Is A Toner Necessary For Your Skin? This question often heads up in our mind while going through skin care regimes. Almost all skincare regimes recommend using toners. However, its purpose isn’t well understood by many. In this article, we picked up and answered some such questions about skin toner that many of us didn’t know. Face toner is a very important part of your skincare routine. It provides extra hydration to your skin and helps you get rid of oil and dirt. It balances the pH level of your skin, allows better penetration of skincare products, and gives perfect radiant and glowing skin. This guide to skin toners will help you understand which toner is best suited to your skin and how you can make it a part of your skincare regime.

What Is Toner?

Toner is a skin care product that is used after a cleanser and before a moisturizer or serum. It is used to balance the skin’s pH levels. When the sebum on your skin mixes with the sweat, it forms a layer called the acid mantle. This layer is slightly acidic and has a pH of 4-5.5. Harsh soaps or cleansers mess with this pH and make it alkaline. Toner helps in neutralizing this pH.
Earlier, a lot of toners used to be alcohol based, but they affect bad for the skin as they cause excessive dryness. Recently, natural water-based toners have become an essential part of skincare regimes. They are usually derived through steam-distillation of flowers and other ingredients that are known to be good for your skin.

What Does A Skin Toner Do?

• Minimizes The Appearance Of Pores- More dirt and oil enters the skin when the pores are large. These impurities make the skin more prone to acne and infections. Regular use of toner tightens the pores and shrinks their overall size. When pores appear smaller, your skin has a smoother, more polished look. Facial toner helps create a lovely; more luminous appearance so you can go bare faced and feels fully confident.
• Remove Extra Dirt And Grime- Sometimes, even when you think your go-to cleanser has removed all traces of dirt, grime, and makeup, a little bit is still left behind. Toners do a great job of removing any remaining impurities while also infusing your skin with additional benefits.
• Hydrates and nourishes the skin-The hydrating ingredients present in the toner prep the skin to absorb the moisture better. The skin is usually tight and dry right after cleansing. Moist skin can better absorb topical products than dry skin. Hence, toning ensures that your favorite moisturizer can nourish your skin deeply.
• Helps In Complete Cleansing- Even after cleansing, some of the impurities remain on the skin. This might be the residual makeup or some of the oil content left behind by the cleansers. An essential purpose of a toner is to get rid of them and to clean the pores from within. Toners also remove environmental toxins and chemical residues from your skin, revealing a brighter and healthier complexion.
• Restores skin’s natural pH balance –This is important because the skin’s barrier, also known as the acid mantle, is responsible for keeping skin moisturized while blocking out germs and bacteria. Skin's optimal pH is 5.5. When you use toner on your face regularly, the optimum pH level (acid mantle) is maintained which acts a barrier to germs and bacteria while keeping the skin moisturized and healthy.

What Is Skin ph And Why It Is Important?

Scientifically speaking, your pH (potential of hydrogen) balance is the ratio of positively-charged ions (the ones responsible for forming acid) to negatively charged (alkaline-forming) ions in your body. Lower pH levels in your blood mean it’s more acidic, and higher pH means more alkaline. Skin is naturally acidic with a pH level of about 4.5 – 5.5. Once your skin’s pH level goes above 6.5, the acid mantle (your skin’s first line of defense) gets compromised, and your skin becomes vulnerable to bacteria and infections. Toners restore your skin’s pH balance after cleansing so it’s better protected.

HOW TO USE TONER?

A toner is used as the second part of the cleansing process, preferably once in the morning and once at night. Now that you know the many benefits of using a toner let’s move on to understanding how to use toner and when to use it. Here are the steps that you need to follow to tone your skin well.

Some Hacks To Use Face Toners

• Prepare a DIY Mask - If you like pampering yourself with face masks, you can prepare one for yourself by using either Rose Water or Jasmine Water. Simply soak cotton pads with your choice of toner and place the cotton pads all over your face for about five minutes. This is a quick and convenient way to hydrate and soothe your dry and inflamed skin quickly.
• Soothe Your Skin After Threading or Waxing - Natural floral toners like rose or jasmine water have soothing properties which help in calming down the redness and inflammation instantly. Refrigerating (not freezing) the toner amplifies the soothing properties.
• Use It As A Body or Face Mist - Some of us have sensitive skin that gets irritated with the use of synthetic fragrances. Natural toners prepared from steam distillation of flowers can be used as body as face mist as they do not have any side-effects. Toners that come in spray bottles are perfect for use as face mist. You can even use face mist to set your makeup and eliminate the powdery finish.
• Use It To Get The Best Benefits From The Face Packs - Natural and pure toners can be used in place of water while preparing the face packs. Blend it with natural ingredients like Multani Mitti, Sandalwood, , Amba Haldi, Gram flour and the like to prepare 100 percent natural face pack. You can also choose natural ingredient from our Swarna range.
• Relax And Soothe Your Eyes - Applying refrigerated toner to your under eye area and over your eyelids will provide you with a soothing feeling.

Tips You Should Know Before Using Face Toners

• Read the labels carefully before you buy a toner.
• For a cooling effect, you can refrigerate your toner.
• Completely avoid alcohol-based toners as they are harsh for your skin.
• You can mix your foundation with your toner to give you a dewy look
• Avoid toners with harsh perfumes and fragrances. 
• Before your workout or any other physical activity, just spray some toner for a fresh looking and hydrated skin. 
• You can use toner at night time to remove your makeup. It remove all traces of makeup without irritating skin.