Witch Hazel, particularly Thayer's, is the most misleading fraud on wet shavers. Per FDA regulation, witch hazel is to be distilled just from the twigs with a 14% alcohol ratio to be labeled Witch Hazel astringent. As you can see from my linked article, in reality the whole tree is used which dilutes the active witch hazel ingredient that is concentrated in the twigs. The FDA does not crack down and enforce this regulation. Due to this it is argued that it is the actual alcohol that renders the astringent effects. Furthermore there is only one sole witch hazel distiller that provides all witch hazel for all brands. These secondary producers buy from this sole supplier then either re-label, add ingredients, or remove the alcohol.
Thayers is mostly high priced bottled water as one can determine from the Ingredient List. By law all labels must list ingredients in order from most to least. Their first ingredient is water followed by alcohol at 10%. This means every ingredient after alcohol is less than 10%. Next is Aloe Vera, then followed by witch hazel. It's contribution to the formula is so small that it is fraudulent to call it Witch Hazel in big letters in my opinion. They only call it astringent because of the 10% alcohol as you will notice they call their alcohol free versions a "toner". Their alcohol free toners contain even less witch hazel than their Original Formula which is evident from their Alcohol Free Rose Petal Ingredient List. As you can see their "Fragrance" comes before Witch Hazel. Typically accepted safe levels of fragrance for leave on face products is 1-2%. So what does that tell you? Also they claim that GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) is a natural preservative. GSE is not a preservative in its uncontaminated natural state, rather it is an antioxidant that can prolong rancidity (oxidization not microbes). The way Thayers can fool you and use synthetic preservatives without disclosure is through their "Fragrance" which can be completely artificial petrochemicals and preservatives that are protected as trade secrets by the FDA as long as they use the term "Fragrance". Note they have more fragrance than witch hazel in their mostly water based product. Many wet shavers are under a placebo effect if they think it is good post-shave skin care.
Thayers is mostly high priced bottled water as one can determine from the Ingredient List. By law all labels must list ingredients in order from most to least. Their first ingredient is water followed by alcohol at 10%. This means every ingredient after alcohol is less than 10%. Next is Aloe Vera, then followed by witch hazel. It's contribution to the formula is so small that it is fraudulent to call it Witch Hazel in big letters in my opinion. They only call it astringent because of the 10% alcohol as you will notice they call their alcohol free versions a "toner". Their alcohol free toners contain even less witch hazel than their Original Formula which is evident from their Alcohol Free Rose Petal Ingredient List. As you can see their "Fragrance" comes before Witch Hazel. Typically accepted safe levels of fragrance for leave on face products is 1-2%. So what does that tell you? Also they claim that GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) is a natural preservative. GSE is not a preservative in its uncontaminated natural state, rather it is an antioxidant that can prolong rancidity (oxidization not microbes). The way Thayers can fool you and use synthetic preservatives without disclosure is through their "Fragrance" which can be completely artificial petrochemicals and preservatives that are protected as trade secrets by the FDA as long as they use the term "Fragrance". Note they have more fragrance than witch hazel in their mostly water based product. Many wet shavers are under a placebo effect if they think it is good post-shave skin care.
