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What is a Toner & Ingredients to Use in Them

Today we are going to be talking all about toners, but specifically about what makes a toner, a toner and ingredients I like to use in toners.

First let's see what the definition of a toner is. The definition is "an astringent liquid applied to the skin to reduce oiliness and improve its condition." But a toner is and does much more than that. Toners made their start by being acne fighters. They were formulated for oily/acne prone skin, were very drying, and could even burn the skin. Today they do much more than that. Todays toners can help rid the skin of excess oil, dirt, & leftover makeup after cleansing, restores your skin to it's natural ph after cleansing, preps the skin for a moisturizer/serum, shrinks pores, can combat dryness and even have anti aging effects. May I bring up Alpha Hydroxy Acid toners?! Those are my personal favorite, but we will talk about Alpha Hydroxy Acids another time. Lets just keep it simple for now ;)


So as we can see a toner can do many different things, so it really comes down to what skin type you have. If you do suffer from oily/acne prone skin having a toner that dries out the skin isn't a bad idea. You can rid your skin of all the excess oils, remove any left over makeup or dirt, and create a perfect base for a moisturizer. I always recommend to use a moisturizer, even if you do have oily skin. You just have to find the right one that doesn't break you out. If you have dry skin stay away from those drying toners, try one with some moisturizing ingredients like rose water, aloe, and humectants. Have sensitive skin? Try one with soothing ingredients like rose water, aloe, or chamomile. I could go on and on! So let me give some examples of some great ingredients that can be added into toners and what they are good for.

*These are just a few ingredients that I personally love to use in toners, but there are much more!


So let's start choosing our ingredients and formulating. For this first toner I want it to help fight acne, but be soothing at the same time, since acne can cause redness and inflammation. I also want to keep this recipe simple so that even a new formulator can find/afford the ingredients. I think that witch hazel is definitely a must have ingredient in a toner for oily/acne prone skin. Witch hazel can be used up to 100% so if you want, you can simply just use pure witch hazel as your toner. It won't need a preservative, because the one you bought is most likely already preserved. To make things less boring I recommend adding some aloe vera juice. It makes a good combo with witch hazel and like we mentioned earlier it is soothing & can help reduce redness which are both good for acne since acne can cause inflammation. Aloe vera juice can also be used at up to 100%, if can't be used as a toner alone, but you can definitely use a lot of it in your toner if you want.


To make this toner a little more fun, and I guess "less simple", lets add an extract or two. I think chamomile extract would be good since it offers soothing effects, but willow bark extract would also be a great ingredient for a toner for oily/acne prone skin. It can help unclog pores, which is definitely what someone with acne needs. It is also very gentle on the skin so I do believe even if you do have sensitive skin, you can handle it. So if you want, you can use both chamomile and willow bark extract, or just one, or none, or maybe another extract you like! I also don't think it is a bad idea to add a humectant. I know people love to dry out their oily/acne prone skin, but please keep in mind that hydration is always important. So while you are drying out the skin and removing excess oils, adding a little moisture is a great idea and we can do this by adding in a small about of vegetable glycerin. It is very inexpensive and only a small amount is needed. Some people can find glycerin to be a bit sticky, so if you aren't a fan of glycerin, then leave it out, but I personally don't find it to feel sticky. Last but not least, a preservative! Since a toner is a water based product we need a preservative for aqueous formulations. Meaning, we need a water soluble preservative like; liquid germall plus, leucidal sf complete, optiphen plus, etc.


When it comes to a toner for dry skin I recommend skipping the witch hazel all together, it's just to drying and can be irritating for sensitive skin. (If you do choose to use witch hazel and you have dry skin, try a witch hazel that doesn't contain alcohol.) I recommend using Rose Water! As I mentioned earlier it is soothing and moisturizing. You could use Rose Water on its own, but I think you will get more benefits by adding some extra ingredients. Vegetable glycerin is also a must! It is a humectant which means it helps draw moisture to the skin. If you want, you can use aloe vera juice as well, but I think I will skip that since we used it in the last toner. How about we add a hydrolyzed protein for some extra moisture. Any hydrolyzed protein is great! I also think cucumber extract would be a great addition since it is very soothing and can tighten pores. Since we aren't using witch hazel in this toner we will have to lower the ph to a skin loving ph of 5.5 using citric acid. Last but not least choose a water soluble broad spectrum preservative.


Now that we have discussed what a toner is, what ingredients can be used, and each ingredients benefits, in my next post I will be sharing a formula for a toner for oily/acne prone skin.




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