Any witch hazel substitute?

You've heard it :ashamed001... actually, you read it
I've search on several local stores and none of them has witch hazel, they look at me as if I was asking for the liver of a zombie ninja pirate.
Nothing by its name in english,
Nothing by its name in spanish.

Right now, after the shave I use only my Nivea Aftershave Balm and nothing else and I ask this because this last 2 shaves with the Dorco 300 blade have been nice and awful at the same time 'cause of some bumps I develop after the shave and I read Witch Hazel helps to prevent them.

I get nice results on my cheeks, neck, chin, upper lip, but I have several bumps on the zone where the mustache ends and the beard starts (a little below the lower lip)
I have had this problem with my cartridge razor in the past, it might be the way I remove the hair from that area or maybe is the area itself that is much more susceptible to the blades... or maybe is the blade because I didn't had this problem with the Merkur. Can the materials of the blade cause some sort of allergic reaction in the skin? I'm considering the different possibilities so I can fix this issue , I'm closely watching this bumps 'cause they might be IGH, some can be pimples or simple bumps. I still have to be sure what the hell are they.

I think that if the answer to my original question is "no", I can always buy some at amazon.

Thanx for the help n_n

 

Compa mi amigo,get some Aloe Vera pure gel.That would heal your skin immediately.

 

w00t, Gracias!!! n_n
Sir, you have helped me a lot in mote than one time /bow
Just one small question, should I replace my balm with the Aloe Vera Gel?

 

Witch Hazel should be readily available in any drugstore, pharmacy or supermarket. In generic form, it sells for about $1.50 for a 16oz bottle, and that's enough to last you a good long time.

Maybe you're looking in the wrong aisle ... its often found in the section where they sell bandages and first-aid supplies, sitting right next to Isopropyl Alchohol and Hydrogen Peroxide.

Another name for it is "Hammelis Water," but if the clerks you talk to don't know about Witch Hazel, they surely won't recognize it by its proper name.

To answer your original question, though ... I don't know of any substitute for generic Witch Hazel. Most drugstores and supermarkets carry a house-branded bottle. A common commercial brand name is Dickerson's, and you can find it at WalMart. There are fancier versions like Thayer's that mix in Aloe Vera and fragrances, but it sells for $10 a bottle. I have yet to try any Thayer's, but everyone gives it rave reviews.

For shaving purposes, its great stuff. No shave den should be without it. I use it a lot when I want an unscented ASL. After the shave, rinse, and cold-water splash, I like to rub it around the back of my neck and up over the back of my ears for a nice clean, fresh feeling all over.

 

Where in the world are you Compa? I'm guessing from the English/Spanish thing and the orientation of your emoticon that you're possibly in the Philippines? If we knew for sure maybe someone could come up with a better answer though

 

You can use the Aloe Vera Gel first(if its really pure kind of stinks) and later when it get dry add the Nivea balm.That would be a great combination.Hope this all could help you.

 

TSD MILK

 

Hahaha no, I'm not from the philippines. I learned all this emoticons from a friend who is a die-hard fand of the anime. he lurks japanese forums... also I've learned some of them from World of Warcraft users

I'm from Honduras.
Chances are that I'm not looking for the witch hazel the right way and that maybe the drug stores know it under a commercial brand only.

Thanx for the help

 

First off, localized irritation like that often can be attributed to a change in direction of hair growth right there - check out the line of growth after not shaving for a few days, you might be surprised to discover your WTG is actually XTG or even ATG.

Also, Dorco 301's and Merkurs are known to tear a lot of people up; if you can try some other blades you might be surprised at the difference in your shave.

 

Didn't know that! O_o, thanx for another valuable tip

 

Yup, I have this spot on my chin where literally no more than 6 hairs grow at 90 degrees to everything around them. Took me a month to figure out why I consistently had bumps right there! Now, I pretty much subconsciously adjust right there (stroke-stroke-twist+stroke-twist back-stroke) and very rarely have any problems.

 

I bought my Thayers from iherb.com, shipping worldwide is a flat 4$, and if you look around you may find coupons that gives you discounts for your first order..and I got mine in less than a week! Two bottles costed me less than 14$ shipped to my door!!!!

And I know what you feel, here in Spain you cannot get witch hazel in drugstores or supermarkets, best you can get is some tonic with Hamamelis water but even those are hard to find....guess is not popular for some reason.

 

Dickerson's has a Witch Hazel Face Toner and a WH astringent, and WH after shave. What is the difference?

 

More than you ever wanted to know about Dickenson's Witch Hazel

On their website they have:
-The yellow label Dickenson's Original Witch Hazel identified as, "cleaning astringent" that's marketed as for skin care, and,
-The blue label T.N. Dickenson's Witch Hazel Astringent identified as "our pharmaceutical formulation" that's marketed for first aid.

Dickenson's does not offer a witch hazel aftershave (which I confirmed) but under "Uses" for the blue, one of the graphics is a woman shaving her legs. (More on this later.)

I called Dickenson's (yes, I was that curious) and got the full explanation from Richard Harper, their technical guy.

There were two Dickenson brothers who competed with each other back in the day and they each had a slightly different formula to differentiate their products.
-Yellow has 85% distilate, 1% extract and 14% alcohol. (Extract is the undistilled portion that remains in the bottom of the pot which is then filtered, etc.)
-Blue is 86% pure distilate and 14% alcohol.

The blue was tested by the FDA so follows FDA guidelines so they can claim that it is a remedy for minor cuts & bruises while the yellow is strictly marketed as a cosmetic. The quality of the two is the same.

Anecdotaly, Mr. Harper says he uses them both interchangably. Blue, he feels, works better on nicks & scrapes but for conditioning & toning either one works fine.

Furthermore, he tells me that there are aftershaves that use witch hazel as a base, many using Dickenson's Witch Hazels, but that Dickenson does not produce or market an aftershave.

I did inquire about Thayer's since there are folks on the boards who are adamant that it is not 'true' witch hazel, but Mr. Harper was not familiar with their production process to comment. Based on our discussion I'd think that the inclusion of extract (if that's what Thayer's does) would not disqualify it as a witch hazel in his opinion.

 

My personal preference is Thayer's. Don't know about the availability in Honduras (or the Philippines for that matter ), but in the States, it's available at brick and mortar GNC stores and The Vitamin Shoppes. About $10, lasts a long time.

Online, several here have mentioned VitaCost. I've never ordered from them, but I seem to recall that others have (don't hold me to that). The price is right anyway. Plus, same shipping charge no matter how many you order.

 

Thanks, to Razor and Pens

 

I would skip the WH, using cold water instead, then follow up with splash.

If you don't want splash, rinse, dry, then apply ASB or straight moisturizer.

 

You can always sub in some Witch Hagatha (Hazel's sister)

 

Who popularized Witch Hazel?

I know Mantic uses it in his videos.

It's very pointless and smells rancid.

If you want to overcomplicate the shaving process, throw an alum bar into the mix.

 

Why don't you prove that it has a point.