Anyone remember the smell of witch hazel in barbershops?

[Old Troop]

[trof]

1. I remember Lilac Vegetal.

It was the ubiquitous barbershop odor back in the day.
And there was a guy (always a black man in Alabama) who brushed the hair off your shoulders.

[Roon]

2. The barber on my street gives you a massage

with a vibrator when your hair is finished.

[Kali]

9. There is a bottle of that in my bathroom right now.

witch hazel too.

ooo I should go take a pic - I have some funky stuff in my collection

[BlooInBloo]

3. Uh.... what's witch hazel?

[blogslut]

4. A mild astringent extracted from the bark

...of the Hamamelis plant. Most drug store versions of the stuff contain a small percentage of alcohol.

It makes a great skin toner, is a nice topical treatment for insect bites and can be quite soothing for other burny, itchy things. It's just a good, general purpose bottle for the home medicine cabinet.

In the old days there were all kinds of Witch Hazel-based "perfumes", the most common being Lilac or Rose. The scent wore off quickly compared to perfume.

I make my own by filling a small spray bottle with Witch Hazel and adding about 20 drops of essential oil.

[BlooInBloo]

8. Is this like covered wagon days or something?

[blogslut]

11. Yes. It is just like that.

And old fogies still wash up with bars made from fat and lye. Crazy? I know!

[BlooInBloo]

13. My head just exploded. Crazy, man!

[TommyO]

5. Which Hazel?

This Hazel?

[mitchum]

7. "Mistah B!!!"

[TommyO]

20. After this thread, I've added the first season to my Netflix queue.

it's too bad that's all that's available.

[Kali]

10. my dishwasher is named after her

Hazel II

[dugaresa]

6. the only Witch Hazel I know

<>

[Oceansaway]

12. i remember smelling Butch Wax..nt

[trof]

15. Oh, yeah. Used that on my flat-top.

:-)

[grasswire]

14. remember Noxema?

I was looking for some the other day and there wasn't any in the store. Where did it go?

[Ikonoklast]

16. Witch Hazel, Lilac Vegetal, and this were all staples...

[Xithras]

17. My wife has a bottle in the bathroom.

She uses it after bikini shaves to avoid inflammation and the resulting ingrown hairs. She swears by it.

The funny thing is, until I read this thread and looked it up, I always thought of witch hazel as a "feminine" product for that sort of thing. I had no idea that it was used in barbershops on men.

[Zipp]

18. How many of you remember this stuff at the barber?

[MajorChode]

19. The barber I went to for years always did a tonic massage

I have no idea what the stuff was made from or what the brand was. I generally just came in for a haircut once every other week or so and left, but a lot of older codgers would hang around most of the day. Both of the barbers were in their 60's when I first started going there and 10 years later they were still going strong when I moved away. I remember all the older codgers bitching when they raised their prices from $5 to $6.

[SoDesuKa]

21. Preparation H Pads

Don't pay a fancy price for Preparation H pads. All they are is witch hazel.



And don't pay a fancy price for witch hazel. You're paying for the effect, not the aroma.

• Preparation H Medicated Wipes Helps relieve the local itching and discomfort associated with hemorrhoids.
  
• Temporary relief of irritation and burning. Aids in protecting irritated anorectal areas.