Hydrating Toners

If the word “toner” gives you PTSD from attempting to clear up your hormonal acne in high school, you’re not alone. Those astringent tones, the ones that reek of alcohol and leave your face so tight and dry that it's painful, are awful. They suck the oils out of your skin to "fight acne" and "minimize pores" when actually all this does is cause your skin to overcorrect and produce more oils which causes acne and the appearance of larger pores. Thankfully, they’re getting less and less popular and people are turning to more gentle toning products that hydrate the skin instead and prep it for the rest of your skincare routine.

What is A Hydrating Toner?

Hydrating toners are used to plump up the skin and prep it for all subsequent skincare products. They're somewhere in between the consistency of a water and a serum and since I’ve added one of these to my routine, my dry skin has transformed completely. We owe a huge thanks to Asian skincare for creating these hydration potions that nourish the skin. An Asian skincare philosophy is to think about your skin as a sponge - if it's bone dry it’ll have a difficult time soaking up any thicker products so we need to dampen it with a hydrating toner first. These toners will hydrate your face through the use of humectants as their base ingredients. So what are humectants?

What Are Humectants for Skin?

Humectants are special because they draw moisture to the outer layer of our skin like a magnet, leaving it plump and glowing. Humectants draw moisture from the deeper layer of the skin (dermis) and bring them up to the top layer of the skin (epidermis), which moisturizes the visible layer of our skin (stratum corneum). Just like a magnet, humectants draw moisture from the other direction too - the humidity in the air. A star ingredient and humectant that you'll likely find in every hydrating toner available is hyaluronic acid (HA). HA can attract up to 1,000 times its weight in water! Basically, HA grabs onto water and shoves it into your skin before it has the chance to evaporate.

How to Use a Hydrating Toner

Since hydrating toners are used to prep the skin for the rest of your routine, they should be applied after cleansing and before any thicker serums and moisturizers. If you use actives in your routine, you can choose to apply your hydrating toner either before or after active treatments depending on how sensitive your skin is (hydrating toners will act as a buffer and reduce potential dryness and irritation caused by actives). For those with dry skin, you can even apply multiple layers of a hydrating toner, waiting a minute or so in between each application. The Hado Labo hydrating toner was my first ever hydrating toner and although I’ve tried many others over the years, I always find myself coming back to this one for its super ingredient list and low price (linked first below).

Recommendations: Hada Labo Hyaluronic Lotion Moist, Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner, Klairs Supple Preparation Unscented Facial Toner, Earth's Recipe Energy Boosting Toner