Witch hazel based toners seem to be the best buy for acne prone or oily skin, an additional salicylic acid might help in keeping those zits away. While alcohol-based toners alcohol is excellent oil removers, but they strip your skin of the natural moisturising factors too. Hence, a witch hazel based toner should be used to close your pores, wipe the oil off and bring fresh matt look. And guess what? Toners can be used at any time for a quick clean-up, the skin care on the go!

Checkout: Dermatocare Reviews on Top Toners

What is toner?

Wikipedia defines toner as a lotion or wash designed to cleanse skin and shrink the appearance of pores on face. Cotton dipped in the toner is used to wipe the extra oils off your face and hence, unplug pores.

What are the different types of toner and how they help?

Toner has a base comprised of alcohol, witch hazel or water, etc. in which active ingredients are suspended. Besides this, the toner has inactive ingredients like preservatives and fragrances. Let us consider the importance of base, based on which toner can be:

• Alcohol based toners– Alcohol is very efficient in removing oils from your skin but can over dry and irritate your face. So, one should avoid alcohol-based toner, also called as astringents.
• Witch hazel based toners– With growing awareness of the damaging effect of alcohol, most of the toners are now witch hazel based which has an anti-inflammatory role; however they might not be an effective oil cleanser or pore closer.
• Rose water or Cucumber water based Toners: Rose or Cucumber water either alone or in combination can serve as a toner for sensitive skin types, but might not remove oils efficiently.
• Spring or tonic water based toners: Either distilled or special water is used as a base of these toners and are worth trying for sensitive skin

How do I recognise if the toner is alcohol based or not?

If the toner has words like “alcohol, denatured alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol, SD alcohol, etc.” on the top of the ingredient list, then it might be having a considerable amount of alcohol.

Is toner a necessary step in skin care regime?

With the uprising concept of minimum ingredients on your skin, the answer is no. But you can add toner as the sixth step after you have achieved a regular five-step skin care routine especially if you have oily skin.

How do I choose the right kind of toner for my skin type?

Keeping in mind that alcohol-based toners can be damaging, we are left with witch hazel based toners which can be used for all the skin types safely. The choice of the active ingredient might vary according to key skin concern. Salicylic acid based toners are meant for oily skin while look for hydrating ingredients in dry skin types and soothing ingredients should be looked for in sensitive skin.

How often should I use my toner?

Toner can be used immediately after washing the face twice a day followed by moisturiser. The other use of toner that we advocate is to keep the bottle of toner with cleansing pads in your handbag. If you feel your skin is too greasy or oily, just wipe it off with the toner- skin care on the go!