From the Archives: To Tone or Not to Tone

(Originally published 28 June 2012 - I’m republishing this now because I’ve had quite a few patients coming in complaining of dry and irritated faces and along with the dry winter air, toners are often the culprit. Read on to find out why you can skip this step in your regimen without guilt!)

Sometimes toning is undeniably a good thing (check out those arms!). But when it comes to your face, the use and necessity of toner seems like a heavily marketed ploy by the beauty and/or cotton ball industry. Is that middle step in those 3-step magical skin perfecting sets really all it’s cracked up to be? Does our skin really need all that toning, prepping, smoothing, and pH correcting before the application of moisturizer? 

I did a little Sherlock Holmes-ing and… gasp! you don’t actually need a toner in your daily regimen to have a glowing complexion.  Looking back at the history of toner, or astringent as it was called back in the day, it was used to rid the skin of the residue that old facial cleansers were apt to leave behind. Now in these modern times of sliced bread and the internets, cleansers are more elegant, well mannered and clean up after themselves. That extra step is really only necessary if you have extremely oily skin and need a little help getting off heavy make-up.  According to many a dermatologist and skincare guru here, it’s all baloney and they’re not buying it. 

So if you have beauty FOMO and feel guilty every time you see a bottle of toner (like me), you can rest easy.  However, if you love the touch and feel of that dampened cotton ball on your face, make sure you are using one that is alcohol-free and always follow up with a good moisturizer. You want to make sure you are not drying out your face too much, it can cause breakouts. A toner that my beautiful and savvy friend recommends is  the Bobbi Brown Hydrating Face Tonic, $28. She loves the feel of it and I definitely noticed an extra bit of glow on her.  Plus, it doesn’t contain any alcohol or witch hazel!

Another beauty myth busted.. if you have any burning questions, holla back, please.