People from all over the globe want nice skin – and we can’t blame them! A clear, even complexion lends serious confidence in every setting. And the good news? There’s an easy step you can take to get clearer, prettier skin today: facial toner.
Toners offer extra hydration, keep your face clean and refreshed, and minimize the appearance of pores, among other things. Let’s dive into three benefits of incorporating a toner into your routine, as well as pro tips. Read on for cleaner, clearer skin!
1. Clean and Hydrate Your Skin
No one needs to tell you that clean skin is happy skin. Unfortunately, scrubbing away with medicated soap isn’t always the best approach to cleansing. For one thing, it’s hard on sensitive skin, causing redness and irritation. For another, harsh cleansers used daily can strip away the skin’s natural oils. Ironically, this causes the skin to create even more oil, which can increase your chances of blemishes.
Enter the facial toner.
The Cleansing Power of Toners
Because you apply toner after washing your face or showering, many people are unaware that toners actually cleanse as well. They do, though, help to clean off dead skin cells, debris buildup, makeup, and pollutants from the outside world. All of this keeps pores clear and reduces the chances of a breakout.
Hydration Station
There’s also the hydrating power of toner. Again, this is critical for a healthy complexion, because it reduces dryness and flaking as well as helps to protect the skin’s moisture barrier. Plus, when skin gets dry, it also overproduces oil – not a good look. Daily facial toner can do a lot to keep skin moist, supple, and glowing with simple, water-giving goodness.
2. Minimize the Size and Appearance of Pores
No one likes the look of big pores, and it’s one of the biggest complaints people have about their complexions. Even when your skin is clean and blemish-free, large pores can make it appear as though you have acne or your skin is less clean than it is. Luckily, witch hazel can help shrink those pores for an all-around healthier, more glowing look.
How Does Toner Tighten Pores?
Toners with ingredients such as witch hazel or salicylic acid, which cleanse the skin, can help to significantly tighten pores in a few ways. For one thing, toner is a gentle exfoliant, removing dead skin cells from around the outside of pores and making them less noticeable.
For another, it cleans out the inside of your pores so that they can shrink. Lastly, by tightening the gaps between cells, toner helps the pores overall to close up. The result is much more even, fresh-looking skin that lends a youthful glow to your entire face.
Note that since toner also provides these benefits to all types of skin, not just facial, you can use it on the rest of your body. Tighten pores on your chest, back, arms, and more with the same product you use on your face for an inexpensive, all-in-one approach. Witch hazel is especially good for tandem face and body toning!
3. Fight Acne and Aging
Many people are delighted to hear that toner can help them fight acne as well. That, in combination with fighting aging, is a fantastic one-two punch for better skin.
Toner: All-Natural Acne Defense
Toner helps with acne in several ways. First, it cleanses skin and tightens pores, reducing the chance that blemishes will form. For another, it balances your skin’s pH levels, keeping them as close as possible to neutral. This reduces the overproduction of oil, which again makes it less likely that you will see acne breakouts.
How Does Facial Toner Prevent Aging?
Preventing skin aging is another service that facial toners provide. We’re not just talking about preventing the appearance of aging, either. Facial toners with antioxidant ingredients, such as aloe vera and witch hazel, can keep your complexion younger. Here’s how it works.
Free radicals abound in the outside world and are made naturally in your body. A free radical is an atom or molecule with a free electron spot, which means they try to grab electrons from nearby molecules, changing them.
Unfortunately, these free radicals can wreak havoc on chemical processes inside your body, and can even harm DNA, physically speeding up the aging process. Antioxidants step in, giving away a free electron and immediately neutralizing free radicals. Just like that, you’re less likely to see detrimental aging effects.
Naturally, if you want to see these benefits, you’re going to need to up your toner game.
What Kind of Facial Toner Should You Use?
All right, so you’re sold on the power of toner, but what type should you use? There are all kinds of ingredients in toners available on the market today, including salicylic acid, alpha-hydroxy acids, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, chamomile, and aloe vera.
These all bring different benefits to the table. For instance, aloe and chamomile are both very soothing, while hyaluronic acid and glycerin are great for dry skin. If you tend to get blemishes, then salicylic acid may be a good choice for you.
One of the most popular ingredients, however, is witch hazel. This all-natural substance has a storied history (it was once used to dowse for water, which was how it got its name). More importantly, though, witch hazel provides all of the above benefits in one easy package. When you use facial toners that include it, you get:
- Clean, hydrated skin
- Balanced complexion and pH
- Reduced oil production
- Tighter pores and fewer blemishes
- Defense against free radicals and aging
Whether you’re new to facial toners or are looking for a new one to fill out your skincare routine, you can’t go wrong with witch hazel.
Get More Witch Hazel Into Your Routine Today
Would you like cleaner, fresher, more blemish-free skin? Of course, you would … who wouldn’t? It’s time to get some facial toner into your routine today.
The good news is, it’s easy-peasy. Toner is typically inexpensive, even for products that use all-natural ingredients such as witch hazel. You can find a handy guide to witch hazel facial toners here, which can help you decide between application methods, scents, and more.
Et voilà: a not-so-secret beauty secret that everyone should be using! Don’t wait any longer to cleanse, nourish and protect your skin with toner today.
