Keeping Your Skin Toned
Simply put, a good toner is a staple in any girl’s daily beauty regime. It always comes after the cleansing and before the moisturising, and it’s essential if you want to keep your skin ‘tight,’ clear and prepared to combat later life dehydration, and sun damage.
Story Highlights
- The Science
- The High Street
- The High End
The Science
Some people say you don’t need a toner and that cold water will do the same job. A good rule of thumb is that such people usually have naturally perfect skin and should therefore be heartedly ignored. When you wash your face you remove dirt but the warming and cleansing experience enlarges your pores, leaving them wide open to new dirt and infection. Toners shrink your pores, thereby combating this travesty. Now for the Jennifer Aniston TV advert moment. Here comes the science.
Different skin types require different toners. If you’re super sensitive then head toward the skin bracers and fresheners in the super market aisles. These are the mildest of the toner family, with next to no alcohol in the mix and a tad of glycerine to stop all the goodies evaporating. Rosewater’s a good example.
If you have middle of the road (normal) skin then test out a Skin Tonic or two. These are about one fifth alcohol, making them more suited to combat oily, combination or normal skin. Shop sold examples include orange flower water.
Last but by no means least we have astringents, also known as the strongest kind of tonic around. With up to sixty percent alcohol you should only put your skin through this if you’re of the more oily skinned persuasion. They dry out the oil but be careful because it can kick start your face into compensating by encouraging an emergency excess of oil production. Bad times. This stuff however is great on spots and problem areas. Look out for Witch hazel products if this category has peaked your interest.
The High Street
If you’re monogamous with your brands and want a good value, long lasting bottle that’s internationally available on your round the world trek, then look out for Garnier. It’s well established, well known, available in most corners of the earth and it’s not going anywhere soon. The top toner from this brand and a personal favourite of mine has to be Pure Pore Purifying Toner. True it’s a B.S name but it works and it’s not expensive.
The High End
If you’re in a position to splash a little more cash then a good place to start looking is Italian brand supremo, Comfort Zone. Their Everyday Tonic retails at £18.50 and it’s rammed with anti-oxidants which actually result in an almost instant, radiant appearance. This one is perfumed with white flowers so if you fancy a slightly sweeter after smell, this is the one for you.
The Active Pureness Tonic is also served up by Comfort Zone and somehow succeeds as a pretty powerful astringent without any alcohol. Magic. Again this is for you if your ever so slightly oily because it tackles the pH imbalance associated with greasy times. Also if you have pores that are visible from space, then start applying this one. It’ll sort you right out.
- Rob Savage
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