Why do I need a toner & Acid Mantle Barrier
Do I need a toner?
This is a frequent question that I have been answering for about 30 years!
Most skincare product shoppers tend to skip this extremely important item/step in their daily skin care program. In general, it is skipped due to lack of knowledge of what it actually does. As well, it is often skipped because so many people have experienced a bad toner with alcohol in it, and they felt a "sting" or saw irritation.
In a nutshell, YES, you absolutely need a toner. If you wash your face, you need a toner right afterwards. In case you missed that, YES YOU NEED A TONER.
Your skin will thank you, I promise. Our skin is naturally a lower pH of 4 ish on the pH scale. Acid being 1 and alkaline being 11. Your skin falls on the acidic end of the scale. Your skins' desired and natural biome is acidic, It feels good, looks great, and performs properly when it is at the proper pH. simple, right? Well, maybe not because every time you wash your face or body with a soap (which is alkaline) you remove the comfy thin acid mantle barrier and then your skin starts all over again trying to replace-repair that. It can take hours or may not happen at all for skin that is in a state of chaos.
Without the thin micro film of acidic cells and lipids (acid mantle barrier) your skin will look and feel uncomfortable. A toner instantly "fixes" that for you. Not only that, it is also used to wipe away and missed debris or cleanser, and it plums, hydrates and tones your skin.
When the skin is not happy, and has lost the acid mantle barrier, then bacteria and other assaults like yeast or fungus will begin to take over because they thrive in an alkaline environment. Acne is the most obvious form of a pH out of whack, followed by folliculitis, demodex mite over growth, yeast, malassezia and rosacea. At a proper acidic pH, these things can't take over and over-populate in your skin.
A toner is applied or sprayed on and patted into the skin right after washing. Next is your hydra gel or msm gel or essence such as vitamin c or b3 niacinamide. Following these steps is moisturizer or face oil.
Spend some extra time on your skin, use a toner daily and it will glow with appreciation. Here are the skincare toners from SkinFoodFix, they are all great choices, but specifically you may want:
Rose Water Toner - for sensitive or irritated Skin
Tea Tree Apple Cider Vinegar - Acne, Fungal, Malassezia, Demodex, Scabies Mites
Cucumber Mist Toner - Oily or Combination Skin, Normal Skin too.
pH Spray - Itching skin, rashes, malassezia, fungal acne