
What is face toner? - The 5 Steps Guide from Japan!
Whether you have used toner in your daily skin care routine or not, it helps you to keep your skin beautiful to understand effects of face toner and the feature of each types.
Contents
- What is toner?
- About types of toner
- What is the appropriate amount of toner?
- How to use toner? Use toner with hand or cotton?
- Why Japanese and Korean women love to use toner?
What is toner?
Toner lotion has the effect of softening the skin and providing moisture and moisturizing ingredients to condition the skin. In Japan, many people use toner after washing their face. The skin after washing the face is very delicate because sebum is removed with dirt. If you leave it as it is, the moisture of the skin will evaporate more and more, so replenishing moisture with face toner is an essential step for making beautiful skin.
Also face toner can be expected to have an effect as a foundation for the skin so that next essence and emulsion can easily be penetrate.
So what kind of ingredients are common skin toner made of?
80-90% of the toner contains purified water and the rest is made up of preservatives, moisturizing ingredients and active ingredients.
You may have been surprised that toner is almost water however, recent toners have evolved considerably, and high-performance toners that are not only moisturizing have appeared one after another. Some toners have the effect comparable to serum! Even if you don't use toner, why not try various toners and find one that suits you?
About types of toner
There are various types of toners, and the best way to use them is to apply toner based on your skin type and purpose. Let's see the each types of toner and its feature!
Booster toner
Pre-toner used before regular toner. Booster toner has a role to improve the penetration of the next toner.
Moisturizing toner
Moisturizing ingredients give moisture to each layer and have the effect of conditioning the skin. Moisturizing toner leads to fresh and moist skin.
Whitening toner
Whitening toner is intended for whitening by adding whitening ingredients to moisturizing toners to prevent stains and melanin from sticking to the skin.
Acne toner
An effective toner for acne care. It contains glycyrrhizic acid and tocopherol (vitamin E), which have anti-inflammatory effects.
Astringent toner
It has a refreshing feel because it contains more alcohol. Astringent toner has the effect of controlling sebum and tightening the skin. If you have oily skin, it is recommended to apply astringent toner to the entire face and part of the T-zone where has a lot of sebum.
The T-Zone is the part of your face where made up of the nose, forehead and chin. Since it shaped like the letter "T", it called "T-Zone". Usually T-Zone is oiler than the other part of face because it has a higher amount of oil glands. So it is important to care T-Zone properly to prevent from acne and skin problem.
Cleansing toner
Cleansing toner has the effect of removing dirt and old keratin on your skin. So cleansing toner can be used by wiping the skin with a toner in cotton.
What is the appropriate amount of toner?
How much toner should we use? Since it varies depends on manufacturers, the best way is following the recommended amount from manufacturers.
The thing is it is difficult to understand the expression "use appropriate amount". This is because the appropriate amount varies depending on person's skin type and condition.
But if you are a beginner in skin care, you may be wondering how much is appropriate for your skin. In such a case, first take 2.5 cm diameter circle toner on your hand and apply it to your skin. Then, try hand-pressing gently to check the skin feel. If it feels moist and sticks, the amount of toner is sufficient. If your skin is still dry, repeat until it is moistened.
Also, you may use expensive skin toner and try to keep use little by little. But the effect of toner can only be demonstrated when used as prescribed. If you use it as a stingy, change it to cheaper one and use an appropriate amount.
How to use toner? Use toner with hand or cotton?
There are long discussion whether to apply toner with the palm of the hand or with cotton.
Which is not the correct answer, each methods has its advantages and disadvantages. Generally, following the manufacturer's instructions is the best. However, if you have sensitive skin, it's better to apply toner by hand because cotton fibers may irritate your skin.
When apply toner by hand
Advantage
- There is less irritation to your skin since the palm and face are the same skin.
- Penetration effect is enhanced by worming face toner and skin at hand temperature.
- You can check the skin condition by applying toner while touching your skin directly.
Disadvantage
- Toner may be penetrated unevenly since since it's difficult to touch even small parts such as the sides of the nose and the corners of the eyes.
- If you take care with unsanitary hands or touch the bottle spout directly when taking toner, various germs may propagate and case unexpected skin problems.
- It's easy to spill when taking toner.
When apply toner by cotton
Advantage
- Unlike the palm, there is no unevenness, so toner can be applied to the skin evenly.
- Putting cotton promotes the blood flow and tightening the skin.
Disadvantage
- In order to reduce friction on the skin, it's necessary to soak toner until it becomes totally soaked. So more amount of toner is used than in the hand.
- Too much rubbing can damage the skin with friction.
Why Japanese and Korean women love to use toner?
Generally, Japanese and Korean women have a high use rate of toner even in the world. Asian people who have a thin stratum corneum easily evaporate moisture, so it makes sense to use skin toner a lot that moisturizes the skin.
Conversely, European woman don't use face toner for the purpose of moisturizing. Face toner is used usually for finishing care after makeup removal. Because the water in Europe is hard water that contains a lot of minerals and it dries skin and hair, the cleansing methods in Europe is generally not just wiped off but wiped off with face toner. Since water is recognized that it dry the skin, oil-based skin care items such as cream is common for moisturizing care rather than toner.
It's interesting that the role of toner will change if the country changes. The skin care methods established in each country are suitable for the skin type and climate.