Difference Between Witch Hazel and Hydrogen Peroxide

The key difference between witch hazel and hydrogen peroxide is that the witch hazel is a medicinal plant which is safe to use whereas the hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound which is unsafe to use.

Witch hazel is a medicinal plant. Therefore, it has many important uses. More importantly, we can use the extract of this plant as a substitute for hydrogen peroxide. Since hydrogen peroxide is chemical based, it is unsafe for our skin. Therefore, the extract from witch hazel is a better substitute since it is plant based; thus safe.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Witch Hazel
3. What is Hydrogen Peroxide
4. Side by Side Comparison – Witch Hazel vs Hydrogen Peroxide in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Witch Hazel?

Witch hazel is a flowering plant of the family Hamamelidaceae. They are popular as ornamental plants. It is because they have clusters of rich-yellow to orange flowers. Also, this plant also has many important medicinal uses, mainly due to its composition. Hence, its composition includes calcium oxalate, gallotannins, safrole, and chemicals found in the essential oil.

Medicinal uses of witch hazel:

• It has a unique ability to clean skin pores
• Further, it can dry up the excess oil on our skin
• It has tannin that gives this extract antioxidant property
• We use it to prevent from scratch marks. Ex: pregnant women can use this.
• It can reduce the bagginess under eyes
• To prevent pain and swelling from varicose veins, we can use this plant extract
• We can use it as a substitute for hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol
• It has anti-inflammatory properties

What is Hydrogen Peroxide?

Hydrogen peroxide is an inorganic compound having the chemical formula H₂O₂. When it is in pure form, it has a pale blue color appearance. Moreover, it exists as a clear liquid and slightly more viscous than water. Therefore, people use this liquid as an oxidizer, bleaching agent and antiseptic. Moreover, it is highly reactive, and we can use it as a propellant in rocketry. It is unstable; thus it slowly decomposes in the presence of a base or a catalyst.

There are many uses of this compound;

• As a bleaching agent for pulp and paper bleaching
• We can use it in laundry detergents
• We can use it in the production of organic peroxides
• It is useful as a disinfectant

What is the Difference Between Witch Hazel and Hydrogen Peroxide?

Witch hazel is a flowering plant of the family Hamamelidaceae. The extract of witch hazel is used as a substitute for hydrogen peroxide in personal care products as it is very safe because it is plant based. Moreover, it has medicinal uses such as cleaning skin pores, cleaning excessive oil in the skin, prevent scratch marks, reduce bagginess under eyes, etc. Hydrogen peroxide is an inorganic compound having the chemical formula H₂O₂. It is relatively unsafe because it is chemical based. In addition to that, it is useful as a bleaching agent, disinfectant, to produce organic peroxides, etc.

Summary – Witch Hazel vs Hydrogen Peroxide

We can use both witch hazel extract and hydrogen peroxide for the same purpose. The difference between witch hazel and hydrogen peroxide is that witch hazel is a medicinal plant which is safe to use whereas hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound which is unsafe to use.

Reference:

1. “Witch Hazel: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Dosage, and Warning.” WebMD, WebMD. Available here 
2. “Nature’s Remedies: Rubbing Alcohol vs Witch Hazel; Common Witch Hazel Uses You Didn’t Know About.” Mikey R.and the Greener Life. Available here 

Image Courtesy:

1.’2877972′ (CC0) via Max Pixel
2.’8165563252′ by adinaplus (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr