Witch Hazel Question

[joscobo]

I bought some witch hazel. I like what it does for my skin, but, man, do I hate the smell. Is there anything I can add to it to take the god-awful stink out of it?
I could learn to live with it and just not breath until it dries I suppose.
Anybody got some ideas on this one?

Thanks for you time.

[Eagle]

I'm guessing you bought the Dickinsons or some other corner drugstore version. You need to invest a couple more bucks and buy some Thayers. Check your natural foods stores, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joes and the like. Thayers comes in various scents and unscented. They smell awesome and are alcohol free if that matters to you.

[burningdarkness]

Which brand of Witch Hazel are you using?

EDIT: Shep beat me to the punch. The Thayers stuff is awesome and comes in a number of scents that smell quite good.

[dmgmed]

You could try adding a few drops of essential oil such as lavender or rose if you have some. If not then I'd cut your losses and buy Thayers as suggested above.

[joscobo]

I tried adding some Lavender to it, but I get a not so great mixture of lavender and witch hazel. It wasn't exactly cheap but, I'm going to cut my losses and just do without.

Thayer's is a good option if I can find some locally. But shipping makes items like this out of the question.

Thanks for your help.

[sehrgut]

You could also wait ten seconds, at which point the slightly-geriatric odour of witch hazel vanishes.

[mdunn]

You could also wait ten seconds, at which point the slightly-geriatric odour of witch hazel vanishes.

thats what i do - no thayers in aust

[Tux]

Answer: Thayers, thayers, thayers (although others have already beat me to it). GNC and the Vitamin Shoppe also sell it. Go to Thayer's web site and look at their store locator.

[cvac]

+1 on the Thayer's, though not all varieties they make are alc. free. The smell is nothing AT ALL like the green drugstore type stuff.

[rav]

How exactly do you use Witch Hazel?

Is it like a splash? Do you put it on leave it for a bit and then wash it off?

Thanks,

Rav.

[DavidB]

Thayers is the way to go. Their scented witch hazels has little if any of that witch hazel-y smell that lesser drugstore brands have. I love the Lemon Thayers, available at Whole Foods for about $9. Well worth the extra bucks over drugstore witch hazels. Here's another idea: go to the Thayers website and buy the sampler pack that has a few ounces of all of the various Thayers.

Rav, yes, you use witch hazel like a splash. Splash it on just like you'd use any other alcohol-based aftershave. Leave it on. It dries quickly.

Dave

[SMOKE]

I am secure enough in my manhood that I use the Thayers Rose...Very nice stuff!!!

[Shave Cat]

I feel I must inject a note of caution to any new user of witch hazel. And yes, I've personally checked with Thayers on this. Drug store witch hazel and even some of Thayers are astringent, meaning they remove natural oils from your skin. While they are soothing and do make your skin feel smooth, using a too much of it can lead to a beard and skin so dry that your shaves are terrible. I'm old enough that I should have known better (59), but after a particularly bad shave, I received some relief from applying drug store witch hazel. The relief was temporary, so every few hours I found myself splashing on more witch hazel. You know, "If a little is good, a lot must be better." This went on for several days while my morning shaves became progressively worse. Since the only thing different in my shaving routine was the witch hazel, I contacted Thayers. They confirmed my suspicion. Excessive use of witch hazel astringent or any astringent for that matter, will overdry your skin and beard.

The bottom line: always use products properly.

-Clarke

[sehrgut]

I feel I must inject a note of caution to any new user of witch hazel. And yes, I've personally checked with Thayers on this. Drug store witch hazel and even some of Thayers are astringent, meaning they remove natural oils from your skin.

Actually, that's not what astringent means at all. Witch hazel's only purpose in the shave den is to be an astringent: all witch hazel is astringent. All "astringent" means is that it causes tissues to contract: in our case, pores close. If only "some of Thayers" are astringent, the rest of those are pointless.

Since you aren't rinsing it off, I'm not sure how you think the witch hazel is removing oils: they can't go anywhere.

What they do do is reduce oil excretion by closing your pores, including those pores leading to sebaceous (oil) glands. The astringent effect doesn't last terribly long, though, so all the pores will have opened back up within an hour or so. This is why reapplication will tend to dry your skin: you're not removing oil, but you're making it difficult for oil that's been removed by shaving soap to be replenished.

A couple drops of glycerine or castor oil in a splash, though, works wonders as a moisturizer.

[soapbox]

I suppose this explains why Thayer's puts aloe in their products. Nice explanation sehrgut!

[sehrgut]

I keep an atomizer of 1:8 aloe juice:witch hazel on my counter (not gel: juice, from GNC). It maketh me happy. *grin*

[Eagle]

Actually, that's not what astringent means at all. Witch hazel's only purpose in the shave den is to be an astringent: all witch hazel is astringent. All "astringent" means is that it causes tissues to contract: in our case, pores close. If only "some of Thayers" are astringent, the rest of those are pointless.

Since you aren't rinsing it off, I'm not sure how you think the witch hazel is removing oils: they can't go anywhere.

What they do do is reduce oil excretion by closing your pores, including those pores leading to sebaceous (oil) glands. The astringent effect doesn't last terribly long, though, so all the pores will have opened back up within an hour or so. This is why reapplication will tend to dry your skin: you're not removing oil, but you're making it difficult for oil that's been removed by shaving soap to be replenished.

A couple drops of glycerine or castor oil in a splash, though, works wonders as a moisturizer.

Nice explanation; informative. I think the other post'ers problem is splashing it on several times a day. That's why his skin is drying out. I use one splash right after the shave. Then I set about cleaning up the sink, tools, etc and about 5 mins. later splash on an AS. Since most of those have glycerin, I'm getting my moisturizing properties from them. My face feels smooth and moist all day every day. I attribute that partly to the soaps/creams and partly to the AS splash. WH is a once-only thing for after the shave healing purposes.

[houstonironman]

Also, in using Thayers I've found that I HATE (with a passion!) the Thayers Rose scented bottles. Reminds me of a hospital, same smell to me. But the regular non-scented bottles are GREAT. I haven't tried lavender, lemon or any of the other scented Thayers. I'm sticking with plain 'ol Thayers in non-scented version.

[Shave Cat]

Actually, that's not what astringent means at all. Witch hazel's only purpose in the shave den is to be an astringent: all witch hazel is astringent. All "astringent" means is that it causes tissues to contract: in our case, pores close. If only "some of Thayers" are astringent, the rest of those are pointless.

Since you aren't rinsing it off, I'm not sure how you think the witch hazel is removing oils: they can't go anywhere.

What they do do is reduce oil excretion by closing your pores, including those pores leading to sebaceous (oil) glands. The astringent effect doesn't last terribly long, though, so all the pores will have opened back up within an hour or so. This is why reapplication will tend to dry your skin: you're not removing oil, but you're making it difficult for oil that's been removed by shaving soap to be replenished.

A couple drops of glycerine or castor oil in a splash, though, works wonders as a moisturizer.

I stand corrected regarding the definition of astringent. However, the overuse of astringents can still create overly dry skin and subsequently poor shaves. My only point was to offer a word of caution. Perhaps it is the 14% alcohol present in common drugstore witch hazel that almost immediately removes oil from my skin. I just don't want anyone accidentally causing their own poor shaves.

-Clarke

[SepticTank]

+1 on the Thayer's, though not all varieties they make are alc. free. The smell is nothing AT ALL like the green drugstore type stuff.

Weird - all the witchhazel here is clear - and alcohol free - and cheap as chips.