I first learned about witch hazel when I was a junior in high school and was a student in a cooperative program for cosmetology (professional training for hair and skin). I had never heard of it before and no idea what it was or what it was used for.
When we were learning about facial massage, facial skin care and eyebrow shaping, witch hazel came into play.
We were learning how to tweeze, shape and take care of eyebrows during the massage, facial and skin care chapter of cosmetology class. We had to warm up the wax, prep the area and tweezers to work and face of our customer and when we were using the tweezers to remove unwanted eyebrows, we always had to have a clean cotton ball soaked in witch hazel to apply to the recently tweezed hair and skin.
The witch hazel was carefully swabbed across the sensitive skin area to work as the astringent it was known for. It helps prevent bacteria growth and shrink pores. So when a hair was being pulled from the eyebrow area, the witch hazel helped soothe the skin, make the newly exposed hair follicle area close up and prevented any mystery germs or microbes get into the hole penetrating into the skin.
The smell of witch hazel has an aroma of cleanliness to me. It makes me imagine a freshly scrubbed bathroom sink with all the power of natural cleaning and healthy results.
Since then, over three decades ago, I have always kept a small bottle of this astringent on hand and use it more frequently than I ever imagined I would.
Things I Use Witch Hazel For:
- Acne and skin soother- great to breakouts of acne, also helps to shrink pores to prevent future ones as well as soothing if you get a sunburn
- Scalp dandruff- years ago when I was a young parent two of my three children suffered from dry scalp and eczema on their heads. Dabbing some witch hazel on the scalps after a bath or shower helped alleviate the dandruff, dry skin flakes and soothed the irritated locations they had been scratching
- Bug bites- even to help reduce the swelling of bee stings. Great for the inflammation from mosquitoes too.
- Overall face cleanser- helps reduce oily skin issues which can lead to acne and breakouts.
- Under the eye puffiness- whether from lack of sleep, crying or if you are just a person who has this condition normally. Witch hazel does work for this as I have used it before when I have had late nights, insomnia or just a bad episode throughout the night that kept me awake.
Want to learn more ways to use witch hazel that are safe? Check out WebMD
