Today’s toners contain less drying, astringent ingredients than ever before, making them more beneficial than ever for your skin. Look for one without alcohol, phthalates and parabens as these could potentially irritate sensitive skin types. Shokeen-approved tea tree oil helps unclog pores while green tea extract can brighten dark spots while salicylic acid purifies without over-drying skin.
Face toner is your first leave-on treatment step after cleansing to complete the cleansing process and restore pH balance to the skin. Here’s how you can select an ideal option.
1. Clarifying
Once upon a time, toners were known for being harsh alcohol-rich astringents that stripped skin and left it feeling parched. Nowadays, however, modern toners come in all forms and sizes that can address specific skincare concerns like clogged pores, oily skin or anti-aging. Clarifying toners help minimize breakouts by controlling sebum production and unclogging pores; while those featuring witch hazel and niacinamide as their key pore-minimizing ingredients make them great solutions for oily or acne-prone skin types.
Fountain of Youth Clarifying Toner provides soothing organic aloe vera, peppermint extract and glycerin that combine to tone and smooth the complexion, as well as targeting breakouts with niacinamide, zinc oxide and sulfur to prevent future breakouts from forming. Plus it’s free of alcohol, parabens and artificial fragrances to ensure healthy skin barrier function without drying effects – providing you with an instantly refreshed complexion!
2. Brightening
As an essential skincare component, toner can make an invaluable addition to your morning or evening skincare regimen. While past generations used harsh alcohol-heavy toners that stripped your skin of moisture, modern face toners are gentler and tailored specifically to meet the individual needs of each user.
If you suffer from hyperpigmentation or dullness, choose a toner containing ingredients such as niacinamide, arbutin, sodium hyaluronate and Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract to reduce dark spots, improve tone and boost radiance. Conversely, those suffering from acne-prone skin should use toner containing salicylic acid for faster results in clearing congestion and unclogging pores.
Toners should be applied after cleansing to fresh, cleansed skin by saturating a cotton round or pad with toner, and gently sweeping over it with your fingertip. Some toners come in spray form for on-the-go application that reduces product waste. Toner masking offers more targeted solutions by soaking several cotton rounds in toner and placing them for three to five minutes over problematic areas of skin.
3. Hydrating
Toners once earned themselves an unfavorable reputation due to alcohol-rich astringents used to target breakouts. Today, however, more hydrating formulas exist that can help balance skin while increasing effectiveness of moisturizers.
Utilizing a toner is equally crucial to cleansing: It will remove any stubborn dirt, oil, or makeup residue left behind after you cleansed and help minimize pores if used regularly. So if you haven’t started yet, now is the time!
Freck Beauty’s Hydrating Toner uses cactus flower extract and hyaluronic acid to soothe, as well as boost moisture levels, leaving us with noticeably plumper, brighter complexions. Plus, its gentle formula makes application simple: just spray onto cotton pads or pat directly onto skin using your hands – even helping treat common dry-skin concerns such as dullness and uneven tone!
4. Exfoliating
Exfoliating toners not only make skin look brighter, they can also reduce pores, smooth rough patches and wrinkles, even out skin tone and help even out tone differences. Formulas containing alpha, beta or poly hydroxy acids like willow bark or sugar cane may exfoliate, while shea butter or cactus water may hydrate and soothe sensitive or dry skins. Garshick cautions sensitive or dry skinned people should only use an exfoliating toner one or two times every week so as not over-exfoliating and disrupting protective barriers.
Joy suggests applying toner after cleansing and rinsing with lukewarm water, followed by serums and moisturizers as usual. Targeted treatments should be applied post-toning but before moisturizer application in order to penetrate deeply into your skin. Also make sure you add SPF into your routine since exfoliating can increase its sensitivity to sun damage; keep track of seasonal changes as they happen so as to manage expectations more appropriately.
