Witch Hazel-Dickenson's vs. Thayer's

a-cut-above · Post by **a-cut-above** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:26 am

Is there any difference bewteen these two (comparing the unscented basic ones)? The Dickenson's has 14% alcohol vs. 10% for the Thayer's but that seems trivial. Has anyone experienced any differences with regard to after shave use between the two brands?

KAV · Post by **KAV** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:41 am

I'm a Dickenson's man. Thayer's uses a rather disingenuous advertising ply that their product is 'all natural' and not 'distilled.' OH? and how did you get the extract without distilling it?
Thayers is also blended with Aloe Vera and a few other botanicals. Aloe has a almost mythical reputation as a burn ointment and moisturizer. A colleague in ethnobotony said Aloe was mostly water and the indians used it because the pulp made a good ointment for minor wounds. She also said the alkoloids in the pulp actually reacted negatively with some skin types.
Both are good products. I just like my Witch hazel like my whiskey- neat.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:49 am

I also prefer Dickinson's, and Humphrey's even more when I can find it. It may partially be the aloe thing with me too, I dunno. Anyway, all three are good products.
Regards,
Gordon

Baronet · Post by **Baronet** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:42 pm

I also like the Dickinson's better, purely on a performance basis it is better for me, the Thayer's feels tacky on my skin which might be the aloe.

AZShaver · Post by **AZShaver** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:54 pm

I buy the cheap house brand stuff myself.

rsp1202 · Post by **rsp1202** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:59 pm

Yep, the Thayer's is tacky, which is why I'm on the fence about this product. I used the Dickinson's for years until I heard that alcohol and oily-prone skin are also not a good match. It's not paranoia if all the products conspire against you, is it?

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:04 pm

Ron, The difference in the alcohol content between Dickinson's and Thayer's is not significent IMO. 10%...14%....( shrug ).
Regards,
Gordon

rsp1202 · Post by **rsp1202** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:01 pm

Gordon, I never had much of a problem using the Harris Pink with virtually the same alcohol content, so I should probably give the Humphreys a go to see what it's like. I see they're now offering an alcohol-free, citrus-based facial toner with aloe, somewhat similar to the Thayer's, but the aloe makes me leery. Maybe it's just better to stick with the standard astringent.

Oh, and that crack about paranoia -- really, I'm fine, no issues. I'd rather spend our 50 minutes discussing other things.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:12 pm

Ron, Well, I agree. If I'm going to use witch hazel, I want it straight up, no additives. But for whatever reason, Pink works much better for me as an A/S than any witch hazel. If it didn't I wouldn't be paying those prices.
Regards,
Gordon

Flash G · Post by **Flash G** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:22 am

KAV wrote: Thayers is also blended with Aloe Vera and a few other botanicals. Aloe has a almost mythical reputation as a burn ointment and moisturizer. A colleague in ethnobotony said Aloe was mostly water and the indians used it because the pulp made a good ointment for minor wounds. She also said the alkoloids in the pulp actually reacted negatively with some skin types.

A pharmasist I know quit working in a pharmacy, and one of the reasons was that he was tired of being pushed to sell products with high aloe contents to customers who needed a heavier moisturizer. He felt he was betraying his profession selling water to people when he knew that other moisturizing products would work much better.

Sorry, I know its off topic.

a-cut-above · Post by **a-cut-above** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:09 am

Thanks for the feedback. I have a sample bottle of the Thayer's and the aloe made it tacky which didn't work when I wanted to use a balm, which I use only occasionally. Dickinson's it is......unless I can find an unscented alcohol splash.

KAV · Post by **KAV** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:42 am

FlashG- No, Aloe is found in shaving products so it's a valid discussion. The plant was popular with natives for obvious reasons. You're going down a deer trail, walk into a spined plant and it hurts. Water is a precious resource and the nearest thing is an aloe with lots of soothing moisture and a few chemicals that USUALLY react O.K. with skin.So it enters the ethnobotanical inventory. Years later some grad student discovers it and it enters our resource base along with overpriced red mexican weeds at Christmas.

Aspirin and witch hazel are GOOD botanicals.

a-cut-above · Post by **a-cut-above** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:25 am

I know this is deviating a bit, so the Moderators should feel free to move to another forum:
How do you decide between alcohol- and witch hazel-based procucts? Is it only the "burn" and rapid cooling from evaporation or are there other properties I should consider and juggle as a wetshaver? They are both astringents and supposed antiseptics. What else to consider?

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 3:51 pm

Dave, Don't hassle your head about it, it's not that involved. There are several brands of witch hazel extract, lowish amounts of alcohol, and water. To this basic compound, some, like Thayer's, add other things which you may, or may not, want ( as per above discusion ). That's really about it.
Regards,
Gordon

a-cut-above · Post by **a-cut-above** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:37 pm

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear with my last question. What I meant to ask was what does the witch hazel do that an alcohol-based AS doesn't (scent aside)?
Are there advantages of one over the other? Am I missing something by not using witch hazel before my alcohol AS splash?

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:45 pm

Dave, Oh, okay. Well, for one thing, commercial witch hazel preparations have a much lower alcohol content that traditional A/Ss, and for me at least, that's a good thing. Witch hazel extract itself has always been touted as having soothing calming effects on the skin. Whether this is scientifically/medically sound, I don't know but that's been the common wisdom for a very long time. My old family doctor back in NJ when I was a kid was big on witch hazel for whatever reason.
Regards,
Gordon

95% · Post by **95%** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:59 am

When I was 13 and troubled by acne, the dermatologist had only two recommendations: start shaving and use witch hazel. That was five decades ago.

I don't know the brand of the witch hazel we had at home, or whether it contained alcohol. But it certainly didn't have aloe or any other fancy additives. Also, there was no attempt to mask the sharp, acrid witch hazel smell. Neither Dickinson's nor Thayer's smells quite like that old version I used so long ago. Wish I could find one like it today.

rsp1202 · Post by **rsp1202** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:16 am

Porter, I just opened a bottle of the Humphrey's astringent and am returning it to the store. It's probably not any different than the Dickinson's, etc., but noticeable enough to put me off. I guess I've grown too accustomed to the scentless Thayer's variety and forgot what regular WH was all about -- and I'm a scent wuss, anyway, and growing moreso each day. At least it was cheap. For now, no WH for me.

95% · Post by **95%** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:24 am

Ron, which store? I haven't seen Humphrey's. If it's cheap and smells medicinal, it's probably the old-fashioned kind I'm looking for.

rsp1202 · Post by **rsp1202** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:32 am

Whole Foods has it for under five bucks. Certainly competitive with the drugstore varieties.