Witch hazel
Hamamelis Virginiana Extract
Tightens the feel of the surface and calms visible redness. Best in a cream, where the alcohol stays out.
Witch hazel is a small North American tree whose bark and leaves are rich in tannins, and tannins are astringent: they draw the surface of the skin together, so it feels smoother and tighter and looks less flushed.
It has a mixed reputation, and the reason is the bottle on the pharmacy shelf — a distillate in alcohol that can dry skin out. In a cream the extract arrives without the alcohol, which is where the benefit is and the drawback is not.
The best evidence on it is a series of controlled tests on redness, in which a hamamelis lotion calmed the skin's response to an irritating light exposure better than the same lotion without it.
The study
Randomised human trialIn 30 volunteers, a lotion with 10% hamamelis distillate reduced induced redness by about 20% at seven hours and 27% at 48 hours, against 11–15% for the comparison lotions — a significant difference.
Hughes-Formella BJ, Bohnsack K, Rippke F, et al. Anti-inflammatory effect of hamamelis lotion in a UVB erythema test. Dermatology, 1998;196(3):316–322. PubMed 9621139
Research on the ingredient, not a test of any FOUNDER product. Cosmetic benefits only, and skin varies. These are cosmetics, not medicine.
