Yes, I believe you do need to use a toner and here’s why. Whenever you cleanse your skin, even with a quality product (one that is not stripping your skin like soap does), you are slightly disrupting the skin’s pH balance, while removing some oil and water from the surface. Your skin in normally acidic (about 5.5 on the pH scale) and this acid state helps keep bacteria away. This is the way nature intended your skin to be.
So by cleansing you are slightly disrupting this natural balance and you want to restore that acid mantle back to the surface of your skin. Toners are (or should be) acidic. Therefore using a toner after you cleanse helps to rebalance the skin and replace the acid mantle. Also, toners are primarily water, so using one helps to superficially hydrate the skin as well. After using your cleanser and toner, you are ready to use a hydrating cream (moisturizer).
As I recommend to all of my clients, use a toner in a spray bottle. In the product line I use (Yonka-Paris), their toners are in spray bottles. The toner comes out in a fine mist that makes using it refreshing as well as serving the important purpose of balancing the skin’s pH. And using a spray toner makes it very easy to use: after you cleanse and pat your skin dry, you simply pick up the bottle of toner and spray your face, then apply moisturizer. It couldn’t be easier.
Toners, although sometimes misunderstood, are an essential component to your healthy skin care regime. So the answer to the question, “Do I really need to use a toner?” is an emphatic yes!
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