Vitriol = Vt
Rebis = Rb
Aether = Ae
Quebirth = Qb
Hydragenum = Hg
Vermillion = Vm
Albedo = -A
Rubedo = -R
Nigredo = -N
Bindweed: Ae/Qb/Vm
Effect: Acid resistance increased by 70%.
Duration: 8 hours.
Toxicity: Medium.
Notes: In-and-of-itself, Bindweed isn't the most useful potion in the world. Its primary use is fending off exploding Bloedzuigers... which is just as easily accomplished by running away from them before they explode. Still, if you've got the ingredients spare and haven't yet got the hang of dodging Bloedzuiger guts, it can save you from a fair bit of damage, so why not? If I had to choose, I'd make this as a Rubedo-dominant potion. That way, what damage it doesn't prevent will be restored by the Rubedo, effectively giving you temporary immunity from acid.
Blizzard: Vt/Vt/Rb/Rb
Effect: Dodge and Parry efficiency raised by 50%
Duration: 0.3 hours.
Toxicity: Medium.
Notes: This would be a good potion to use just before boss battles... if it weren't for the way the visual effect COMPLETELY screws up the camera. Seriously, it's almost impossible to see what you're doing properly when you drink this, which does somewhat ruin the whole point of supposedly improved fighting ability. And then there's the ridiculously brief duration: Just 20 minutes. This effect is so short-lived it often doesn't even last the length of the fight you used it for, let alone the journey through an entire cave / dungeon / etc.
De Vries' Extract: Rb/Ae/Qb/Qb/Hg
Effect: Makes hidden / invisible opponents visible.
Duration: 1 hour.
Toxicity: Medium.
Notes: Another useless one. Yes, it makes it possible to spot opponents that are behind walls and obstacles, but the same thing can be achieved by just holding down the Alt key and panning the camera around; the monster / enemy names appear in red, as plainly as what happens when you drink this. There's also the not-so-small issue of there being a grand total of 0 'invisible' monsters in the game, making this potion doubly useless. It's only pragmatic use is if you're in a dark cave and you've ran out of Cats, since the visual effect can light up dark areas just enough to be able to see what you're doing in them... assuming the mini-map isn't enough to help you get out of the place already.
Full Moon: Qb/Hg/Hg/Vm/Vm
Effect: Doubles maximum Vitality.
Duration: 8 hours.
Toxicity: high.
Notes: Now THIS is what I call a decent potion! Anything that automatically makes you twice as hard to kill is aces in my book. There is one downside though (apart from its high toxicity): It only doubles the MAX health, and you'll have to wait a while before your current health fills the extra space generated by it. Because of this, I'd strongly recommend making a rubedo-dominant one, along with a Swallow to use at the same time, to speed the process up. You don't want to know how long you'll be sat doing nothing for while Geralt regenerates the equivalent of his entire health bar unaided.
Kiss: Vt/Vt/Vm
Effect: Removes any current Bleeding effects and increases bleeding resistance
by 70%
Duration: 8 hours.
Toxicity: Medium.
Notes: Same as the Golden Oriole, only for Bleeding instead. As such, all the same reasons why it's an unwise use of toxicity points apply to this too, since Bleeding is largely the same as Poison (read: short-term, periodical losses of small amounts of health). I can think of maybe one or two situations where this might be useful (the fight with Ozzrel comes to mind), but no more than that.
Maribor Forest: Rb/Rb/Ae/Qb
Effect: Raises maximum Endurance by 50%.
Duration: 8 hours.
Toxicity: Medium.
Notes: This can be pretty useful, provided you've not been ignoring your signs and have spent a few talents making them more powerful. If you're into using magic in battles, this is a pretty wise choice. If not, however, there are probably more relevant things to dose yourself up with elsewhere on this list.
Perfume: Vt/Ae/Qb
Effect: Causes Intoxication (Attack -50%). Best used as a gift or sold.
Duration: 8 hours.
Toxicity: Low.
Notes: This can be a replacement for the items most female NPCs ask for, so as a bartering tool it's pretty good. However, if you've already gotten all the rewards playing with female NPCs gets you, then it's all but worthless save for its mediocre selling price of 20 orens. Which, I might add, is less than what most potion bases cost to buy, so it's not any good for making money with either.
Shrike: Rb/Qb/Hg/Vm/Vm
Effect: Causes Pain to creatures that physically attack Geralt.
Duration: 8 hours.
Toxicity: High.
Notes: Personally, I think there are better ways of causing Pain than to clog up your system with this stuff. Crinfrid Oil, to name but one. And that's assuming the creatures you're up against are actually vulnerable to Pain, which quite a few aren't.
Willow: Ae/Ae/Qb
Effect: Grants immunity to the Stun and Knockdown effects.
Duration: 8 hours.
Toxicity: high.
Notes: Unlike the Kiss and Golden Oriole, this status-preventing potion is actually important to have on a number of occasions, thanks to both the effects it protects against being much more dangerous than either Poison or Bleeding. Stun and Knockdown both enable enemies to execute finishing moves on you, some of which can kill instantly. And if that wasn't reason enough, some of the end-game bosses can also do it to you too, complete with insta-death finishing moves. It is worth carrying at least one of these with you at all times, just in case you run into a monster capable of causing either effect.
Wives' Tears: Rb/Ae/Qb
Effect: Removes Intoxication effect.
Duration: Immediate.
Toxicity: Low.
Notes: Several story points in the game involve Geralt getting completely plastered with his friends... and some of these drinking sessions are immediately followed by fights. As a result, it's always a good idea to have one of these handy, should the unexpected need for combat arise (or if you're just bored of laughing at Geralt's drunken attempts at walking across the room).
Wolf: Vt/Vt/Hg/Hg/Vm
Effect: Chance of causing Precise Hit raised by 50%.
Duration: 8 hours.
Toxicity: Medium.
Notes: I'm not sure, but I have a feeling the critical effect Precise Hit can only be caused by using the Group style during combat. If this is true, then this potion is only any good in fights where said style is employed. To be honest however, even if it isn't, relying on critical effects is rarely a wise move in any but the most rudimentary of fights (when said effects failing to take hold is of little concern). If you've got the spare toxicity points, and you know you'll be facing large groups of enemies in the near future, then I can see the reasoning. For any other situation, however, I'd spend said toxicity on something else.
Wolverine: Ae/Ae/Qb/Hg/Vm
Effect: Increases Attack and Damage by 50% when Geralt's health drops below
50%.
Duration: 8 hours.
Toxicity: Medium.
Notes: Using toxicity points, top-quality alcohol and a few ingredients to effectively bet against yourself like this isn't my idea of skillful gameplay.
This potion is only any use when Geralt's health drops below half, meaning most battles will cause neither need nor use of it at all. Of the remaining few (namely, with those creatures dangerous enough to cause that kind of damage), letting yourself get to such a risky state is never smart. Trying to keep yourself in said state, just for the sake of something a Thunderbolt can replicate pretty well (what it doesn't give in accuracy, it makes up for in damage), is even dumber.
Could be useful if you've got a spare Full Moon lying around, though, since they effectively cause your health to go to 50% without you actually losing any vitality.