Top 10 list - Hydrosols

Our shopping cart will do an export of products ordered through the cart and paid for by credit card. Based on this limitation, offline orders, phone orders, and bulk hydrosols/hydrolats (since they aren't listed in the cart) aren't counted. But the figures are a fair assessment of what our retail clients are buying. (The small manufacturers who may buy 32 ounces of, let's say Cistus Hydrosol for an anti-aging face cream are not reflected, of course.) I found some of the results interesting, and thought you might too:

10: Rose Alba - This one rather surprised me. Perhaps it shouldn't though, it just smells so lovely. A must have for any true rose lover.

9: Lavender Mailette - Since Lavender Hydrosol is so often recommended as an "all purpose" toner I would have thought it would rank higher. Perhaps because we offer two Lavender Hydrolats people are confused?

8: Tea Tree Hydrosol - Who would have thought? I think people are using it for acne? And, of course, its sweetly herbal scent makes it a true unisex toner.

7. Melissa Hydrolat - Great for oily skin, refreshing. Further research shows we sell more of this one during the summer months. That makes perfect sense to me.

6: Roman Chamomile Hydrosol - Again, not surprising. One of our more reasonably priced hydrosols, and a nice anti-inflammatory. Safe and effective for use on babies, as well.

5: Frankincense Hydrosol - whoda thunk? But it is wonderful for delicate and sensitive skin. Perhaps Christi's writing about it has caught your attention?

4: Neroli - One of my personal favorites. Good for all skin types, especially oily or combination skin; richly aromatic, great for anxiety, and one of our clients says it helps fade thread veins. Lots of good client feedback on this one.

3: WitchHazel - our bargain priced hydrosol - not surprising, based on its extremely low price - for those who don't want alcohol in their skincare products.

2: Rose - Is there anyone in the world who has not heard of Rose water? Of course this is the best known of our hydrosols.

and for our most popular - best selling hydrosol:

1. Helichrysum Hydrosol! In spite of its rarity and high cost, year in and year out, when we can keep it in stock, Helichrysum Hydrosol remains our most popular hydrolat - hydrosol.

And there you have it.

some surprises (for me, at least) We go through a lot of Cistus Hydrosol, but more often in bulk. I would have thought Patchouli would have listed higher than it did. And if I had combined the Lavender Buena Vista and Lavender Mailette totals the Lavender waters together would have ranked 6th - behind Frankincense, but above Roman Chamomile

Hydrosol - Top Ten

At some point someone suggested that we do some "top ten" lists for the blog or the newsletter. Easiest data to analyze has been the Hydrosols we offer. Now, the following list is based purely on items sold via our shopping cart. It doesn't include the bulk orders that some folks enter, so the data is skewed. It only includes the 4 ounce atomizer bottles. This is the "top selling" hydrosol list from January until the end of May, 2008

Rose
Helichrysum
Neroli
Witch Hazel
Frankincense
Tea Tree
Melissa
Roman Chamomile
Calendula
Cistus

I find that fascinating! The second best selling hydrosol is also the most expensive that we offer. Rose, one expects. I doubt there's anyone in the world who hasn't heard of "Rose Water." But the only reason for Helichrysum Hydrosol's popularity is its amazing effectiveness!

(If I were to have run the stats for just this week, our brand new Patchouli hydrosol would have headed the list. I'm arranging to bring in more from the producer as soon as she has time to distill it!)

And I wonder why Lavender Hydrosol isn't on the list? Perhaps because we offer two different ones, and that confuses people? Or because I am honest enough to state that Lavender Hydrosols don't smell as good as the essential oil. It was years before I found out the reason for the difference. Because the linalyl acetate normally found in the Essential Oil is not found in the hydrosol!

I suspect now that summer seems to be upon us that Peppermint Hydrosol will soar to the top of the list. With temperatures already in the high 90's here in Middle Tennessee I'm dreading what July and August will bring. I know of no more cooling refresher than a splash of Peppermint hydrosol in a glass of water, or a spritz of it as a body spray.