The Toner Conundrum : To Use Or Not To Use

Like I have mentioned before, I have never been much of a toner user. I did try a few over the years but I used them on and off, never regularly, because I simply never felt that they were important. Neither did I feel that they made any kind of difference to my skin. So why this conundrum now? Read on…

Till last december, I wasn’t a regular user of toners. Then I tried the Clarins Toning lotion with Iris (reviewed here) and really liked how fresh it made my skin feel. It also made my pores “appear” a bit smaller. Nice fragrance, cooling sensation and alcohol-free all made it my HG toner.

Then, on one of the skincare blogs I follow (a UK based skincare expert), I read how acid toners were really important that everyone should make them a part of their skincare routine. I also read hundreds of comments by other readers on how acid toners helped them in combatting their acne and in generally improving the look and feel of their skin.

Now, I never had to seriously battle acne as a teen. My acne troubles started once I stopped nursing my second son (hormonal fluctuations) and Lancome’s Visionnaire serum just added fat to the fire. To get my good skin back, I tried several products, including Vichy Normaderm (reviewed here and here) and while they all helped in fighting the acne, none could prevent fresh outbreaks. And we’re talking cystic acne here. The kind that left behind dark marks and deep scars.

Finally, after a lot of research (thank you google) on acid toners and reading reviews of P50, Alpha H and several other, much-raved about, HG acid toners, I decided to buy the Mario Badescu Glycolic Acid Toner. There were two main reasons for choosing this one; just four ingredients and only 2% Glycolic Acid, making it the gentlest of the acid toners and hence a good one to start out with….

Initially, I used this twice a day and my skin got angry and red because of over exfoliation (other products were responsible too) and I cut down to using this only in my night-time routine and the Clarins one in the morning routine.

My skin continued to behave erratically and the breakouts continued. Despite using the acid toner for 45 days, I didn’t see any reduction in the acne outbreaks nor major skin turnover to speed up the fading of the marks. And I kept thinking, “these things take time, be patient”.

Then, when I went on my holiday to Thailand, I didn’t take the MB Glycolic Toner with me since that makes the skin more sensitive to the sun. I took the Clarins toner but ended up not using it at all. Now, after just one month and ten days of being “Toner-free”, my skin is soooo much better! The acne breakouts have also reduced dramatically with me getting just two pimples around that time of the month. My skin, overall, looks and feels so much better now. And just to clarify, both these toners are alcohol-free.

This has really baffled me. So should I use toner or not? All the skincare experts and gurus extoll the virtues of the CTM – Cleansing-Toning-Moisturising – routine and they all say that toners are very important. Some of them also say that an acid toner is a must in the anti-acne and anti-aging routines. But my skin is better when I don’t use these. Common sense obviously, says that I should stay toner-free since my skin prefers it that way.

Moral of the story for all of you reading this blog? Don’t blindly believe what anyone recommends! Everyone’s skin is different and reacts in it’s own unique way to different products. What might have worked for someone, might not necessarily work for you. Proceed with caution.

And as they say, “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.” If you haven’t been using a toner and your skin is good, there’s no need to start using one just because you read a rave review online. Yes, even if it is on my blog. And I always advise readers to try out a little sample before buying. Ultimately, you need to understand and listen to what your skin is trying to tell you.

The Clarins and Mario Badescu toners are really good, gentle toners but perhaps, my skin just wants me to slather on fewer chemicals? My mom and hubby both keep telling me to cut down on the stuff I use on my face, and guess what, I cut down on toners and my skin has started improving. Co-incidence, perhaps.

So the answer to my conundrum….I’m laying off toners for a while and will see how it goes. Sorry for the rambling, but I hope it helps you in some way with your skincare routine.

Do you use toners? Do you feel your skin is better when you use them or when you don’t? Do let me know in the comments….