Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract

Witch hazel, or Hamamelis virginiana, is a small tree from North America, generally up to 5 meters in height, carrying typical yellow flowers. The plant is botanically related to the hazelnut bush, as expressed by its name. In skin care, witch hazel performs a variety of functions, including astringent, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial applications, thus being a common ingredient in many formulations. One of the most important mechanisms is the vasoconstrictive action, tightening the blood vessels, and hence assisting in the process of healing when skin is damaged through the stiffening of skin proteins to form some sort of barrier.
Its effectiveness depends on what plant part is in the product: bark, twigs, or leaves, where the active compound content varies, and hence the different concentrations in the witch hazel extracts or waters. The bark so happens to have the maximum concentration of biologically active ingredients, which include a powerful astringent and antioxidant known as hamamelitannin, catechins-an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant gallic acid-antibacterial. Twigs, while still useful, contain much lower levels of the compounds while leaves contain the least amount of tannins and catechins but are still moderately filled with gallic acid.
Witch hazel is also a very weak ingredient itself, with only small amounts of eugenol, an essential oil and fragrance ingredient added; the amount present in witch hazel is far too minute to have any substantial effect on the skin. The sort of witch hazel extraction used to make commercial witch hazel further influences its composition. Distilled witch hazel, for instance, has 14% added alcohol per USP formulation, which may be drying or irritating to the skin. However, for those who want to treat themselves more gently, there are alcohol-free distillates available. Depending on the type of solvent system involved, such as hydroglycolic, hydroalcoholic, and glycerin/water-based methods, respective forms of witch hazel extracts can be produced with different properties in the finished product. Witch hazel is soft yet effective, especially on sensitive skin.