Witch Hazel Review

I heard a long time ago that witch hazel was an amazing toner, and, as someone who really needed some toner, I decided to buy a bottle and try it out. At that point in time I had the best skin I've ever had in a long time. My only problems were some acne scars (which I don't mind all that much anymore) and enlarged pores on my nose and cheeks. The pores on my nose were so large that I didn't even need Biore strips to get rid of them - all I had to do was take two fingers and squeeze and everything would just shoot out (graphic, but disgusting and true).

I was really excited to use witch hazel. In the distilled form, it was supposed to clean up any dirt even after washing your face, shrink pores, and help with acne. I only wanted it because I thought it would help with my monstrously - large pores...and it did, for a while.

At first, I really liked it. After I washed my face I would put some witch hazel on a cotton ball and swipe it all over my face. It smells TERRIBLE - like something pickled - but I loved seeing the yellowish dirt on the ball after I was done and the clean feeling. My nose stopped being so oily although my forehead stayed the same, and my pores were definitely smaller. I started using it religiously, day and night, for about two weeks.

Then the bad part came.

I started getting acne all over my face! My clear skin is now covered in infected pimples, lots of excess sebum, whiteheads, blackheads, and lots of acne on my forehead. I started getting a lot of redness and my skin actually got pretty itchy - skin allergy, perhaps? Either way, I knew I had to stop using it.

It's been about three days since I've last used witch hazel. My skin hasn't gotten any better, but it also hasn't gotten any worse. I really hate how it's messed up my skin! I'm gonna give this bottle to my little cousin, since her skin is a lot tougher than mine and probably won't react to it (with a disclaimer, of course - I'm not that mean). In the meantime, I'm gonna have to nurse my skin back to health...hopefully, it won't take long, because I have to start my two jobs soon, and I'm not going to either of them looking like this.