Thyme Hydrosol: A Simple Botanical for Skin + Feet

There are some plants we grow for their softness and beauty, and others we value for their usefulness.

Thyme is decidedly one of the latter.

Cultivated beneath the warm Okanagan sun, Thymus vulgaris is wonderfully aromatic — earthy, green and unmistakably herbaceous. When freshly harvested thyme is steam distilled, its character carries through into the hydrosol: potent, cleansing and remarkably versatile.

It is one of those simple botanical ingredients that deserves a place in the cupboard not because it promises to do everything, but because it does a few things particularly well.

What is Thyme Hydrosol?

A hydrosol is the aromatic water produced during the steam distillation of a plant.

Here on our farm, we harvest fresh thyme and place it into our still, where steam gently carries the plant's volatile aromatic compounds through the distillation process. As the steam cools and condenses, we collect both the essential oil and the aromatic botanical water — the hydrosol.

Our Thyme Hydrosol contains just one ingredient: the water of distillation from our farm-grown Thymus vulgaris.

No alcohol. No added fragrance. No preservatives.

Just thyme, water, steam and time.

A Potent Hydrosol for Blemish-Prone Skin

Of all the hydrosols we distill, thyme is one of the more assertive.

For that reason, rather than thinking of it as an everyday facial mist for everyone, we like to use it as a targeted botanical for oily, congested or blemish-prone areas.

One of our favourite uses is wonderfully simple:

Apply a small amount of Thyme Hydrosol to a cotton swab or reusable cotton round and dab directly onto individual blemishes after cleansing.

Its naturally cleansing and astringent character makes it an easy addition to a simple skin-care routine.

Because every complexion is different — and thyme is a robust hydrosol — we always recommend patch testing first, especially if your skin is sensitive or reactive.

Don't Forget Your Feet

This may actually be one of our favourite uses for Thyme Hydrosol.

Feet spend much of the day tucked inside shoes and socks, making thyme's fresh, cleansing character especially welcome.

A Simple Thyme Foot Soak

Add a generous splash of Thyme Hydrosol to a basin of comfortably warm water and soak tired feet.

Ten or fifteen quiet minutes at the end of the day can be enough.

For an especially refreshing summer foot soak, use cool rather than warm water.

Make a Simple Botanical Foot Spray

Thyme Hydrosol also makes a wonderfully practical foot spray.

Combine equal parts Thyme Hydrosol and distilled water in a clean spray bottle. Mist freshly washed feet as needed and allow them to air dry before putting on socks or shoes.

Keep the mixture refrigerated and prepare it in small quantities, since adding water dilutes the hydrosol and shortens its useful life.

Simple Ingredients, Useful Plants

There is something wonderfully reassuring about thyme.

It isn't exotic. It isn't new. And it doesn't need an elaborate list of ingredients surrounding it to make it useful.

It is simply a plant that humans have grown and valued for generations — and one that continues to earn its place in our gardens and in the still room.

Perhaps that is what we love most about hydrosols.

They allow us to experience a plant in a remarkably uncomplicated form.

Grown on our farm. Gathered by hand. Distilled in small batches.

From the field to the still room, and into your everyday rituals.

Gathered & Distilled.