Do I need a Toner

Keep hearing about using a toner and wondering if it’s for you? Lets investigate. Skip back a lot of years to the birth of the toner and it’s a very different story to now. The idea was you needed a toner to remove any traces of makeup or cleanser left on your skin. Jump back to more advanced times and if your cleanser isn’t doing all that then why the heck are you using it.

Avoid

The kind of toner, in my opinion, that you want to avoid are ones that are alcohol heavy that dry the epidermis and supposedly ‘close up your pores’. You can not close a pore or get rid of a pore. Read more here. A toner should not sting or burn your face.

Look for

Balancing toners. When we cleanse our skin we alter the PH level of the skin. Naturally it sits at 5.5 and is ever so slightly acidic. A good toner will speed up bringing your skin back to you natural ph. Your skin can naturally do this but it’s much slower at doing so.

Hydrating toners. An great product to get hydration into your skin. Hydrating toners act as a humectant drawing in moisture. You’re looking for ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, algae or aloe vera. Avoid sprays that are just water, although they are refreshing water on its own can not be absorbed by the skin.

Acids. These will come in lotion form and are really beneficial to the skin. They aren’t always called a toner but they are a lotion with a blend of acids or 1 type of acid that exfoliate the skin. It’s a really effective way of exfoliating the skin and avoids and scratchy products. Benefits of an acid can include, more even skin tone, increased radiance, clearer skin. Please note if you are sensitive or suffer with Rosacea or Cystic Acne, you are likely to want to avoid acids.

Thoughts

It’s definitely a love hate product. However when you pick the right ones you can really benefit your skin and boost your regime. For me I like to use them sporadically when I feel my skin needs it.

Let me know in the comments if you use a toner or what your thoughts are on toners.

Rach xx