Witch Hazel

Lady Day · Jun 1, 2009

Kitty, try an alcohol free toner, that may make all the difference. I never find the stuff drying at all

LelaViavonie, I wouldnt use anything other than what your current skin regimen allows. From experience, differing from a regimen always makes things worse than they are

LD

BellyTank · Jun 1, 2009

Rosewater is widely used as a "toner".
Witchhazel, as an astringent.

B
T

Lady Day · Jun 1, 2009

The terms have been so muddied, as both are often used in tandem, that you can no longer make a distinction. As I eluded to in my first post.

LD

Miss 1929 · Jun 1, 2009

Love it.

I think the rosewater might be a great combination - rosewater is typically used as an acne fighter (vitamin C) and also it will make you paler over time.

I use the regular Dickinson's one, which is great as I am oily, and I use rosewater and glycerin at night.

After much back and forth with cold cream (loved it but my eyelids hated it), the oil method (not a good thing for me at all) and various other cleansers, I am back to pure castile liquid soap.

It does seem the less ingredients, the better.

BellyTank · Jun 2, 2009

Lady Day said:
The terms have been so muddied, as both are often used in tandem, that you can no longer make a distinction. As I eluded to in my first post.

LD

I think maybe you alluded, rather than eluded but maybe not.

Orange Flower Water is a harsher astringent.
It is, as is Rosewater, a by-product of the steam distillation of essential oils.
Neroli oil comes from "orange flowers"/Turkish rose oil relates to Rosewater, rather than Rose maroc essential oil(which is by solvent extraction, rather than steam.)

I think I can make a distinction-

I don't see the muddy but I do know a little of this stuff and I haven't been exposed to these proprietary preparations before.
I guess the hype-ists are mixing terms now, for your convenience.

You can avoid the marketing and buy the real, alcohol free products.
It seems there is a lot of mis-information out there.

I always understood that the Witchhazel, the "astringent", was for cleansing, tightening the pores, a "Tonic" action. Rosewater can be used afterwards, putting something back into the skin and giving a nice smooth, moist, soft finish. Rosewater, the good stuff, really does make the skin feel soft and smooth. If you don't need an astringent, Rosewater can be used as a cleanser/tonic, I guess. Having said that, I'm also quite sure that Rosewater is probably just used for its fragrance, or apparent "nice-ness" in some skin products.

When I was working with these simple products, Distilled Witchhazel was recommended as a "tonic" for oily skin and Rosewater, for normal skin.
Orange Flower Water, for more oily, acne affected skin. It seems things have become complicated.

Skin Tonic/Toner- specific to skin condition.

B
T

Lady Day · Jun 2, 2009

Alluded.

LD

Miss 1929 · Jun 2, 2009

I was going to be the Spelling Police but restrained myself....

Sounds like I should try Orange Flower Water!

cecil · Jun 3, 2009

BellyTank said:
When I was working with these simple products, Distilled Witchhazel was recommended as a "tonic" for oily skin and Rosewater, for normal skin.
Orange Flower Water, for more oily, acne affected skin. It seems things have become complicated.

Skin Tonic/Toner- specific to skin condition.

B
T

I have dry acne-prone skin. What the heck do I use? lol

I've tried a friend's witch hazel before but found it too drying. However I just read one of LD's links which say that most brands of witch hazel toner have isopropyl alcohol in them. That's probably what my skin didn't like, so I'll look for an alcohol-free version and give it a bash.

Slytherin · Aug 21, 2009

here are my fav' beauty products that i use everyday:

Its are some french products. In the morning before making up me I spend some cold water on my face, then a cotton with some Rosemary water Christian Lehnart who tightens pores and avoids spots (from time to time one achieves the aim). I stamp to dry and I put my nivea cream and In the evening I remove make-up then stamp skin with witch hazel water of Christain Lenart. And just before going to the bed I hydrate with the nivea cream wich is one of the oldest beauty cream in France. Since i use Witch Hazel and Rosemary water my skin is more nice.

Emer · Aug 26, 2009

Lady Day said:

Lady Day, I was just looking at this brand on Amazon! I couldn't decide which scent to buy, so I just didn't buy anything. I was lean towards the rose scent too, but I'll stay away from that--I think I know what kind of a smell you're talking about.

clubwitsend · Sep 15, 2009

this thread makes me happy! I think Witch Hazel was my grandmother's answer to just about everything!! ah, nostalgia.

Red Diabla · Sep 16, 2009

Emer said:
Lady Day, I was just looking at this brand on Amazon! I couldn't decide which scent to buy, so I just didn't buy anything. I was lean towards the rose scent too, but I'll stay away from that--I think I know what kind of a smell you're talking about.

Whole Foods carries a couple of the Thayer's flavors in their stores...maybe try going to your local WF and see what they have and if you can try to smell 'em? Or, when in doubt, go for the regular non-scented stuff. Either way, I really like Thayer's.

RD

Lady Day · Sep 16, 2009

I get mine (along with my castile soap) from vitacost.com. They have well priced, and fast shipping, right out of Las Vegas

LD

BeBopBaby · Sep 16, 2009

The Thayer's rose witch hazel has a really nice scent. It smells just like rosewater or like real roses. I hate that sickly sweet scent that a lot of manufacturers try to pass off as rose, that smells nothing like roses. Dr. Bronner's Rose castile soap has that sickly sweet scent to it. It's a good thing I stick to the peppermint castile soap.

I also second the Vitacost recommendation. The prices are less expensive than any of the health food stores around here and they have a flat rate shipping of $4.99. I usually save up and make one large order because even with the $4.99 shipping, the cost is still less than the store if you get multiple items. And they take paypal payments, so there's no need to use the credit card.

msrsimpkin · Sep 16, 2009

Does anyone know where I can get Thayers in the UK? I'd love to try the rosewater one, but I can't recall ever seeing it anywhere (otherwise I would have tried it already).
I don't have the option to buy online, so if anyone knows of a shop in the UK that sells it, I'd be exceptionally thankful!

ZombieGirl · May 27, 2010

Witch Hazel and essential oils hhmmmmm?

Has anyone tried adding a few drops of essential oils to their witch hazel? I'm giving it a go but the smell is putting me off a bit. Would it work or would it go all wonky and make my skin crazy?

Hereward · May 27, 2010

msrsimpkin said:
Does anyone know where I can get Thayers in the UK? I'd love to try the rosewater one, but I can't recall ever seeing it anywhere (otherwise I would have tried it already).
I don't have the option to buy online, so if anyone knows of a shop in the UK that sells it, I'd be exceptionally thankful!

This company have it at 2.99 pounds a pop:

Successful Singing
Tel: 0845 1636493
Email: info@successfulsinging.co.uk

Gingerella72 · May 27, 2010

I use the Dickingson's witch hazel (only brand I've been able to find locally) after taking off the cold cream, which gets rid of any oily residue and makeup the cold cream left behind. I like how it works, just don't like the scent.

Before switching to witch hazel I always used the Olay toner, which after reading the ingredients I found out contains witch hazel. I like the scent of the Olay better, but it's much more expensive.

I've never seen rosewater sold anywhere before, but I'd love something "old lady" scented, hahaha. Most old ladies I've hugged smell so good I don't want to let go!

MirandaFern · May 27, 2010

Witch Hazel is great on fire ant bites as well.

Puzzicato · May 27, 2010

Gingerella72 said:
I use the Dickingson's witch hazel (only brand I've been able to find locally) after taking off the cold cream, which gets rid of any oily residue and makeup the cold cream left behind. I like how it works, just don't like the scent.

Before switching to witch hazel I always used the Olay toner, which after reading the ingredients I found out contains witch hazel. I like the scent of the Olay better, but it's much more expensive.

I've never seen rosewater sold anywhere before, but I'd love something "old lady" scented, hahaha. Most old ladies I've hugged smell so good I don't want to let go!

I buy my rosewater at Middle Eastern delis. Some goes in my cooking, some goes on my face. It's really delicious with rhubarb and strawberries.

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