Stinkface

So, my face stinks. In my never ending, yet fairly lazy, quest for less expensive/mainstream/chemical-laden skincare/household products, I recently purchased a bottle of Witch Hazel. I thought it would be yet another oft overlooked and yet completely genius perfect replacement for the chemical cosmetic toners I usually use. Unfortunately, even though Witch Hazel's extraordinary list of achievements and benefits is impressive, it loses MAJOR points in the scent category.

I'm big on smells, and I like things to smell good, even if that means using perfumes. Of course, I've had to compromise along the way, given the nature of my aforementioned quest, and many of the newer products in my house are virtually scentless. I'm more and more OK with that as time goes on. I used to think Jesse was nuts for buying unscented laundry detergent -- isn't clean laundry supposed to smell good, not just like hot cotton? Sheesh. Now I buy as many unscented things as I can (keep in mind this is a process).

Enter Witch Hazel. I'm thinking it'll be like hydrogen peroxide -- mostly unscented, but genius and endlessly useful. The marketing team did it's job -- the Witch Hazel sits on the bottom shelf in the health section of your local pharmacy or big box store, among the generic brown and white bottles of isopropyl alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. However, WH comes in a lovely clear bottle with a transparent, full-color label and a breezy font...this looks like good stuff! For $3? Sold. Usually, toner is $8 or more for a bottle half this size.

I get it home, I wash my face to prep for bed, and right about this time is when I start thinking that this stuff sounds too good to be true -- it's a natural astringent that doesn't strip natural oils from your skin. Why isn't this stuff more popular? Let me give it a sniff to rule out the smell as a cause for its downfall...

Nope, that's it. It's the smell. It has a damp smell, which I can only think to describe as "burning mildew." It's awful. I'm thinking that this is a BIG bottle of Witch Hazel... So what do I do? Why, rub it all over my face, of course!

I then immediately start running back and forth in the bathroom fanning my face, trying to get it to dry so maybe the smell will go away.

It does eventually dry, and I have to say...my skin feels really nice! Like high quality cosmetics nice, and all I did was cleanse and use Witch Hazel. I'm going to try to see if there's something I can add that will improve the smell (rosewater? Essential oil?), because it's so bad that I'm not even sure that the results are worth it.. Any ideas?

ETA: I couldn't keep up with the W.H. I had the most irritated skin after just three days or so, with tons of red spots on my forehead and cheeks. Terrible. My skin is far too sensitive.