Witch Hazel?

I've been kind of off and on about this whole "soap or nope?" thing, because no matter what I tried I just couldn't seem to get my incredibly oily hair under control.  It was a shame, too, because stopping the hair product really helped my itchy scalp.  But my hair was a ball of grease.  What really did it for me was this trip to Chicago, though, because the poor dry skin on my arms got all, well, ashy from the soap.  It was horrible.  I felt like someone had taped cardboard all over me.  So I'm quitting soap again.

That was when I hit on the idea of using some kind of astringent to cut the oil in my hair every few days.  I was originally thinking of just getting a bottle of isopropyl alcohol, but when I went to the store I saw that right next to it on the shelf were these bottles of witch hazel which is supposed to, huh, be a natural astringent, cleanse without over-drying, and also soothe irritated skin.  Which I have.  So I decided to give it a shot, particularly since I just got my hair cut which always turns my hair into Oil Central and irritates seven kinds of heck out of all the skin on my hairline.  That, and I'm now covered in red, itchy bug bites from mowing the lawn.  I think there was some kind of mosquito convention today.

The witch hazel brand I got has this weird, dark, almost caramel odor, like Werther's Original Candy.  It's odd, but not unpleasant.  I can't tell yet whether it'll be enough on the hair, but my hair doesn't feel greasy.  And the bug bites have stopped itching.  I actually found one that I missed because it was the only one still itching.

Anyway, I found it interesting.  I've never encountered this product before, so I will give it a try.  Washing my hair with it is probably the weirdest usage ever, but if it works, it works.  Even if it makes me smell like Grandpa candy.