What the heck is witch hazel? It sounds like a relative...

Ok gals, help me out. I keep stumbling across witch hazel....supposedly it's good to clean the face and is mentioned in lots of vintage articles. Is that something a guy could use or is that girl stuff?

Sincerely,

a perplexed male

From Wikipedia:

Witch hazel is mainly used externally on sores, bruises and swelling. The main constituents of the extract include tannin, gallic acid, catechins, proanthocyanins, flavonoids (kaempferol, quercitin), essential oil (carvacrol, eugenol, hexenol), choline, saponins, and bitters. Distilled witch hazel sold in drug stores and pharmacies typically contains no tannin.
Witch hazel hydrosol is used in skincare. It is a strong
anti-oxidant and astringent, which makes it very useful in fighting
acne.¹ It has been recommended for psoriasis, eczema, aftershave applications, cracked or blistered skin, for treating insect bites, poison ivy, and as the treatment of choice for varicose veins and hemorrhoids (such as Tucks Hemorrhoidal Pads, and Preparation H pads). It can also be applied immediately after an injury to prevent or limit bruising.^{[citation needed]}
Also known to help with the healing of cold sores. Apply to sore several times a day to help speed the healing process.
Witch hazel is also traditionally known as a good first reaction
against shaving cuts and abrasions for men. Witch Hazel is also
recommended by The Doctors Book of Home Remedies as effective for helping sunburns.


[edit] Non-medicinal uses


The drug store product witch hazel has also been found to be useful
in the restoration or renewal of old furniture finishes. When poured
onto a flat wood surface with significant crazing
in the old lacquer or varnish and left to sit, the witch hazel will
essentially "melt" or soften the surface. Even without additional
rubbing, the craquelure will largely or entirely disappear.^{[citation needed]}
Though witch hazel has astringent properties it can also sensitize skin
and is usually diluted with alcohol (specifically ethanol) which is
drying and no help to acne in the long run

I wonder if I should get some Witch Hazel for my psoriasis? I never heard of it being used for this before.

Thanks!!! Some of these things I have no clue on.....

No one's mentioned yet that it smells like gasoline.

Nah. Especially if it's in a toner with other stuff in it (benefit used to have some, but I don't think they make it anymore) I used to have a horrible rash on my legs and arms for years, and the derms always used to tell me to use either rubbing alcohol or witch hazel on it every day -- neither helped much with my particular problem, but the witch hazel was much more pleasant. And it is a lot more gentle, too.

There's a line of skin care over here called Witch that uses witch hazel as its main ingredient and is very popular with the younger set.

Witch

Funny, there's line of Hemorrhoid lotions and wipes that use witch hazel as the main ingredient over here and is very popular with the older set.

It smells like witch hazel!

And I use it in a one-to-one ratio with rosewater to use as a facial toner. It's also excellent for removing water based eye makeup.

I think it's MUCH more gentle than most over-the-counter astringents/toners, don't you?

I recently tried Burt's Bees gentle rosewater toner for senstive/older skin (not that I have the latter, but I'm hyper-sensitve to nearly everything, so I'm always on the lookout for the most gentle skincare products possible), and much to my suprise, the alcohol content in the Burt's was VERY high, and witch hazel VERY low. It's not bad (better than a lot of other brands I've tried, anyway), and smells nice, but MUCH more harsh than any I've tried with a higher witch hazel content. I don't use toner very often, except in the summer, but for those who do, I would definately recommend looking for something containing more witch hazel than alcohol, especially one containing other gentle, natural, ingredients, like herbs, vitamins, etc. Of course, if you're clever (like lindydiva), making your own is probably the very best thing.

the_librarian wrote:

....Is that something a guy could use or is that girl stuff?

Sincerely,

a perplexed male

In my book there's nothing that a chap can't use just because it's marketed at the fairer sex, as far as health and skincare go. The reverse is also true.

I don't understand why ladies choose that horrible deodorant that leaves white patches when they could spend less and get a man's deodorant that leaves no marks! Same with razors- They're bits of sharp metal in a handle- just get the cheapest one that works well.
The same goes for hair dye, hair remover, moisturiser, soap, shampoo etc, etc. Just go with what works for less as I'm fairly sure that there are no physiological differences between gents' and ladies' skin and hair.

Now, where's that lipstick gone...it's the only one that matches my girdle...

Witch Hazel was one of the first skin care products I ever used. The smell still makes me nostalgic! And no, I don't think it smells like petrol either! :-)

When my hair was dark, the only shade I could find that was right was only sold for men. Didn't stop me!

LS, red goes with any color girdle.

Lost Soul wrote:

In my book there's nothing that a chap can't use just because it's marketed at the fairer sex, as far as health and skincare go. The reverse is also true.

Quite right. I often find myself in the haircare aisle, sniffing the Jockey Club and Tres Flores pomades, wondering how I could use them without looking like Valentino. One day...one day...

Dickinson's Witch Hazel smells nice. I've been using it as an astringent for pores since I was thirteen years old. On a cotton ball, after a face wash, to remove excess soap or oils that didn't get removed by sudsing. I love it. But not all Witch Hazel products are made equal, and I stick to Dickinson's because other brands seemed to be smelly or just not work as well.

There's an article on witch hazel and how its raw ingredients are gathered in Yankee Magazine this month.

It was very interesting; I'd heard about the process but didn't know how much of it was still done by hand!