On Toners….

As an Esthetician, I have been getting quite a few questions about toners and why they are a necessary part of a skin care regime. There seems to be a rumor floating around that toners are an unessential step in day to day skin care.  Toners are amazing and are the unsung heroes of facial skin care.

Facial skin is slightly acidic with a natural pH of around 5.5, and facial cleansers tend to be more alkaline, so when you cleanse your face you disturb the skins natural pH. Traditionally, toners were used to balance the pH of skin after cleansing. As skin care has evolved over time, different lines have found ways to create pH balanced cleansers, and toners have evolved right along with them to be more condition and treatment oriented.

It is also important for people to realize the difference between a toner and an astringent. A solution is a toner when it contains less than %30 alcohol, anything higher than that is considered an astringent, which I honestly believe nobody should be using. Astringents dry out your skin, and tend to only make problems worse, whereas most toners will aid in the skin’s natural healing processes and help more active facial products penetrate deeper into the epidermis.

– Cassie