information of the essential oil molecules, the water-soluble plant components, and qualities