Thread: Inexpensive Witch HAzel

Standard Witch hazel has no added scent to it. The characteristic smell which some like and some hate comes from the product. If you smell the Dickensons and smell a typical store brand like Walgreens or Walmart the Dickenson has a much stronger smell to it. That's because the store brands use less extract or water it down. Now if you can think of another reason for the difference in intensity of the smell I can't. I've tried em all and found the store brands were not the same as the Dickenson even though Dickenson probably makes all of them.

I use the cheap CVS stuff,cut it with bayrum to get past the smell. as an astringent, it works fine.
Great stuff but no magic potion.

I actually kind of like the scent of witch hazel. Like throwing wet leaves on a fire.

Humphrey's Maravilla is sold in many different stores, pharmacies and supermarkets aroound here. It's been around since I was a child. So it's not really a drugstore brand. It feels fine compared to the others. I love Thayer's but this has worked out fine, it feels pretty similar to Dickinson's so I guess there's enough Witch Hazel in there.

Used my cheap no brand wh last night. Have never used it so wasn't prepped for the smell lol, but it grew on me. And ill be darned if I didn't have a significantly less amount of redness than usual.

Witch Hazel USP is a standardized form of the product. If you buy it in one store for 1$ and another for 5$... As long as they're marked USP then it has to be the same product. Believe it's an FDA thing.

Originally Posted by Johnus

Witch Hazel USP is a standardized form of the product. If you buy it in one store for 1$ and another for 5$... As long as they're marked USP then it has to be the same product. Believe it's an FDA thing.

No not exactly. That's why you can buy generic medications and the formulations vary and they are allowed to be off by a certain amount potency wise. With Witch hazel, USP or not at some point the preparation is watered down. Your nose will tell you that.

Humphrey's isnt really a store brand. It's always in the "ethnic" product section of the drugstore.

I get thayers for 6 or 8 dollars a bottle. That's cheap enough for me. Never tried dickinsons or any store brand.

Michael