What is facial toner used for? To most, toner is somewhat of a skincare mystery with many unaware of what benefits it actually holds; it usually looks just like water, but this water has some pretty magical abilities.
Toner is often overlooked as one of the more important steps of your skincare routine, but to feel the full nourishment of an effective skincare routine it’s a product not to be missed. They may not make your face majestically shine like other beauty products but with a choice of moisturising, deep cleaning and healing properties, toner brings much more to your skincare regime than you could have previously imagined.
Benefits of toner on your skin
The main benefit of toner is to restore balance to your skins pH after cleansing away all the lingering dead skin cells and dirt. Have you ever noticed a tight feeling in your skin after using a cleanser? Well, this is where toner steps in to save the day. A wipe of toner will leave your face feeling nourished and subsequently squeaky clean after cleansing.
Still not convinced by the power of toner? Trust me, there’s more. Toner will clean away all those tiny specs of makeup residue left behind and further exfoliate away any dead skin cells, restoring your skin to the most pristine level of clean.
If nothing else, the soothing feeling of applying a toner to your skin is one hard to match. It creates a calming sensation on your skin while temporarily ridding any redness visible on your complexion. Just like a hair toner, facial toners temporarily even out your skin tone, harmonising your complexion to one equal colour.
Types of facial toners
Like any skincare product, there are heaps of different types of facial toners available. The perfect toner for you will heavily depend on your personal skin type with different toners presenting different benefits. The main toner types include hydrating toners, exfoliating toners and treatment toners.
Hydrating toners
Hydrating toners do just that, hydrate the face with ingredients such as hyaluronic acid to give a quick boost of refreshment to the skin. These are the cleansers you want to be looking out for if your trying to banish the dreaded tight face feeling cleansers often leave behind. Hydrating toners are best matched to those with dry skin.
Paula’s Choice Resist Advanced Replenishing Toner
Targeted at those with dry to normal skin with built in anti-ageing abilities, the Paula’s Choice Resist Advanced Replenishing Toner will help to hydrate and reinforce the skin’s barriers.
Charlotte Tilbury Glow Tonic
The brand new Charlotte Tilbury Glow Tonic refines pores whilst injecting hydration into the skin. Perfect for those with dry skin the Glow Tonic will leave you with soft, smoothed skin and eliminating dryness.
Exfoliating toners
If you’re looking for some serious deep cleaning, then an exfoliating cleanser should be your top choice. These types of cleansers include ingredients such as hydroxy acid to strip away flakiness caused by dead skin cells as well as banishing any dirty residue your cleanser may not have caught. Due to exfoliating cleansers presenting fewer hydrating ingredients they are usually best suited to those with oily skin.
The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution
Created with Glycolic Acid The Ordinary Toning Solution offers skin exfoliation that visually improves the appearance of skin texture, boosting your skin from dull to radiant almost instantly. But be aware, this toner is not for those with dry skin and unlike most toners that can be used both day and night, this toner should only be used at a maximum of once per day, preferably in the evening.
Pixi Glow Tonic
Perfect for gently exfoliating and brightening the complexion, the Pixi Glow Tonic is enriched with the secret ingredient of glycolic acid to purify the face and deeply cleanse and minimise the appearance of pores.
Treatment toners
Treatment toners are created to target skin problems. If you’re in need of a toner specifically for acne or to brighten skin discolouration, then a treatment toner could be your new skincare BFF. Treatment toners are created using specific ingredients to help improve skin imperfections
Kiehl’s Calendula Herbal Extract Toner
The Kiehl’s Calendula Herbal Extract Toner is designed with sensitive, problemed skin in mind. Best for those with oily to normal skin, this Kiehl’s toner soothes the skin while noticeably reducing the appearance of blemishes and hyperpigmentation.
Glossier Solution Exfoliating Skin Perfector
Another toner that is also incredible for it’s exfoliation, this offering from Glossier is also packed with AHAs and BHAs to help calm acne prone skin and visibly diminish the appearance of breakouts.
Toner ingredients to avoid
Alcohol toners are best to be avoided when it comes to finding a toner that works well. The fierce nature of alcohol means it can be extremely drying on the skin, stripping away any moisturizing benefits of toner. If you have naturally dry skin then you’ll begin to find using a toner with alcohol in it’s ingredients will start to do more harm than good.
However, this doesn’t mean that if you have an oily complexion alcohol will be your winning ingredient to banish shine, on top of its drying effects, alcohol-based toners can also cause irritation to the skin, in conclusion if you have sensitive skin it’s also best to steer clear.
