Toner Talk - What you need to know about choosing the right toner for your skin concern
Even though toners are not an essential part to your skincare routine (it really boils down to a good cleanser, moisturizer, and SPF), toners are very essential tew me. In the early 00’s toners usually meant some sort of astringent liquid, meaning it was a product designed to dry the oil out your skin, meaning it wasn’t suitable for all skin types. These days there’s a plethora of toners to choose from that can really make a difference in your routine. Toners used to be known as the pH balancing liquid that you use after you cleanse your skin to help finish removing the dirt and oil your cleanser didn’t pick up. With most cleansers being pH balanced already and double cleansing existing to make sure all the dirt is being removed by cleansing, toners are more fun and effective than ever with added skin benefits that treats all skin concerns. They’re a great way to introduce your skin to new active ingredients, help deliver more hydration to your skin, and help your serums layer better over your skin. So let’s dive in to the different skin concerns toners can treat now and how to use them effectively for the glowing skin you deserve.
First things first - I know most people put their toner on a cotton round and swipe it across their face. This is mostly for the original marketed function of toners, which was to help finish removing excess dirt and oil. Personally, I’ve found that it ends up with most of the product being on the cotton round and not on your face. Pouring your toner in your hand and patting it in your skin has been a much more effective delivery system for me, especially with hydrating toners. Now to the fun stuff!
Toners for dry/sensitive skin and skin barrier repair:
Earlier this week I tweeted about how essential toners were to my daily skin routine and I got a lot of feedback that people didn’t use toners because their skin was “too dry” or “too sensitive”. Luckily there’s an entire market of hydrating toners now. I especially feel that dry and sensitive skin would benefit from having a hydrating toner in their daily line up to help add the hydration that isn’t naturally there and give your hydrating serums/moisturizers some water to bond to in order to properly deliver the hydration to your skin. When you’re shopping for a hydrating toner look for the forefront ingredients to contain things like hyaluronic acid, glycerin, sodium hyaluronate, ceramides, PCA - things of that nature. Here are my favorite dry and sensitive skin hydrating toners that changed the game for me.
Paula’s Choice Advanced Replenishing Toner ($24) - This is my favorite daily toner. I raved about it on my skinsta a while ago but trust that I literally have been using it daily ever since. It’s a super hydrating milky toner that works amazing to help maintain your skin’s daily hydration without the oiliness. It features hydrating hyaluronic acid, antioxidants to help repair the skin from UV exposure and free radical damage, and fatty acids for skin barrier repair. It’s safe to use daily, twice a day.
First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Wild Oat Toner ($22) ** - The name says it all: ultra repair. It does exactly that. This is a great daily toner that uses ingredients like oat milk, colloidal oatmeal, and honey to reduce the redness and inflammation that comes with sensitive skin. It also features hyaluronic acid for added hydration. This is safe to use twice a day, after you cleanse your skin.
Face Reality Calming Facial Toner ($23) - This toner is from a skincare brand literally designed to treat sensitive, acne prone, skin and this product is no different. If you have dry, acne prone, skin this toner is perfect for you. It features calming rose flower water (PEEP it’s rose flower water, NOT rose essential oil extract that can be irritating to sensitive skin and acne prone skin …. cough cough Heritage Store rosewater toner …), glycerin and aloe leaf juice for hydration, as well as skin soothing allantoin. These are all great ingredients to treat redness, dryness, inflammation, and irritation. This toner is safe to use twice a day, after you cleanse your skin.
Toners for oily skin:
Believe it or not, oily skin can benefit from hydration - especially if your skin is excessively oily because of some sort of damaged skin barrier. Using toners with astringent properties, aka that witch hazel ya’ll love, to “dry the oiliness out” is doing more harm than good to your skin barrier. When your skin is dry, it produces more oil to form as a protective layer on your skin. By using drying products on oily skin, you’re causing your skin to create even MORE oil to compensate. Oil free hydrating toners are going to be your BFF to help moisturize your skin while preventing an oily/shiny finish. When you’re shopping for toners for oily skin look for oil free formulas that have oil controlling ingredients like niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, antioxidants, and ceramides. Here’s my faves.
Paula’s Choice Pore Reducing Toner ($21) - This is my holy grail when my pores are looking bigger than usual (reminder: pores don’t open and close, but you can help reduce the APPEARANCE of them). This skin balancing toner features niacinamide to help regulate skin’s oil production and even skin tone while it’s hyaluronic acid and ceramides help with the barrier strength and hydration oily skin needs. This toner is safe to use daily, twice a day.
Vichy Mineralizing Thermal Water Spray ($9.50) - I’ve been a fan of this for years. This face mist is made of volcanic water to help hydrate your skin without an oily finish as well as helping to balance your skin which is super beneficial for oily skin types. It’s lightweight (oil free formula) and gets the job done every time. This toner is safe to use daily, twice a day.
Hylamide SubQ Mist ($13) - This is another oldie, but goodie, it was one of the first toners I’ve ever consistently used. Another great oil free, but hydrating, toner. It features rose water for hydration, tasmannia lanceolate fruit/ leaf extract to fight early signs of aging as well as reduce redness and inflammation, and curculigo orchioides root extract for it’s antioxidant properties. It’s very hydrating without the oily finish and it’s lightweight. This toner is safe to use daily, twice a day.
Delish Condish
Toners to fight acne:
Acne fighting toners are typically exfoliating by nature (anything that says AHA/BHA on it is exfoliating). BHAs, beta hydroxy acid, is a common ingredient in toners marketed to treat acne because of its ability to get deep in the pores to clear dead skin cells and excess sebum (oil). With that being said, it means these toners cannot be used daily. They’re best used at night, 2-3 times per week paired with daily sunscreen usage. Daily reminder: you must wear sunscreen daily to fight acne. Now let’s get into my favorite toners to treat acne.
Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA BHA Pore-Tight Toner ($34) - I know $34 for a toner is high on the pricey side, but I promise you it’s worth it. The bottle will last you a solid amount of time considering it’s huge and the product isn’t for daily use. This toner is my favorite acne fighting toner because it’s very hydrating which is rare in an acne toner. It features PHA (poly hydroxy acid) and BHA (salicylic acid) to deep clean your pores, willow bark extract to combat texture, and hyaluronic acid for hydration. Use this 2-3 times per week, at night.
Delish Condish Bamboo & Ginseng Toner ($17) ** Black owned ** - This isn’t an exfoliating toner, but I still consider it an acne toner because it features all the supplemental ingredients skin going through an active breakout needs to heal the acne caused skin wounds. This hydrating toner bamboo extract for skin barrier repair, ginseng to calm the skin’s redness and inflammation, and tamarind to unclog your pores and prevent hyperpigmentation. It’s great to use to calm down active breakouts and safe to use daily, twice a day.
Rosen Skincare Gold Tides Toner ($18) ** Black owned ** - This is what you should be using in place of that “diluted” tea tree oil. This acne toner was made with dissolved sea salt to kill acne causing bacteria and white willow bark extract to gently exfoliate congested pores. The best part is, it’s safe for daily use even with it’s exfoliating properties. You can safely use this on breakouts, nightly, paired with daily SPF usage.
Toners to treat hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone:
What everyone came here for, lol! I feel like everyone is looking for every single product on earth to fight hyperpigmentation. Like the acne toners, most toners that are designed to treat hyperpigmenation and/or dull/uneven skin usually have exfoliating properties meaning it is not for daily use and best used at night paired with daily SPF usage. Here are my faves.
Ole Henriksen’s Glow2Oh Dark Spot Toner ($29) - This is a heavy hitter. Even though $30 is steep for a toner, the bottle will last you forever since it’s not for daily use and a little goes a long way. This toner uses lactic acid and glycolic acid, two very potent alpha hydroxy acids, to boost cell turnover and even skin tone. It also features licorice root extract to help treat hyperpigmentation. I use this post acne breakout when I have leftover scarring and dullness and after a week or 2 of using it 2-3 nights per week my skin is back to being radiant.
Rosen Skincare Tropics Toner ($18) ** Black owned ** - This is a great gentle brightening toner. What I love about it is that it’s acne safe so you can use it while you’re in a breakout without irritation. This brightening toner features kojic acid, a tyrosinase inhibitor meaning it stops the excess production of melanin (aka hyperpigmentation). It also utilizes pineapple enzymes to gently exfoliate your skin and hyaluronic acid for hydration. This toner is safe to use daily, twice a day with daily SPF usage.
Beauty Strike Mandelic Acid Toner ($25) ** Black owned ** - Mandelic acid is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, skin care ingredients because it not only treats hyperpigmenation, it also treats acne. This toner is one of my favorite mandelic acid containing products. It also has green tea extract to soothe and hydrate the skin as well as aloe leaf extract for hydration. This is one of my secret weapons to keep my skin on glow while fighting an active breakout. Use 2-3 times per week, at night, paired with daily SPF usage.
Hopefully this article showed you that not all toners are built the same! We are past witch hazel and micellar water (miceller water is NOT a toner).
Cheers,
Kahina