Try It Out Tuesday: Witch Hazel Review

Since I have been either pregnant or nursing for more than a year now, I have made some changes to the body products I use. It seems that almost everything can be passed to your baby during these times, and I have tried to be super careful of what I am passing on to mine.
One of the main products I have tried to avoid are the chemicals that work best at fighting acne. I am prone to the annoyance, and I have been able to keep it under control in the past by using different acne medicines. All during pregnancy and the first few months of nursing, I really hated the acne and felt there was nothing I could use to treat it! I used a mild face wash, but that didn't take care of the problem.

In some research I had come across witch hazel but didn't really give it a second thought until I mentioned this to one of Karsie's nurses and she said something about witch hazel. She had been using it and really liked it... so I did some more fact finding and I decided that witch hazel would be safe to try and it seemed like something that might work! I decided to try the alcohol free variety and I bought a bottle of Thayer's Lavender Witch Hazel (this kind appeared to be the most natural form). I started using it in early December and I almost instantly fell in love!
I immediately noticed that my skin felt smoother and the acne started to go away very quickly.

This has not been a miracle cleanser for me, but it has made a difference.
Aside from cleaning my face, I have used it for treating razor burn and soothing/healing a paper cut. I have also seen that you can use it to treat a bad diaper rash, reduce bruises, take the itch out of a bug bite (or poison ivy or oak too), reduce vericose veins, or reduce swelling under the eyes.

I purchased Thayer's Lavender Witch Hazel at Whole Foods for about $10, but since there isn't a Whole Foods where I live, when I needed a refill, I got a bottle of Rite Aid Witch Hazel for $2! I like both varieties pretty well (though Thayer's smells much nicer :)

I would encourage you to give Witch Hazel a try!