DIY: Tea Rose Perfume Oil

Pop quiz: please tell me you remember the amazing Tea Rose perfume from the 1990s. Please.

DIY: Tea Rose Perfume Oil / Bev Cooks

I guess that was more of a question, rather than a quiz. Let me rephrase that.

Pop quiz: how many of you remember the amazing Tea Rose perfume from the 1990s?

DIY: Tea Rose Perfume Oil / Bev Cooks

NO ONE? NOT A SINGLE ONE OF YOU? Neither do any, and I mean, any of the ladies from my Girl Squad. How can this be?! What sort of world do we live in where you don’t know of this tantalizing fragrance from the underworlds? Sure it was 1994, and sure I lived in Hobbs, New Mexico at the time, and sure I bought the perfume at the Jewel Osco grocery store check-out line. But still! It was a scent that spoke to the depths of my youthful, unharmed soul, and defined my entire being. (Along with Exclamation, Sunflowers, and Electric Youth. But don’t tell them I said that.)

The other day I found myself at little wistful for that purty old scent. But you see, these days I don’t typically go for a fragrance so IN YOUR FACE. Nothing over-the-top florally, or rip-your-nose-off-and-throw-it-in-the-gutter strong or sweet. I prefer a huskier, more earthy approach. #danghippie

SO, I decided to update the perfume, by making my own oil version using dried rose hips and green tea! Ain’t that just dandy?

Here, I’ll walk you through it.

Take a cup of carrier oil and pour it in a small saucepan. You can use vitamin E, jojoba, extra-virgin olive oil, anything you want. I used olive oil because I ran out of vitamin e and jojoba. Because I screwed up the first batch. I’ll tell you about it in a sec. Hold on.

Then add 1/2 cup of dried rose hips, and TWO bags of green tea. I know the photo shows three, but just use two. The tea scent reaaaally carries through. In a pleasant way!

DIY: Tea Rose Perfume Oil / Bev Cooks

So let that simmer on low for about 30 minutes. Maybe 40. The oil smells freaking delicious right now. I will say, we’d dehydrated these rose hips a while back, so I’m not sure what fresh rose hips would do. I looked it up, and I thiiiiink it may just take a lot longer. I saw one lady put hers in a slow cooker for about 17 months. But I’m lazy, so.

So just drain the infused oil into a small bowl. Press press presssss all that oil out. PRESSSS.

DIY: Tea Rose Perfume Oil / Bev Cooks

At this point, what I did was let the oil cool for a little bit. Gave it room to breathe, like a wine. I have no idea why, but it just felt right for my life at the moment.

Now, stick your finger in the oil and rub a little on your wrist. If it’s a tad too subtle for your liking, and you want to enhance the rose fragrance a bit more, add 40-50 drops of rosewood essential oil. I did and YAS, BAE.

Stir it up a little bit, and then use a dropper to fill as many roll-on bottles as you want! I get mine at Amazon. The dropper comes with the bottles. Ha-bam.

DIY: Tea Rose Perfume Oil / Bev Cooks

And there you have it! A gorgeous Tea Rose perfume oil that won’t completely stomp your life goals. The green tea lends a slight folksy scent, and the rose hips and rosewood oil add a delicate blooming essence that’s definitely not too sweet, but just a hint of a magical, mythical rose garden.  (<–what?)

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about round one. Dudes, I ground the rose hips in my spice grinder and cut the tea bags open, so that everything could marry. Or so I thought. After about 40 minutes of low simmering, it smelled BURNT. Like, buuuuurnt. So don’t do that. Just leave the hips and tea bags whole. And say tea bags a lot.

DIY: Tea Rose Perfume Oil / Bev Cooks

Gifties galore! Speaking of, if you’re a member of my Arkansas Girl Squad, and I’m seeing you tomorrow, just, um, look the other way. Thanks, bye.

DIY: Tea Rose Perfume Oil / Bev Cooks

Please let me know if you’ve tried this, or try it! I’d love to know what carrier oil you use, and if you leave the rose hips fresh, or dried. Also, another essential oil that pairs well with a rose scent is bergamot. So you can definitely use that in place of rosewood. Look at all this learning! I’m tired.

Take THAT, Jewel Osco check-out line.

 

, , , , ,

27 Responses to DIY: Tea Rose Perfume Oil

  1. Kelly @ RedefinedMom.com September 17, 2015 at 7:40 am #
    Say tea bags, a lot. I'm DYING. Super cool recipes...thank you for sharing.
  2. Jess September 17, 2015 at 11:14 am #
    What kind of labels/label maker did you use? They're adorable and I'm obsessed!
    • Bev Weidner September 17, 2015 at 11:43 am #
      It's a Dymo label maker! This: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D708H4/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1442508171&sr=1&keywords=dymo+label+maker
      • cat July 24, 2024 at 5:00 pm #
        All the way in the future of 2024, i simmered some dried roses and lavender with green tea in olive oil like you said and the mixture smelled like fried food. I fried my flowers, it does not turn into perfume. I wish i just warmed them in water like most other perfumers do.
  3. Jess @ ClarendonTinderDiaries September 17, 2015 at 6:45 pm #
    'Rosehips' makes me giggle. Hehe. But great idea! Will definitely be trying this one out!
  4. courtelizab September 18, 2015 at 4:15 am #
    I still use Tea Rose perfume! Have been wearing it for 8 years-ish.
    • Bev Weidner September 18, 2015 at 6:25 am #
      Oh nice!! Does it smell just the same?
      • courtelizab September 18, 2015 at 7:03 am #
        I assume so but I found it in the early 2000's so I can't reliably say!
  5. Karen September 28, 2015 at 6:16 pm #
    I remember it! It was my favorite scent! Keep up the good work ;)
  6. Emy September 29, 2015 at 3:08 am #
    I am imprest :) I had never seen thing like this. These are great for handmade presents :)
  7. Grey Parker October 2, 2015 at 8:46 am #
    Interesting idea. I will order some oils :)
    • Rebekah Thompson October 8, 2020 at 7:46 pm #
      Ok so I found this post like a billion years after it was posted but YES!! I got this perfume from my grandmother and I absolutely love it but was wanting to find a less synthetic form of it! Thank you for sharing this and I'm going to try it as soon as I get my hands on some dry rose hips. Also how long does it last? I'm not even sure if you will see this because it's such an old post ?
  8. April May 5, 2016 at 3:04 pm #
    What rose variety do you use to make rose hips? Does it matter? I've been wanting to plant some rose bushes that I could use to dehydrate...
  9. noorhan September 14, 2016 at 2:05 am #
    can I use it on my hair?
    • Bev Weidner September 18, 2016 at 2:12 pm #
      You know, I wouldn't try it on your hair. Only because I haven't, and I have no idea what would happen. Ha! (sorry I'm just now responding - been on vacay. :))
  10. Kathy October 18, 2017 at 3:39 pm #
    Nordstrom sold tea rose perfume. (Maybe they still do?) I loved/love it!
  11. lauralovesoils December 6, 2017 at 8:00 am #
    I buy my tea rose oil from my crystal shop. I think making it sounds amazing! I'm going to try
  12. Ti Reed September 12, 2018 at 5:56 pm #
    I not only remember the perfume I have it! It sells at TJ Maxx. Perfumer's Workshop. It's like $5 for a 4 ounce bottle and it's potent! I have to spray it outside and kind of walk near it or it's too much.
    • Bev Weidner September 13, 2018 at 5:49 am #
      No WAAAAY. You've totally changed my life. Gonna go get some!
  13. Dhyana Houghtaling September 30, 2018 at 2:16 pm #
    Is there a company to purchase dried rose hips? I really would like to get into using rose hips, however I def am not planting rose buses in FLORIDA too hot...... also what type of green tea do you use?
  14. beth catanese December 11, 2018 at 5:43 pm #
    Of course I remember that Tearose perfume it was my grandma Sylvia's favorite perfume. Also I always wonder about Red Lobster too (from a different post)how they can stay in business but thankfully I never had to have it for birthdays or after church. One i'm jewish and two I grew up where people did not eat at Red Lobster so Im really thankful for that but really how bad can it be. Guess its all relative.
  15. Paige December 18, 2018 at 6:53 pm #
    Yay! I love this! My favorite perfume in the world is a discontinued chai one, so I’m going to try your method with chai tea and use sweet almond. I think I’ll need to make some tea rose too because that sounds amazing. Thanks so much for posting!
  16. pikbee February 23, 2019 at 1:52 am #
    I don't know the scent but I'd love to make it with this DIY. Thank you for sharing!!
  17. lisa October 2, 2019 at 7:54 am #
    That turned out sooo cute! i love it!! also i like your new picture- i can see your pretty face now that you aren't hiding behind sunglasses.espresso
  18. lisa June 28, 2020 at 5:49 am #
    Glad I found this before I lost half my paychecks to iced coffee at Starbucks this summer. This is so happening during meal prep this weekend ? Thanks for sharing!coffee
  19. lisa July 15, 2020 at 11:58 pm #
    I am curious about your use of Howards Feed-N-Wax to clean stainless steel appliances. Can you provide more detail on how you use it? I have been on the hunt for a good stainless cleaner and have had no luck. Thank you!coffee maker

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. I Love Lists Friday - September 18, 2015 […] Make your own tea rose oil. Love this! […]

Leave a Reply