SMF

How? I started out splashing a tiny but of it but read the directions finally and they say cotton ball. Is there a preferred method or does it matter?

The cotton ball technique is used when you are cleaning your whole face with the witch hazel. Just pour some into your hands and slough it on for an aftershave.


Regards,

Bill

I use an atomizer

Either one of the above - I tend to do what Bill has suggested...

I use Walgreen's quilted cotton pads, which come in inexpensive bags of about 200. I douse the pad with witch hazel and wipe down my entire face, including forehead and ears, after the shave. I then allow the w/h to dry on its own, so that my skin will get the maximum goodness out of it.

Just splash it on like an aftershave. The purpose is to remove any shaving cream/creme residue and sooth any shaving burn or small knicks you may have. Then apply your after shave/balm immediately after.

If your face is dirty/oily, them go the cotton ball or pad method. It does a great job of cleaning your face.

Enjoy your shave.

What Oscar said. I use witch hazel in lieu of soap to clean my face at the end of the day.

Rub it from chin to the sideburns as an a/s

I just splash it on like an A/S. After wiping the lather left on my face with a damp towel I immediately use the WH splash. Then I go about a final rinse of my razor and hand stropping my blade followed by cleaning my mug and rinsing my brush. Then I apply my ASB or ASM.

When I wipe the lather off my face, I leave a tiny bit of residue. I pour witch hazel into my hand, splash it onto my face and massage it into the skin with the lather residue. It's as good as any balm I have found.

- Murray

Murray, I remember you saying once before that you use a small bit of lather as a balm. Obviously I can't quarrel with your results, but the thought runs counter to what one would normally expect: soap cleans the skin by removing dirt and oil, while balm replenishes the lost moisture and some oils. How could one product do both?

Clearly, however, it's not as simple as that. For years I used Noxzema, a skin cleanser, as an aftershave balm. It worked fine and did no harm to my complexion. Then I got wise and started using products labeled as balms, and my skin continues to be OK. There may not really be much difference at all in these products we use.

Hi Porter -

My mother recently grabbed a bottle of Cetaphil liquid soap instead of hand lotion, and she used it successfully as hand lotion until I pointed out what it was.

I have noticed some overlap in the ingredients of soaps and hand creams, in the form of fats and, in some cases, even a saponifier like potassium hydroxide.

I wash my face before I shave, so by the end of the shave the skin has been well cleansed. I apply the leftover skin-friendly lather to the shaved surface after the shave and leave it there while I clean up the bathroom and put things away. After that, I wipe off the lather and apply Thayer's Witch Hazel. The lather seems to serve well for such double duty.

Murray - interesting story about your mother and the Cetaphil. The hand soap must contain moisturizing ingredients. If she were using a very cheap liquid soap as a skin cream, she might notice the difference.

In your case I wonder if the lather is really acting as a balm when you rub it into the skin. It just sits there until you remove it with the Thayer's. Your shaving technique, I can well imagine, is such that you do very little damage to the outer epidermal cells and may not need a balm other than the witch hazel. All speculation, of course.

Porter, you're right that I don't really need a balm. What happens is that the lather residue mixes with the witch hazel and forms a kind of cream, which is gradually absorbed into the skin.

- Murray

One more for the column of pour and spread by hand. It works fine, soothes, and I like the peculiar smoky scent it has. I let it air-dry and afterward I may apply lotion, ASB, and/or a nice cologne.

The appeal of witch hazel is that it doesn't sting or burn, even with the 14% alcohol version I buy from a large, soulless retail chain near my home. If I splash on, say, OBR double-strength special reserve (w/o WH first) I, er, feel something, y' dig?

I like a bit more control.. After my rinse, I use Alum, then cold water rinse again and then Thayers Witch Hazel Pads.. finish with another cold water rinse and my balm of choice...

Been thinking about adding a few drops of Bay Rum to the jar..

I recently started using this after every shave. I have a small spray bottle that I use. I remove the final lather with a wash rag, spay on the WH and let it dry while I strop my razor and tidy up the sink. Then put on the A/S and I'm off.

The correct answer is "externally". Just don't drink it, and you're doing it right.

For myself, I've taken to applying it right after my final, cold water rinse while my face is still a bit wet. I use a little more than I would of an actual aftershave splash. I let that "do its thing" while I clean up, do another cold water rinse, and apply splash in much the same way. I use less splash this way, and I feel it a lot less if for some reason I was in a hurry or got careless w/the razor.

I am a traditional "pour-and-splash" user.

Exactly how I mix a traditional cocktail Wendell.