I am sure you must be religiously following the CTM routine, isn’t it? And in case you say no, I literally would be more than shocked, Lol. But honestly, CTM is one of the most basic and easiest, less time-consuming, and effective ways to take care of your skin – or rather pamper it with what all it demands at least once daily. Now, as a matter of fact, the majority of us are pretty much picky and choosy when it comes to ‘C’ – that is cleanser. Isn’t it? You must have tried multiple cleansers, or consulted multiple recommendations and thereafter only have fixed your cleanser. But then, did you do the same with ‘T’ – that is Toner? I believe you have not! And that is a major un-justice you have been doing all over.
Tell me something, have you ever checked the ingredients of your toner? Most importantly, have you checked whether your toner is alcohol-free or not? Most of the regular and so-called ‘popular’ toners in the market contain alcohol in it, and if you are the one, who fell for those advertisement gimmicks and are constantly using those, it's really high time to stop!! The basic purpose of a toner is to heal your skin and help lock the moisture into the skin. Alcohol, if present in the toner, does exactly the reverse – it might initially give you a nice cooling effect, but it gradually strips the natural moisture of skin and causes irritation in the longer run. An alcohol-free toner is much gentler as compared to one with alcohol and it helps heal the skin – that serves the basic purpose of what a toner is supposed to do.
Though you can hear a lot of people around you telling you that toner with alcohol is good for oily or even pimple-prone skin – but trust me, it's definitely not the case in the longer run. As I mentioned already, the initial effect of an alcohol-based toner might be good for oily skin as it will seem to control oil or even dry out the pimples – but what it does in real is enlarging of the pores and thus make our skin more and more sensitive and more of oil secretion of pores. And please remember, ‘The higher the alcohol is on the ingredients list, the higher the concentration and the stronger it will be on the skin.’
Hence, it's time to switch from your alcohol-based toner (if you are using one of such) to one without it. Some of the ingredients that you can look for based on the skin type are:
A toner with skin-calming botanicals: For sensitive skin,
Recommendation: Plum 1.5% Vitamin C Toner with Mandarin
Toner with salicylic acid or witch hazel: For oily/pimple-prone skin,
Recommendation: Oriflame Sweden PURE SKIN Clarifying Toning Solution
A toner with alpha hydroxy acid (AHA): In case you have large skin pores
Recommendation: Minimalist Toner
Toner with fatty acids: For dry skin,
Recommendation: Dot n Key Watermelon Skin Glow Face Toner
Hyaluronic acid/Rose water-based toner: For Mature skin
Recommendation: Just Herbs Pomegranate Mandarin Pore Refining Tonique
Hope I have convinced you enough to go for alcohol-free toner now!
