If you’re new to it, skin care can be really intimidating and confusing. Actually, even if you’ve been a long time lover, with all the new ingredients and formulas coming out, it can still be hard to keep up at times. One thing that really took me a while to learn was the difference of toners from astringents and chemical exfoliators.
When I first started my skin care journey after a period of major breakouts, one of the most confusing things to me was toner. Growing up in the late 90s and early 2000s, I was always familiar with toners as the kind in commercials endorsed by the most current teen or young adult celebrity—those chemical-looking liquids that you swipe on your face with a cotton ball that sting just as much as they smell, all in the promise of thoroughly wiping away dirt and oil to prevent breakouts—which we all bought into at some point, being young and not knowing any better. (Also, because they’re usually really inexpensive.)
I’ve come to learn that the strong smell and cooling/stinging effect of these “toners” or more accurately, astringents, are caused by alarming amounts of active acids (AHAs and BHAs like Glycolic Acid, and Salicylic Acid which are good for your skin in lower percentages. More on that later!), and what is referred to as volatile alcohol (Ex. denatured alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol), as well as, more often than not, fragrances in their formulation.
Typically marketed to oily and acne-prone skin types, these astringents were formulated as such to really strip the skin of dirt, oils, and sebum—which sounds great in theory, but they usually leave the skin dry and sometimes even pulled and irritated, signaling the oil glands to produce even more oil to compensate for this dry and tight feeling. Not to mention, fragrances are really just unnecessary in most skin care formulas and are really just another harsh chemical. For these reasons, I’ve stopped the use of astringents, and personally wouldn’t recommend the use of them, but hey, if it works for you, then go ahead!
When I started following Korean beauty and skin care bloggers, toners suddenly became this thing that you pat generously onto your face. Imagine my horror when I first imagined slapping copious amounts of the strong stuff on my skin—like, how is that supposed to be good for you? Until I learned that the kind of toner they were talking about is different from the kind I was familiar with growing up.
In Korean skin care, which has since gone on to revolutionize the beauty industry (so they must be doing things right!), toners do what its name suggests: helps photocopy machines form the printed text and images on paper. Just kidding! This kind of toner actually tones the skin, providing a more even and brighter complexion, as well as prepare the skin to maximize absorption of whatever products come after it, thanks to the healthy, plant fat-based alcohols (ex. cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol) and humectants (moisture-loving molecules!) in the formula.
A lot milder than the unfortunately all too familiar astringent, there are toner variants that contain different plant-based ingredients to target dryness, redness, and other problem areas. I bet you there’s a toner out there for all skin types and issues!
Going back, remember the active acids I was talking about earlier? AHAs like lactic acid and glycolic acid, and BHAs like salicylic acid, though present in much smaller percentages in other skin care products like cleansers and toners, are available in more potent yet still stable amounts in what the Korean skin care method calls Chemical Exfoliants.
If you’ve watched any “Nighttime Skin Care Routine” videos on YouTube—which are my personal favorite ASMR trigger—you’ve probably heard of skin care gurus crediting having smooth skin to this miracle product. That’s because these beneficial chemicals (not all chemicals in skin care are bad, people! And not every all-natural product is actually effective!) work hard not just on the skin’s surface, but in the skin’s deeper layers to really clean out the dirt and excess oils, to prevent or at least decrease the intensity of future breakouts.
If you’re looking for the same acne-clearing effect that astringents promise without the abundance of bad alcohols,
I’d suggest you introduce Chemical Exfoliants into your routine. These can be used in succession with most toners, though, unlike toner, these aren’t recommended for immediate everyday use. Start with using it as little as once or twice a week, increasing in frequency of usage as your skin starts getting used to these
active acids.
(Learn more about the difference of AHAs and BHAs and which one is for your skin type.)
For the sake of transparency, your skin will likely purge in the first few weeks of usage. By this, I mean you will see really small pimples breakthrough your skin before it starts to clear. But this is actually a good thing! Imagine the chemical exfoliant sweeping the dirt that’s been accumulating out from under the rug (a.k.a. your skin). And as life teaches us, never sweep things under the rug; you’re not just not cleaning anything, but it will pile up and eventually be too much for your poor rug to handle.
Now that we know the difference between these things, as well as the benefits of active acids, we never have to imagine pouring rubbing alcohol or dangerous acids on our skin, and continue to relax as we watch skin care routine videos on YouTube. Or maybe that’s just me?
Written by:
Shawn Landayan
MULTIMEDIA ARTIST
Shawn is Calyxta’s resident Multimedia Artist and boy in beauty. With experience as a makeup artist for both the stage and camera, his makeup style ranges from crazy Drag looks to soft and sparkly K-Beauty. When not slaving over their next creative project, Shawn can be found crying about or dancing to K-Pop (maybe even both, at the same time).
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