Today I’m going to talk about Witch Hazel, weird name huh?  It is also known as Hamamelis Virginia (or ‘Toverhazelaar’ for the Dutch). It’s an astringent produced from the leaves and bark or the North-American Witch Hazel Shrub. You might have noticed it as an ingredient in your skin care as it is a very strong anti-oxidant and ‘astringent’. It clarifies oily skin, tones and helps to reduce the appearance of pores. It has a very strong ‘woody’ scent to it which makes sense being an organic product. 

The first time I heard about it was in this  tutorial below about how to make your own makeup remover with Witch Hazel and oil. At first I thought it was an American product only and that I would not find it here, but  a few months ago I did find it here!

The reason I wanted to try out this remover is because Witch Hazel is known to be a good  natural acne fighter. The combination with an oil appealed to me  as this actually removes oil (sebum) and dirt from your skin. On youtube I see most of the people use olive oil for this remover but I prefer to use sweet almond oil. It’s less heavy and smells better too.

Sweet almond oil is very gentle and moisturizing for your skin, therefore dry skin can benefit too from this remover. Did you know that most of the worlds almonds come from California :)?  Well, in my book, these 2 ingredients combined make an awesome ‘american’ product! It’s a wonderful and pure makeup remover  and you can make this  too! Here is what you’ll need:

1. You can find sweet almond oil at Etos/Kruidvat or your local natural health store. Pricing is between 3,- to 5,- euros.

2. A travel container of your choice. (mine comes from the Muji Store)

3. To find Witch Hazel is a bit more difficult. It took me 5 stores in Amsterdam!!!  Look for it under the name Hamamelis. The winner was an Ekoplaza health supermarket. 200ml for 12,- euros in a spray bottle.

4. Make a 60-40 combo (hamamelis-oil) or whatever works for you.

This will last you about 3-4 months.

How to use it?

Shake the bottle and use a damp cotton pad to put the product on. Remove your makeup or dirt if you’re not wearing any, from your face. Then continue with your normal regime. Your skin will feel very soft and clean afterwords! In comparison, this feels as good as when using Dermalogica’s Precleanse which is oil based.

For my readers in Germany: I found ‘Hamameliswasser’ in a health store called Vita Nova.

Will you be trying this out too? Or maybe you already have? I’d love to hear about it!

Love,

Tanimara

First image taken from internet