Looking To Get Toned? Stop Here! July 2, 2009

Sustainable Esscentials

We are constantly told how important it is to use a toner after we cleanse our face. Do we even know why?

The main reason to use a toner, is to replace the good moisture that our cleansing has removed or to remove trace remnants of cleanser, that we can’t see, and that we no longer need.

Usually, you want to purchase, or create, a toner that suits your skin type: Normal, Oily, or Dry. There may be others that are for Combination, Mature, or Problem Skin, as well.

Each toner is created with the following ingredients in mind:

• A liquid (or liquids) that is the main ingredient
• One or more Essential Oils for specific needs
• Possible extra additives for other specific needs

We’ll begin with possible toner ingredients for Normal Skin. But what is Normal? Normal skin is recognized for what it isn’t: it isn’t Dry or Oily, it has no “patches” that are Dry or Oily, and it has no problems with acne or other skin troubles. It is completely healthy. So what does Completely Healthy Skin need in a toner?

Here’s the list of possibles:

• The liquid: anything from Distilled Water to a Hydrosol, or even Aloe Vera. Some of the best Hydrosols for this type skin would be Lavender, Geranium, Neroli, or Rose.

Neroli

• The Essential Oil: on Normal skin, I would use the same EO as I used with the Hydrosol…that is, if I chose to use the Neroli Hydrosol, I would choose Neroli EO, as well. But you could use Bergamot, Lavender, Geranium, Rose, Rosewood, or Cedarwood.

• The extras: I personally wouldn’t feel the need to add anything else to a toner for Normal skin, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to add a few drops of an additional EO if the client (or yourself!) would like to enhance the scent.

So, the ingredients for Normal skin should be pretty basic: and the fewer extra ingredients in a toner that you are buying should be as few as possible!

This is the end of Part 1, Normal Skin, on “Looking To Get Toned”. The next installment will post tomorrow.

Sources:

Wikipedia

Erich Keller. Aromatherapy Handbook: Healing Arts Press, 1991 ISBN 0-89281-831-X

Jeanne Rose. The Aromatherapy Book: North Atlantic Books, 1992 ISBN 978-1-55643-073-2

Sustainable Esscentials