Thayers Is Courting Gen Z With a Centuries-Old Ingredient

When European explorers reached the Americas in the 1500s, they brought diseases that Indigenous peoples—to their peril—had no immunity to, including measles, smallpox and influenza. So it’s no small irony that, for their part, Native Americans shared medical knowledge of great benefit to the Europeans, including a certain medicinal plant with a host of curative attributes. Potawatomi clans steamed it to relieve muscle cramps. The Osage tribe healed skin ulcers with it. The Iroquois brewed it to treat coughs, colds and even dysentery. The plant's scientific name is Hamamelis virginiana. Never heard of it? Of course you have: It’s witch hazel. History aside, this woody shrub with the crinkly yellow blossoms is big business today. With natural tannins that work wonders for the skin, witch hazel is an indispensable piece of the world’s $200 billion skin care industry, a key ingredient in everything from cleansing pads to facial creams. But brands that sell witch hazel all face the same challenge: how to differentiate what’s essentially a commodity product. In this regard, Thayers, a brand that’s been around since 1847, has had some experience. Nearly all brands that use witch hazel source it from Connecticut—most likely American Distilling, the world’s biggest maker of distilled witch hazel extract. But Thayers partners with the Gilbertie family farm in Easton, where the stems, leaves and bark are cut and gathered by hand. The chemistry is different, too. “We’re alcohol-free, and a lot of witch hazels on the market have alcohol in them, which can be drying,” said Kevin Katz, assistant vice president at parent company L’Oréal. “[Our] witch hazel is macerated with aloe and glycerin, which really helps to preserve the natural tannins.” Since acquiring Thayers in 2020, L’Oréal has steadily extended the brand to a range of products that feature witch hazel as a key ingredient—Camphor Pain Relieving Pads, for instance, and Restorative Body Balm. In particular, the facial toner line has proven a breakout product. With a range of scents like rose petal, coconut and cucumber, the toners are made to shrink pores and hydrate the skin, promising a "glowy” look for the user. Who buys into such claims? It’s not just boomers who miss the rosy cheeks of youth. In January, Thayers continued its sponsorship of the X Games, a Gen Z bastion if there ever was one. Be it because of the scents, the marketing or the medicinal effects—perhaps all three—Thayers now makes the bestselling skin toner on the mass market. “We actually sell eight toners every minute,” Katz said. It's a much easier way to use witch hazel than making a poultice from the leaves, a favored application in the 1500s. Regardless, it was the Native Americans who used it first. What the doctor ordered Even among America’s legacy brands, it’s hard to match Thayers for sheer longevity. Dr. Henry Thayer was a Boston Medical School graduate who was really a chemist at heart. In 1847, he opened an apothecary called Henry Thayer & Co. in Cambridge, Mass. Locally renowned for his emollients and fluid extracts (herbals in liquid form, basically), Thayer built a small empire once the U.S. government contracted him to furnish medical supplies during the Civil War. Eventually, Thayer “homed in on witch hazel as this magical ingredient that has advantageous effects on your skin,” Katz said. “And that’s been this powerhouse ingredient that we’ve celebrated ever since.” It's called Thayers, bro In case you’ve never heard of a sporting event called a knuckle huck, imagine a snowboarder headed off a ski jump. At the X Games in Aspen, Colo., in January, the previously guys-only knuckle huck opened to women for the first time, and Thayers was quick to sponsor it. “We want to show up in unexpected ways,” Katz said. “Extreme sports are relevant [with] a lot of younger customers, and we thought it would be an interesting torture test for our new moisturizer.” He’s referring to the recently launched Soak It Up 80HR Liquid Moisturizer, which contains snow mushroom. “If it can last the cold weather in Colorado,” Katz added, “it can work anywhere.” Flower power As you might expect, Thayers takes core ingredient witch hazel very seriously, growing and harvesting its plants on a farm in Easton, Conn. (1) For all its therapeutic wonders, witch hazel is actually a bit sickly looking, its woody stems producing lank, spidery flowers (2) in the fall.

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Thayers Is Courting Gen Z With a Centuries-Old Ingredient

The skin care brand's powerhouse ingredient dates to the 16th century

Robert Klara

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