Witch Hazel: Nature’s Astringent

Since I make an aloe vera based herbal skin cream, people think I know a great deal about natural skin care.

That’s not so true—I’m actually a soap and water girl. However, for folks looking for natural skin cleansers, I always mention witch hazel.

When I was in high school in the 60s, bottles of witch hazel extract were always available on drug store shelves and are still available if you look. Witch hazel is a valuable part of any medicine cabinet.

Click here for one interesting website. Here Steven Foster gives a very complete discourse on this extraordinary medicinal bush.

Native Americans used bark, twigs and leaves to treat:

• Skin ulcers and sores

• Dysentery

• Cuts

Witch hazel bark is high in tannins, which are very astringent. So for almost two centuries, extracts of witch hazel (water extracts consumed as tea and alcohol/water extracts for external use) have been useful for witch hazel’s ability to tighten and shrink swollen tissue and relieve minor pain in:

• Hemorrhoids

• Itching

• Minor pains

A Natural Toner

Back to skin—I used it to tighten pores and clean my face for years. Like all teenagers, I was dealing with blemishes and this helped naturally. I simply dipped a cotton ball in the liquid and applied it to my skin. So easy and helpful!

You also can find witch hazel in many aftershave lotions.