How to Use Toner
What Is Facial Toner?
Toner is a skin cleansing liquid known for its astringent and pore cleansing properties. It is designed to keep your skin clear of blemish-causing material while also refining your pores. Many toners are also designed to help restore your skin’s pH balance and improve your complexion. Some of the most effective toners also contain salicylic acid, which is known to improve breakouts, acne, and other skin issues.
Toner is a skin cleansing liquid known for its astringent and pore cleansing properties. It is designed to keep your skin clear of blemish-causing material while also refining your pores.
What Does Toner Do for Your Skin? The Purpose of Face Toner
Toner might just be the missing key to your perfect skincare routine. If your toner has salicylic acid, it can help treat existing acne, refine your pores, and pack a powerful blemish-fighting punch. Here are some of the top ways toner helps improve your skin:
- Treats Blemishes: Certain ingredients in your toner can help treat blemishes and prevent them from returning. Toners containing salicylic acid are very effective for treating acne.
- Exfoliates Gently: Toners with salicylic acid can help speed up the exfoliation of dead skin cells. Salicylic acid helps to gently break down dead skin cells on the surface of your skin and penetrates deep inside your pores.
- Removes What Your Cleanser Missed: Toners help remove makeup residue and excess oil that can clog your pores. Use toner right after cleansing your skin for an additional cleanse.
- Refine Pores: Toners formulated with Witch Hazel can help to refine your pores. Witch Hazel is known to tighten pores, making them less noticeable, and also helps to refresh your skin.
- Restores your Skin’s pH: Cleansers tend to be alkaline, and our skin is acidic, so some toners help bring your skin’s pH back to a normal pH of around 5.5. A more normal pH helps to calm your skin, restore hydration, and prep your skin for the next steps in your skincare routine.
Shop BHA Toner
Salicylic acid helps to gently break down dead skin cells on the surface of your skin and penetrates deep inside your pores.
How to Use Toner for Oily Skin
Toner is an excellent addition to your daily skincare routine, especially if you have acne-prone or oily skin. The best time to apply toner is right after using your daily cleanser. Toner can help remove additional dirt and grime that your cleanser might have missed.
How to Apply:
- Wet a cotton pad or cotton ball with your toner
- Gently rub the product onto your face and neck.
- Give the toner a few minutes to dry before moving on to the next step in your skincare routine.
The best time to apply toner is right after using your daily cleanser. Toner can help remove additional dirt and grime that your cleanser might have missed.
- Use a cotton pad or ball to apply the toner rather than opting for your fingers so that you can get a more even application. This is the most common way to apply toner to your face and skin. Simply moisten the cotton and gently sweep over the parts of your face, avoiding your lips and eyes.
- Make sure to apply moisturizer after using toner somewhere within your skincare routine. Toners can dry out your face, so it’s important to balance it out with an effective moisturizer.
Toner FAQs
When Should I Use Toner?
Depending on how oily your skin is, you can use toner up to twice a day as part of your beauty routine. However, toners can be drying, so start by applying them a few times a week to see how your skin reacts.
Use a toner during your regular skincare routine in the morning and/or night after your cleanser. Applying a facial toner in the morning will help get rid of oils that might have built up overnight. An evening or nighttime application will help in removing any buildup from throughout the day.
How Should I Choose a Toner?
Toners are known for their astringent and pore cleansing properties. Toners with active ingredients can be used for acne on other parts of the body, but be sure to read the directions on the product first.
Since some toner ingredients can be harsher on the skin, make sure you use a gentle toner for sensitive skin or after hair removal treatment like waxing. Dry sensitive skincare needs more attention. So while salicylic acid, Vitamin C, and alcohol are common active ingredients in facial toners, they may not be suitable if you have sensitive skin.
Look for a toner with witch hazel or salicylic acid if you have acne prone skin. If you have dry skin, a toner with lactic acid can give you the hydration you need.
What Are the Benefits of Toner?
Toners are a key part of your skincare routine. They can treat blemishes, exfoliate gently, refine your pores, and restore your skin’s pH. They are also often able to catch what your cleanser misses, so make sure not to skip this step.
Should I Wash Off Toner?
You don’t need to wash off toner when you’re using it. Actually, you would be missing out on a lot of its properties if you wash it off since you should let it sit and absorb into your skin. This is why it is important to choose a toner that is gentle on your skin, such as one with witch hazel or salicylic acid.
Salicylic acid helps to gently break down dead skin cells on the surface of your skin and penetrates deep inside your pores.
Key Takeaways
- Face toner can help cleanse and refine your pores.
- The best time to apply toner is right after cleansing your skin.
- You don’t need to wash toner off after applying it to your skin.
- Toner with salicylic acid is one of the best ways to fight acne.
- Toner can be drying, so start by applying it a few times a week to see how your skin reacts.
