To Tone or not to Tone

So what’s the deal with toners?  Do you really need to use one?  Well, if you’re using a synthetic toner or astringent with alcohol, petro-chemicals, artificial dyes, and synthetic fragrances, then I would say you absolutely don’t need a toner.  Plus the promise that alcohol-based toners make to shrink pores are completely empty.  Instead these products irritate the skin, making it swell so that pores appear smaller, which only temporarily gives the desired effect.  However, when the effect sears off, the only thing you’re left with is irritated and dehydrated skin.  Sadly, it’s a fact of life that we can not actually shrink our pores.  The only thing we can do is prevent them from getting bigger which is where lifestyle factors  such as sun exposure, smoking, i.e. doing things that are bad for us can come into play.  If you want to know the real secret to making your pores look smaller, it is a good cleansing regime. Shock, gasp, cat is out of the bag now!

So what can “natural” or non-synthetic toners offer our skin?   A good natural toner conditions, nourishes, and sooths the skin, calms blemishes, and delivers active ingredients.  If your skin is naturally on the oily side you may be able to use a mild toner as a weightless moisturizer.  Natural toners are also a great multi-purpose product when traveling or going to the gym.  In the warmer months you may feel you prefer a toner with some alcohol in it, but make sure that it is listed towards the middle to bottom of the product’s ingredient list.  Careful here, you don’t want to overstrip your skin.  Another great use for natural toners is to turn them into a mask.  Either spritz one directly onto your face immediately after you have applied a mask (and before you have washed the mask off so that the toner and mask work together) or apply the toner to a gauze mask and relax with the gauze on your face.  In the winter months use a toner that has glycerin.   This will help your skin to retain its moisture.  Never use a toner as a substitute for a cleanser.  Cleansing your face is the most important step in your skin care regime, never skip it, or think that a toner can do the same job.  Sadly, it can’t.

In order to demystify the terminology around alcohol, if the toner you are using contains alcohol, make sure it is labeled as ethanol and NOT isopropyl alcohol.  Ethanol is made from grain whereas isopropyl alcohol is petroleum-derived.  Safe and natural alternatives to isopropyl alcohol are: witch hazel, rose water, orange water, calendula, green tea, and lavender.  So go forth, and tone with the right ingredients.  But please tone responsibly.