Ingredients

All Ingredients: Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Distillate Water

  • Incidecoder Rating: Goodie
  • EWG Rating: 1 (Best)
  • PETA Rating: Cruelty Free & Vegan
Honest Research

The distillate is created from the leaves of the hazelnut-bush-like-magic-tree commonly called Witch Hazel. The distillate from the leaves is the gentlest, most diluted version of any kind of With Hazel ingredient. The leaves contain much, much less active components than the bark (4.77% vs 0.04% tannins) and distillates are more diluted than extracts.

The ingredient is loaded with active components that have a bunch of magic properties, like astringent, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-bacterial. It's also a well-known vasoconstrictor (it makes the blood vessels narrower) and promotes the healing of broken skin by tightening up the skin proteins and thus creating a protective covering.

The main biologically active components in Witch Hazel are hamamelitannin (a potent astringent and antioxidant), catechins (anti-inflammatory and antioxidant) and gallic acid (antibacterial). The bark extract contains by far the most hamamelitannin and it has the most gallic acid and catechins. The twigs contain fewer catechins, less gallic acid, and much less hamamelitannin (4.77% vs 0.18%). The leaves contain hardly any tannins (0.04%) or catechins and contain a medium amount of gallic acid (compared to the bark and twigs).

We even found a German study that compared the efficacy of Hamamelis ointment to panthenol ointment for soothing the skin in children (from 27 days to 11 years old). They observed 309 children and concluded that both ointments were similarly effective but the one with Hamamelis was even better tolerated (98.2% vs. 92.3% tolerated well the ointments in the two groups).

Making it Suitable for Sensitive Skin

The complication, however, is that different distillates can be made from different parts of the plant (bark, twigs, and leaves are typically used) and different extraction methods from different parts produce different results. So if you see only Witch Hazel Extract or Witch Hazel Water on the ingredient list, it's a bit hard to know what you're actually getting but we got your back on this. This product is made from the leaves. Since tannins may cause irritations and leaves contain almost no tannins, this product can be used on very sensitive or acne-prone skin.

Apart from the differences in active components in different parts of the Witch Hazel bush, the extraction methods also vary. Witch Hazel Distillate contains 14% added alcohol according to the USP specifications  and alcohol is, at best drying, and at worst skin-damaging. Luckily, there are also alcohol-free distillates, and this product is alcohol-free.

Some proof
  • Wang, Huafu, Gordon J. Provan, and Keith Helliwell. "Determination of hamamelitannin, catechins and gallic acid in witch hazel bark, twig and leaf by HPLC." Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis 33.4 (2003): 539-544.
  • Wolff, Helmut H., and Meinhard Kieser. "Hamamelis in children with skin disorders and skin injuries: results of an observational study." European journal of pediatrics 166.9 (2007): 943-948.
  • Korting, H. C., et al. "Anti-inflammatory activity of hamamelis distillate applied topically to the skin." European journal of clinical pharmacology 44.4 (1993): 315-318.
  • Touriño, Sonia, et al. "Highly galloylated tannin fractions from witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) bark: electron transfer capacity, in vitro antioxidant activity, and effects on skin-related cells." Chemical research in toxicology 21.3 (2008): 696-704.