Skincare – How to Tone Your Skin

Skincare – How to Tone Your Skin

Not long ago the accepted skincare routine was: cleanse – tone – moisturize. However, with the advent of rinse-off cleansers, separate toners are becoming less necessary.

When greasy cold creams and milky cleansers were standard make-up removers a separate toning lotion was always used to remove any oily residue. But the modern, rinse-off cleansers rarely require the services of a toner.

The word ‘toner’ is, of course, a bit of a misnomer; we can’t expect a mixture of water, alcohol, and/or astringent or emollient agents to permanently firm or recondition our skin. Toners are formulated to remove the oily cleanser residue or natural skin sebum, or simply to impart a feeling of freshness. ‘Degreaser’, however, isn’t a particularly seductive word and a ‘refresher’ isn’t something consumers are likely to want to hand over much money for.

Toners may no longer be essential, but they do have their uses. If you like using a milky cleanser, for instance, or one that doesn’t rinse well, you will need to dissolve and wipe away residual dirt and grease. If your skin is oily and you want to quickly cleanse and refresh it before going out in the evening, for example, applying some toner will be very effective. They can also act as a more fragrant alternative to a splash of cold tap water in the morning.

Types of toner

There are two types of toner, the first for oily skin, which is essentially a solvent and is used after milky or oil cleansers. It may contain up to 70 per cent alcohol and/or exfoliating salicylic acid, astringents such as witch hazel, or solvents such as resorcinol, along with colours and fragrance. The second variety of toner is formulated for normal or dry skin and contains little or no alcohol or other solvents but has emollient compounds such as allantoin or glycerine, soothing plant extracts and pleasant scents instead.

Much is often claimed for toners, little of it possible. When they are used for oily skin they will certainly remove grease, but can’t stop your skin producing it. And while they might appear to shrink your pores, in reality the solvent has probably simply temporarily irritated your skin sufficiently to inflame the tissue around the pore. Toners for dry skin might also leave your face feeling less stretched and taut than after washing alone, but they can’t put sufficient moisture back into the skin for any long-term therapeutic effect.

Just as over-cleansing can strip away the oils your skin needs to keep it healthy, so can excessive use of the wrong toner. If your skin is very greasy, it will probably happily tolerate the use of a 70 per cent alcohol-based, salicylic acid containing toner. If it’s dry, however, the solvents could dissolve essential lipids causing the skin to become dehydrated. So use toners cautiously and be guided by the reaction of your skin.

Beauty Spot

The received wisdom that, with age, men get better while women do not, does, infuriatingly, has some basis in medical fact. Men have more of the sex hormone androgen giving them a thicker dermis and subcutis which stands them in useful stead for later life.