so given all the multi-step skincare routines out there,

we wanna really take a deeper dive into what every single one of these steps are,

what these products are, what they do,

and if we really need these in our daily routines,

so the idea is that we're trying to figure out what other products that our skin actually craves and needs naturally,

and what other products that just kind of marketed out there to get our attention,

and to make us spend money, yeah pointing at her, the perfections.

So we recently made a video on how to cleanse and properly wash your face,

which is the first step in any skincare routine,

so today we're gonna talk all about toning, and do we need it,

because products like toners range from like $5 all the way to $250 bottles,

so is it worth it,

so in this video we're gonna talk about what toners are,

how to probably use them,

what the difference is between toners micellar water cleansing water and essence,

because they're all completely different things,

but they all look like water,

and the last thing which is what is the best toner for your skin type,

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So toners what exactly are toners,

back-in-the-day toners are called skin tonics,

and they were just that tonics for your skin,

the first tonic water came out around the 1900s about the same time as Eau de Cologne,

it was made to soothe the nerves,

and to take fatigue out of the muscles,

many formulations are simple mixtures of perfume water alcohol and borax,

and you can find borax nowadays in a lot of cleaning products,

and you can also use it in homemade laundry detergent,

so that was toners back in the day,

luckily we're fast forwarding to present day,

and there's no longer laundry detergent particles in our toners,

they're also newly formulated to target all of our skincare concerns,

be it exfoliating cleansing hydrating brightening or all of the above,

so the basic science of toner is that it gives your skin a quick hit of intense hydration

as well as taking off the surface layer of dead skin cells,

and make it nice and fresh and glowy, and you can think of it like a sponge,

so if you pour water on a dry sponge,

water just kind of sits on top of the sponge, but if you soak the sponge in water,

and then you add more water into it absorbs right away,

so that's exactly like how toners work and your skin works,

so the three main benefits you can think of for toners is that it shrinks the appearance of pores,

takes away the impurities that are left on your skin or even dead skin that actually clogs pores to produce breakouts,

and the most important part is that it restores the pH balance,

so let's move on to what is pH,

what does it mean, and what does it do,

and why is it important, so basically it stands for potential of hydrogen,

so the pH scale ranges from 0 which is acidic all the way to 14,

which is alkaline,

and our skin sits kind of a little more towards acidic,

so between 4.5 to 5.5, and after you wash your face,

it fluctuates so toner brings it back to the neutral state,

balance between the two spectrums,

so in order for our skin barriers to work properly,

we need to make sure the pH is balanced,

because if it's too acidic then it gets too inflamed and red,

and if it's too alkaline,

then it gets too dry and dehydrated,

so why this is important is because our skin barrier is responsible for keeping in lipids natural oils and moisture,

while blocking out germs bacteria toxins pollutants all the negative things that cause breakouts,

yeah and like attack our skin,

so if our skin isn't properly protected with the right level of moisture with the right level of acidity,

then it can't do its job, so all you need to know is that's what toner is for,

it's coming in to restore the skin's pH balance

so it can fend off itself bacteria and everything nasty in the world,

and also to help the products in the future that you're going to apply,

it absorbs better,

I think there's two avenues that general consensus either goes down,

you either use a cotton pad or use your hands ,

so for the cotton pads I usually generally like putting it between my fingers two,

each and then swipe outward and upward,

Wow so methodical, and then there's the second way

which is what Felicia does which is just put it on my palm,and then pat it in.

I really love the feeling of going pat patpat,

because it is very hydrating and very calming, yeah and I feel like no product goes to waste,

I just feel like with cotton pads, it just gets soaked on the pad,

if you're using toner as a way to cleanse, like a second or third step of cleansing,

because sometimes we need that, it will help remove all the impurities,

and if you're just using your hand it won't do that as much or as well,

yeah so you can also be like Mia, she does double toning,

she'll first use con pads, and then she'll use the Felicia way, I like doing both too.

Maybe if you're coming out of the shower you do that because you're already clean,

but if you're just washing your face,

just to get rid of all the residue you do the cotton pad,

so next let's talk about the difference between toners micellar waters cleansing water and essence,

there's a lot,

cuz there are really similar cleansing water which is basically purified water,

why are we buying this, because it's infused with a lot of nice things,

cleansing waters are usually infused with other things such as essential oils plant extracts,

collagen and minerals,

it's best use as a light refresh in the morning and throughout the day,

so you can think of toner as the parent family, and then underneath that tree,

those things like beauty water, so this specific one from Son & Park,

it's called beauty water, and it's a toner and a cleansing water,

there's willow bark and papaya extract which are good for like we mentioned earlier,

brightening the skin, naturally occurring acid,

so another one you might get toner confused with is micellar water,

but there's a huge difference here,

micellar water is basically just for cleansing your face,

it's not for nourishing,

and micellar water actually has micelles that draw oil and draws water away from your skin,

which is completely the opposite of what toner should do,

so don't get those confused,

kind of like these babies here, these aren't toners, they're stripping away your oils,

they're really good at removing makeup too,

- toner on the other hand, and next there are essence,

so the confusing thing when it comes to essence,

that's a whole other thing,

but you have an essence that's more goopy more towards the serum side,

and then you have essences that a more tonery,

so maybe sometimes just look at the consistency of it,

it goes back to like simply speaking the more watery,

it should be applied first, and then the thicker it is,

the later on in the skincare routine,

so next we're gonna recommend you guys depending on what different type of skin type you have,

which is the best toner to kind of match up with those areas and those problems,

so be a dry skin oily skin combination skin dull skin big pores,

yeah all of the above.

So if you have large pores,

you want to look for toners that have AHAs or Alpha hydroxy acid

to help reduce the size and appearance of the pores,

so we have two here, this is the Ren Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic,

and it works wonders,

and so here we have the Kale-Lalu-yAHA which has AHA and also hyaluronic acid,

it's a hyaluronic acid is good for replenishing hydration as well,

so if you have big pores try AHAs,

because they're actually a really gentle chemical exfoliant ,

but also there's the Pixi Glow Tonic which you can get at Target,

and also one that we found that was really popular in amazon with ten thousand reviews was the witch hazel by Thayers,

and then you will find this in every single category,

cuz apparently it's that good,

and witch hazel is actually really good for inflammation as well,

I think we're gonna go buy some after this.

It's only nine dollars why not, if you have dull skin like me,

toners with natural exfoliants like papaya and lactic acid are great for brightening the skin,

so like this one this is the ordinary lactic acid ten percent with hyaluronic acid two percent,

if you're just getting into AHAs,

a really gentle one to use and it's good for improving texture brightening color,

and this baby is only like six dollars seventy,

so thank you Ordinary,

otherwise there's this Indie Lee CoQ-10 Toner and Burts Bees Brightening Refining Tonic six dollars,

and you can get that at drugstores,

for those of you with acne prone or oily skin like me unfortunately

you want to look for toners once again that will help break down kind of the oils in your pores,

so things like AHA, BHA, salicylic acid lactic acid,

because this will then sink into your pores,

and break down the bacteria that's causing inflammation and things like that,

my favorite three are one from Innisfree it's the Bijia Blemish Care Toner,

and that one specifically got 2% salicylic acid,

so every time I feel like I'm breaking out,

I just like splash that all over the face just like,

otherwise there's this Fresh Herb Calendula Tincture Toner,

it's like sixteen dollars really good at inflammation, it calms,

it moistures it improves elasticity, it balances, and it's soothes,

a lot of these toners they crossover between different skincare concerns,

actually toners I feel like are the most overall types thing.

Like most fluid yeah, so what she uses on her dry flaky skin,

I can also use for my oily acne prone skin,

so we both use theKale- Lalu-yAHA religiously,

it's also got aloe which is soothing,

spinach parsley kale and vitamin b5, and this is like $25,

so it's also a pretty decent price,

alright next if you have dry skin like me,

make sure you avoid products that have alcohol because they'll further dry out your skin,

and ingredients to look out for that are good for the skin are glycerin and hyaluronic acid,

which will help you replenish and keep in and retain all that moisture,

Lock that in, so all of these are incredibly hydrating, this one is my favorite one of all time,

and it's deeply hydrating as it says, there's rose petals rose water and rose flower oil,

beautiful to look at and beautiful for the skin,

so there's also sodium hyaluronic in this product,

which is actually much smaller in molecular size compared to hyaluronic acid,

which makes it really really hydrating,

other hydrating toners include the Thayer's witch hazel one we mentioned before,

and also the Kiehl's ultra facial toner,

and then also the Calendula Tincture Toner.

So if you have sensitive skin you can use all of the above of the suggestions we mentioned

because toner is like applicable to all,

but you can look specifically more towards plant-based ingredients

like chamomile or aloe vera which are really known for calming

and soothing irritation redness and the inflammation,

there's the Laneige Fresh Calming Toner and also the Clarins Toning Lotion with Camomile.

and if you have combination skin in theory it sounds pretty tricky,

because half of your face is oily and the other half is parched,

and you may not really know what to do,

you have to put different toners in different areas,

well the answer is you can just use most of the products we mentioned earlier,

the most important thing if you do have combination skin is rebalancing the pH level,

and just rebalancing in general, because we both have combo skin,

it's like t-zone oily dry and flaky on the outside,

so that was a pretty in-depth exploration into the toning of the skin,

like but I think toner at the end of the day is kind of an essential in the skincare routine,

because of that rebalancing,