The title says it all: Should witch hazel have alcohol in it? I picked up some today, and it's 14% alcohol. Seems to me that would defeat the purpose.

Witch Hazel is a plant extract (although I had a grade school nun for a teacher named Sister Hazel Marie whom we often referred to as….well, you know), and is usually, if not always, combined with alcohol as it is part of the WH distilling process.. Thayers uses undistilled WH in their alcohol-free formulation
Low percentage of alcohol is expected and does usually not interfere with the astringent properties of the WH.

Yep, by definition, WH is 14% alcohol due to the distillation process as Kevin said.

Thank you.

She didn't happen to have a band on the side, did she?

I bought Walmart brand witch hazel. The scent is nauseating! It's both earthy and synthetic at the same time. I added eucalyptus, but that just made it worse. I may have to splurge on something a little more fancy.

UnScented & Alcohol Free from Amazon

Yep. The store brands tend to smell horrible. It'll be a bit more, but worth it... head for Thayer's... many different scents. Tho you may want to be warned that the rose scent lasts waaaay too long (at least on me). The lemon is really nice and doesn't last much post-shave.

Is the Thayer's unscented truly unscented? The stuff I bought is supposed to be unscented.

I've used only the lemon and the rose, so I can't comment on the unscented.

I had a bottle of the thayers 'unscented with aloe' and it does not truly have a 'scent' compared to the Regular (which I used in making Bay Rum aftershave), which has a slight medicinal scent—but I'm certain some noses may detect something there in the unscented version. To me, the unscented WH just splashes on like water...

You might want to look at this:

http://www.paulaschoice.com/cosmetic-ingredient-dictionary/definition/witch-hazel

Yes. Witch Hazel (as to its standard extract for medicinal use contains 14-15% Alcohol). Witch hazel will have its own natural scent from the bark of the Hamamelis virginiana plant in which the extract is derived. Some companies neutralize the Alcohol or add scents and other ingredients to modulate the effects of Witch Hazel and as you have seen from posting above.

http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/stopping-the-flow-of-red.27542/

I found some Thayers Unscented with Aloe at a local natural food store. (To my surprise, it was the same price as Amazon.) There's just the slightest of scents to it, and it isn't off-putting at all. I can probably mix in some menthol and/or eucalyptus for a nice feel and scent. I'm looking forward to trying it tomorrow. Thanks for all your insights.

I really like this stuff. 1) No nasty odor. 2) No alcohol. 3) Aloe. This morning's shave was quite nasty, so the Thayers came in quite handy. Thanks again for the suggestions.

You might want to try Thayers Medicated Superhazel. Heavy on the alcohol but a great healer.

HERE.

I might have to get that. The plus side is I will be supporting a Local Businiess.

The Thayer's is overpriced. For the last several years, I've been "doctoring" the store brand WH. Here is my process:

1-pour out about abou 1/8 of the bottle.
2-fill it back up with plain rubbing alcohol (cheap)
3-add aloe vera gel (cheap and available at Wal-Mart)
4-add some Master Bay Rum (from Sally Beauty...I've still on my first bottle that I got 5 years ago).

After this, the concoction is virtually scent free and does a better job soothing my face than any of the Thayer's varieties I've used and at a fraction of the cost.

Nice hack. Thayer's is indeed pricey as compared to other brands, but a little google-fu helps bring the price down a good bit.

Interesting. Can you give us the amounts?

I wish I could, but I just guess and go by the smell...I stop when it doesn't "stink" anymore

I know that's not helpful, but that's what I do. I learned that hack here 3 or 4 years ago.