Homemade Rosemary Leaf Extract

Recipe:

• 1/2 Cup of fresh rosemary needles harvested straight from the plant
• 1 Cup Vodka

When I started making my own cosmetics with as many natural ingredients as possible, I really didn't have many of the ingredients on hand though most of them are quite common and easy to find. That meant I had to spend a bit of cash to get this project started. Rosemary Leaf Extract can be purchased from reputable sources for about $10 - $13 per 2 oz, but I got to thinking. I have a nice rosemary plant blooming out back that I grew from a start, just waiting to be utilized. One can only cook with so much rosemary on a daily basis and this plant can produce! So as I said, I wondered if I could use my homegrown rosemary to create my own extract. How cool would that be to use my own herbs in my homemade cosmetics?

I did some digging and found it can be done! And easily!

I chopped off some stems from my rosemary plant, then washed and air-dried them. Once they were clean, I harvested 1/2 cup of rosemary needles (leaves) from the stem and placed them into a mason jar. I then covered them with 1 cup of vodka. We bought it in bulk at Costco, so it was still cheaper to use than to buy a small bottle of ready-made extract. I closed the lid tightly, shook it up, labeled it with that day's date and put it in a cool, dark cupboard for about six weeks. I shook it up occasionally just to check on its progress, but it's important to avoid too much exposure to light.

After six weeks, my liquid was an amber color and ready to be bottled for use. I took a sieve and lined it with an unbleached coffee filter. I poured the liquid through the sieve into a glass bowl. Once it was all strained, I gathered up the coffee filter with the leftover rosemary needles and gave it a good hard squeeze. Then I stored my rosemary leaf extract in small, dark bottles and labeled with the date. And there you have it, homemade rosemary leaf extract.

Note: I discarded the leftover rosemary leaves because I ended up with more rosemary leaf extract than I could use before it goes bad, but if you're interested in making a lot, you can actually save the leaves and do the process again to make even more extract!

Note: Only do this with rosemary that you know has been grown without pesticides or fertilizers as a safety precaution. You don't want to put those unknown ingredients on your skin.


WARNING: The safety of this product has not been tested.
WARNING: The statements made here have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. These statements are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure or prevent any disease. This notice is required by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.