My name is Addy and I am a toner user.

I know a lot of people don’t want to or can’t bother taking this extra step and I respect that.

However, if you use the right kind of toner, I find it a beneficial and inexpensive step.
I’ve been using Thayers Alcohol-Free Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner for probably 10 years. There are other formulas/scents but I’ve never tried any of them. In researching this post, I discovered that they have a medicated version that looks like it could work out really well for someone with large pores and oily, acneic skin. If that’s you and you want to let me know how you like this product, I’ll post a review here with what you have to say. You can email me at addy at addysesthetics dot com.

Here’s how I use it:
– After washing my face both am and pm, I pour a small amount
(1/2 tsp) into my cupped palm and then kind of massage/ pat/ splash it onto my skin. I do this to add a bit of hydration and to allow my serums to spread a bit better.

The upsides:
The Ingredients
– The Rose Petal version has no parabens and the “natural rose” fragrance does indeed smell natural to me (yet, doesn’t come with the hefty price tag that usually comes with true essential oil of rose).
– I like that is has Aloe Vera in it as well. This ingredient is very soothing, cooling and hydrating and good for all skin types.
– Some people don’t like the idea of using witch hazel on their skin. According to this article on Wikipedia (not always the best resource since it’s community created, but this post in particular seems to have valid sources noted) the tannins in natural Witch Hazel extract (not distillate) are healing for certain skin conditions and drug stores tend to carry distilled Witch Hazel with alcohol added. The Witch Hazel used in Thayers Alcohol-Free toners is a gentle, non-distilled version:

Hamamelis Virginiana? We Call It The Shrub Of Life.
Made of extract from the Witch Hazel shrub (Hamamelis Virginiana) and a blend of other time-tested ingredients – THAYERS® Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera Formula Astringents and Alcohol-Free Toners are soothing, natural treatments that cleanse, tone and soothe your skin. THAYERS® are the only Witch Hazel products made of non-distilled extract from the Witch Hazel shrub maintaining the highest levels of therapeutic tannins.

The not-so-upsides:
– I gave a bottle of this to a friend with lots of cuperose skin on her face – broken capillaries and redness – and she said it was too strong for her skin. I was surprised at first because of how soothing all of the ingredients are. However, if you’ve ever had any sensitivity to witch hazel, then you’d be sensitive to this.

If you’re curious about using toner, this would be a great one to start with as you have lots of formulas/scents to choose from (be sure to choose from the Alcohol Free options), it’s refreshing to use and, at $10 for 12oz, quite affordable. I love it!