Homemade Sunburn Relief Spray: Rose Vinegar

This homemade sunburn relief spray is the perfect herbal remedy for mild sunburns, itchy skin, and being overheated from your day.

Rose and elder flower vinegar is a favorite combination for cooling and soothing the skin. Put it into a spray bottle and spray it on sunburns. The vinegar will sting the red skin for about a minute, and then it just pulls out the heat and soothes the skin. This vinegar also helps stop the itching from rashes and poison oak.

Let’s take a look at the healing herbs in our homemade sunburn relief spray recipe…

Rose Petals

We’ve talked about rose petal vinegar for salads, but did you know you can also use rose vinegar for your skin? Rose petals (Rosa spp.) are cooling, calming, and soothing. By helping to draw excessive heat from the body, they relieve inflammation associated with sunburns, rashes, acne, and insect bites. Rose petals also calm the nerves and relax the mind.

You can pick fresh roses from a rose bush of any color and add them to your vinegar. Just make sure they are grown without chemicals and pesticides.

Elder Flowers

Elder flowers (Sambucus nigra or Sambucus mexicana) are creamy yellow, sweet smelling, delicate flowers. These mild, fragrant flowers are very soothing to the skin. Elder flowers clear heat from the skin and heal bruises, burns, and sprains. They have an anti-inflammatory effect on the skin and are comforting for rashes, redness, and swelling. Elder flower is a vulnerary herb, which means that it has a rejuvenative action on the skin.

Need fresh elder flowers? Get your free How to Grow Elderberry Tutorial

Print Recipe

Rose Vinegar Sunburn Spray

Author: Kami McBride

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh rose petals
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh elder flowers
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar

Instructions

• Fill a glass jar with rose petals and elder flowers.
• Pour apple cider vinegar over the herbs, filling the jar to the top with vinegar. Make sure that the vinegar covers the herbs by at least a couple of inches.
• If you are using a metal lid, cover the opening of the jar with two sheets of wax/greaseproof paper, and then put the lid on, or use plastic lids.
• Store the vinegar in a cool, dark place for one month. Shake it once in a while and occasionally check to see if you need to add more vinegar, as some of it may have been soaked up by the plant material. If the herbs are sticking out above the vinegar, add more vinegar.
• Place a funnel into the opening of a clean, sterilized jar and lay muslin over the top of the funnel.
• Pour the vinegar through the muslin, being careful not to let the contents fall out of the side of the cloth.
• Let all the vinegar strain through the cloth and funnel into the clean jar.
• Don't squeeze what is in the muslin, or water will squeeze out of the fresh herbs, giving you cloudy vinegar or a shorter shelf life. Just let liquid drip through.
• Discard the strained herbs into the compost. The liquid left behind is your herbal vinegar.
• Store in a clean container in a dark cabinet out of heat, light, and temperature variation. Your vinegar should last for about one year. Make sure you store the vinegar in a container with a plastic or cork lid. The vinegar will eat any metal it comes into contact with. If your vinegar turns black, has floating chunks, or develops mold or a funny smell, throw it away.

I would love to hear from you! Do you have any go-to herbal remedies for sunburns? Have you made this homemade sunburn relief spray? Please share in the comments below.