toner is it part of your daily routine?

I believe in Toners. They may make you break out occasionally but this is just doing it’s job. The skin needs to be cleansed after the busy hectic rituals performed during the day and facing the outside world. Love your skin and it will love you back.

I always use toner. At the moment I’m using one by Formula 10.0.6, you can see the dirt that it picks up n the cotton pad, so it noticeably helps clean the skin that extra bit, especially after taking off makeup, it helps to get the little bit of makeup that cleansing may sometimes miss. Skin care essential!!

I’ve been deciding on whether or not to ditch toning from my routine and stumbled upon this forum. I just read on About.com (the only other place I trust, other than BH) that toners aren’t really necessary, unless you have really oily skin or are prone to acne and breakouts. Luckily, neither of those apply to me. I find it does take off the last traces of makeup, but I only wear light make-up, and I’m getting more concerned with my skin drying as I get older. I am nearly finished my bottle of Nivea Visage toner and honestly, I’m going to try life without toner for a few months and see how my skin fares.

Absolutely, I love toner and have always used it. I feel it is good for 2 reasons, First to finish the cleansing process, and second it allows the serums to be absorbed better.

Very delighted with the positive response from Mecca.

I love using witch hazel – it’s cheap and you can get it from the supermarket. It does contain a little alcohol so I could be drying for some skin types but I find it tightens up my pores really well. I find using a toner also preps the skin well for makeup. makes for a smoother base – especially because I don’t use primer.

On the topic of daily routine – I was just wondering what your daily skincare routines involved as I’m trying to start up a regular skincare routine (I’m 16 with pretty typical teenage skin). What are some of the steps that you include and what are your product recommendations for teenage skin? Thanks so much! 🙂

I’m 31 but I STILL have lots of little bumps on my forehead and the occasional small pimple so I use a range that’s designed for breakouts, pores and wrinkles. My routine consists of:

Micellar water to remove makeup
Wet/wipe face with Norwex microfibre cloth
Foaming cleanser (with a massaging brush once a day)
Toner (applied with cotton pad)
2% bha (applied with cotton pad)
Benzoyl peroxide
Moisturiser
Antioxidant serum
Vitamin c cream
Sunscreen (day only)

I agree with others to start with a simple 3 step routine (including a moisturising sunscreen), and add in what you need (serums, treatments etc) when you’re ready. Some say you don’t need to stick to one brand, but I disagree, as you may end up doubling up on ingredients (like bhas) if you use a variety of brands, and most of them don’t even tell you what their active ingredients are! And while right now you’re probably most concerned with acne, please make sure to wear a sunscreen everyday, as this will help prevent wrinkles when you’re older. (You can get nice non greasy face ones now.)

I have always used a toner, morning and night. I currently use a Paula’s Choice one, which is is designed to reduce pores (among other things) which I really need. I also use the “daily pore refining treatment 2% bha” which is not a toner, it’s a bha that can be used after your toner. I previously used both clinique and proactiv, and both were too harsh for my skin, they left me red and a bit stingy (I think they are both bhas too but the clinique has menthol which is just ridiculous). I though that stinging was normal, as you are putting an acid on your face, but after switching to Paula’s choice I’ve realised that your skincare routine doesn’t need to irritate your skin at all. Toners do different things and you need to choose the one that suits you, but if I was using a cream cleanser or not using makeup remover before cleansing, I would definitely use one, every time.

There is a massive forum already on toners that might help you too

http://www.beautyheaven.com.au/forums/skincare/to-tone-or-not

This is great. I don’t search older forums often enough. It would be great if the BH team were able to reference our conversations as a segue to their articles (make us feel a part of the writing process).

As for me, I tried Dermalogica and felt spraying it on was a waste of time. Tried the Clinique Step 2, and found it was too high in alcohol (even though it does work), so I switched to the good old witch hazel and haven’t looked back.

There is a massive forum already on toners that might help you too

http://www.beautyheaven.com.au/forums/skincare/to-tone-or-not