Custom Witch Hazel

[jmhUT]

Good afternoon gentlemen,
As I was lathering up this morning with what is left of a sample jar of CF lime (quite nice) it dawned on me that the perfect follow-up would be lime WH. I have the Thayers lavender, rose and unscented. The lavender and rose are perfect compliments to their respective creams. I found myself eyeing the unscented version and wondering....could I create my own lime WH, or any other scent for that matter? I have often wondered about addign EO to Cetaphil or Nivea or some other unscented lotion or balm. While I think this would work quite well I have not yet experimented. I'm not sure that essential oil, or any kind of oil, would mix with WH. What about cologne? A bit of TH extract of lime should combine quite nicely with the Thayers WH. Anybody thought to try this?
Cheers,
Jeff

 

[guenron]

Good afternoon gentlemen,
As I was lathering up this morning with what is left of a sample jar of CF lime (quite nice) it dawned on me that the perfect follow-up would be lime WH. I have the Thayers lavender, rose and unscented. The lavender and rose are perfect compliments to their respective creams. I found myself eyeing the unscented version and wondering....could I create my own lime WH, or any other scent for that matter? I have often wondered about addign EO to Cetaphil or Nivea or some other unscented lotion or balm. While I think this would work quite well I have not yet experimented. I'm not sure that essential oil, or any kind of oil, would mix with WH. What about cologne? A bit of TH extract of lime should combine quite nicely with the Thayers WH. Anybody thought to try this?
Cheers,
Jeff

Are you talking about an aftershave here?

 

[jmhUT]

Hi Ron,
Of sorts yes. When I go with a rose or lavender cream I follow it up with the like scented witch hazel and then some unscented moisturizer. I am wondering If I can transform the unscented Thayers witch hazel to a scented version by adding scent. I am relatively certain I could scent my unscented moisturizer by adding essential oils but I kind of like the unscented moisturizer and would prefer a scented WH instead. I don't think essential oils would combine well but I am wondering if a few drops of cologne may be the ticket. This would add a bit of alcohol to the mix but not too much.
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[guenron]

Jeff,
I am not trying to stiffle creativity here, but think about why you use the WH.
While there are WH preps with fragrance, remember WH is really a hydrosol or water-based distillate and the addition of fragrance is more than likely done with the sparing addition of EO or FO.
Exercise caution so that you do not end up with an oleo that loses the medicinal qualities you first sought.

 

[greenerock]

I found a bottle of Dickinson's witch hazel in the bathroom cupboard and mixed in with my bottle of Thayer's rose. It just muted the rose smell a little but works just as well. Go ahead and mix things. You might be surprised what you find.

 

[TraderJoe]

On the bottle of lavender E.O. that I purchased, a sample recipe for a "toner/spray" is

1 tsp witch hazel
3 drops e.o.

I personally use this, and it works great.

I don't see why you couldn't use lime e.o. or any e.o. which is non-toxic or not de-sensitizing to the skin.

 

[Jonnybc]

I've often thought about doing this to Witch Hazel, here in the UK we can only get the natural stuff. I tend to use it to cleean the grime from the city from my face rather than as an aftershave and although the odour isn't the nicest, it's not around long enough for me to really worry about.

 

[woodbane]

Jeff, we've had a bit of a discuaaion about this before in this thread.

I continue to use this as my daily aftershave spritz with great effect. I'm actually about to try some different essential oils in a much lower ratio.
e.g. 1 drop lemongrass EO in 2 oz witch hazel.

This falls in line with what Ron is saying, the idea is merely to have pleasent smelling spritz for your face which still has the medicinal qualities of the witch hazel. Bear in mind however that I feel I am having good results as I use the Thayers orignal witch hazel which does have a small amount of alcohol in it. The alcohol will, of course, allow the EO to dissolve more completely into the mix. Alcohol free witch hazel might not produce quite the same results.

Having said that, I checked the ingredients on a bottle of facial spray toner in my local natural health food store yesterday and it listed nothing other than 'purified spring water and xxxx essential oil' as the ingredients, with the oil reflecting the scent of the spray. I'd guess they are putting in a tiny amount of EO just to get the scent in what's otherwise a water mist. Man, to think they're charging $7.00 for about 4oz as well, someone is making some serious dough off of those!!

 

[Cliff]

I've been doing this for years and have mentioned it before on occassion. I use Thayers Witch Hazel (alcohol free) as an aftershave astringent and then later follow-up with my Bay Rum Hydrosol, but I never cared for any of the existing Thayer "flavors".

I take the Thayers Original Witch Hazel Toner with Aloe Vera (has the least scent) and add a couple (not too much or it'll overpower...just a couple) of drops of mint EO. Shake it up and voila Spearmint Thayers. So, I know this works just don't overdo the EO...start small, you can always add more.

Cliff

 

[jmhUT]

I've been doing this for years and have mentioned it before on occassion. I use Thayers Witch Hazel (alcohol free) as an aftershave astringent and then later follow-up with my Bay Rum Hydrosol, but I never cared for any of the existing Thayer "flavors".

I take the Thayers Original Witch Hazel Toner with Aloe Vera (has the least scent) and add a couple (not too much or it'll overpower...just a couple) of drops of mint EO. Shake it up and voila Spearmint Thayers. So, I know this works just don't overdo the EO...start small, you can always add more.

Cliff

Hi Cliff,
This is exactly what I had in mind, though I was unsure that the oil would mix. When you say a couple drops do you mean add 2-3 drops to a full bottle of unscented Thayers?
Thanks,
Jeff