Is toner really necessary?

Beauty Secrets #001

Being a girl, I'm not much less vain than the average ones you know. Sometimes, even much much more!! I'm always thought of as being overly sensitive and making a big fuss when i realise that there is something physically unusual (to the slightest bit) on me. Like dry skin or hair, zits, broken nails, you name it, i grumbled about it. Till a point where my mom got so annoyed with me and sat me down to have an "accept yourself, you are beautiful" talk. I couldn't understand where she was coming from at that time, and obviously i was still excruciatingly particular about every small and big thing about me physically.
Soon after (years ago), I became addicted to researching about how to own healthy skin and hair. Though most of the tips are what everyone already know, what I've come to realise and live by now is:


"You should always go Organic! Own beautiful hair and skin from within, not through makeup!"

And so, enough about me. What this post is about is actually if toner is really an essential step in our daily beauty regime or not?


The answer is: NO!!!


In fact, not is it only unncessary, it is most of the time bad for skins. Despite how many of the global commercial companies continuously mass produce that tinted water. Yes, water! Even Bobbie Brown doesn't believe in it herself!


If you are skeptical about my ans, i can safely back it up with:
Jeffrey Dover, MD, associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine in the September, 2006, issue of O, the Oprah Magazine


Reasons being:

✿ While many people feel toners truly cleanse their faces
     and remove excess makeup residue, most beauty editors agree toners are not a "must-
     have" part of most people's skincare regimen.

     So who should use toner? People with extremely oily or acne-prone skin and those  
     of us who want extra cleansing after wearing a lot of makeup.

    However today, most high-quality cleanser, even the creamy ones, should rinse off easily 
    with water alone. Some women like the fact that toner leaves their face tight and smooth.
    But that taut, tingly sensation actually indicates dryness." -- InStyle's "Getting Gorgeous"


✿"For many women, toners are the logical next step in a skincare regimen, but I don't buy
     it. Literally. Whether they are called balancers, clarifying lotions, skin purifiers, or
     astringents (the strongest ones), toners are a pricey broth of water, color, preservatives,
    witch hazel, alcohol -- and not much else. In fact, for most women, toners are a
    redundant product: toners are supposed to remove every last trace of oil, sweat, and
    makeup from your face -- but so will a good cleanser. A toner will make your pores look
    smaller by swelling the tissue around the pore, but a moisturizer will do the same thing --
    and more." -- "Beauty, the New Basics" by Rona Berg


✿"Often sold as a must-use step, toners are truly optional." -- Bobbi Brown in "Bobbi
    Brown Beauty"


✿"Fact: you probably don't need toner. Many skincare companies insist that  
    cleanse/tone/moisturize should be the basic, three-step skincare regime, but we disagree.
   (And so do some of the world's leading facialist "gurus" including Eve Lom, Amanda
   Lacey and Janet Filderman.)" -- "Total Beauty" by Sarah Stacey and Josephine Fairley

✿"Beauticians often try to sell us that by using toner during a facial, they're 'closing the 
    pores.' Baloney. Pores aren't elevator doors which can open and shut." -- "Total Beauty" 
    by Sarah Stacey and Josephine Fairley


✿"There's something about toners that people love. Toners are actually relics of the days
    when most cleansers left a heavy residue on the skin and one needed to remove it by
    taking this extra step. Today's cleansers pretty much clean up after themselves, so a toner
    with strong astringent action is unnecessary, in some case, not to mention dehydrating." -
    - "Age-Less" by Fredric Brandt, MD


✿''Another reason why we’re often told we should use toners is because they are said to
    restore the ph balance of the skin, which comes from natural oils and sweat. If these are
    removed by your cleanser, the ph is altered. However, this depends on your cleanser: a
    gentle one shouldn’t remove your natural oils and won’t therefore change the ph balance
    that much. In addition, we shouldn’t underestimate our skin. Skin, in fact, replenishes its
    natural ph balance in 15 to 30 minutes after you wash your face, so buying a toner to do
    something that your skin would naturally do anyway, is simply a waste.'' -- Beautiful with
    Brains



Conclusion: Unless you have super oily skin or put a truckload of make up, a toner is
                       absolutely redundant and doesn't help to close pores, nor correct the pH of
                       your skin.