If You Must Use A Toner, Make It This One

My bad.

I’ve been raving about The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution for more than a year now. I’ve told you it’s a dupe for Pixi Glow. But I haven’t done a proper review yet.

Time to fix that, me thinks. Here’s what this toning exfoliant did for me. But first, the sciencey bits (cos that’s how we roll here):

Glycolic Acid

Glycolic acid is my favourite exfoliant. I like multitaskers and this one does a lot of jobs:

• It exfoliates skin: it dissolves the glue that holds skin cells together so they can slough off
• It boosts collagen: it firms skin and helps treats sun damage
• It hydrates skin: it draws water into it from the environment

Awesome, right? It’s so effective because it’s the smaller member of the Alpha Hydroxy Acids family so it penetrates skin more deeply than its siblings lactic acid & co.

But, there’s a catch. In the skincare world, more effective usually means more irritating. That’s why it’s a good idea to start with a low concentration (this one is low) a couple of times a week and build up both dose and frequency from there.

P.S. If you have oily or acne-prone skin, you can stop reading now. Glycolic acid is awesome… for dry and sun-damaged skin.  Your skin type needs salicylic acid (it exfoliates the pores too) and this toning solution doesn’t have it.

Related: The Complete Guide To Glycolic Acid

Amino Acids

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, like collagen and elastin. Without them, your skin would lose all its firmness and elasticity.

Each amino acid works slightly differently. Here’s the lowdown on the most famous amino acids used in The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution:

• Arginine: may help wounds and skin cell damage heal faster.
• Glycine: helps repair damaged tissue and speeds up the healing process.
• Histidine: fights the free radicals that cause wrinkles and has anti-inflammatory properties that soothe skin.
• Proline: reduces the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines and restores collagen synthesis after UV exposure.

Related: Why You Should Add Amino Acids To Your Skincare Routine

Hexyl Nicotinate

This is a vasodilator that “causes the blood vessels near to the surface of the skin to increase in diameter and to increase their blood flow.”

It doesn’t really do much for the skin but I had to mention it because it can be irritating if you have super sensitive skin.

Let’s Put It To The Test: Personal Use & Opinion

Exfoliating toners are the only type of toner I bother with. I must get my exfoliating fix somewhere and if a toner can do the job, awesome.

I alternate it at night with a retinol serum. It’s a liquid, so I pour a little on a cotton pad and apply it to my skin. If it’s your first time with glycolic acid, you’ll probably experience a gentle tingling. That’s totally normal.

If you get a burning sensation, on the other hand, that’s your cue to discontinue it. If your skin is too sensitive, it’ll never go along well with glycolic acid. 🙁 As for me, I’m used to acids so I had no tingling or burning.

After just a couple of uses, I could already see a difference. My skin’s texture is smoother. The pores around my nose (the only area where you can see pores on my face – I know I’m lucky) look smaller and tighter. My whole face glows.

With regular use, glycolic acid also helps fade dark spots, including the brownish mark those nasty pimples sometimes leaves behind. But I don’t have them (again, lucky, I know!) so I can’t personally vouch for this.

But the science is clear: if you have light hyperpigmentation, glycolic acid can help. If you have severe hyperpigmentation, use it together with a more powerful skin-lightener.

For now, this is good enough for me. 🙂

Available at: $8.70/£6.80 at Asos, Cult Beauty and Sephora

SHOP THE POST

The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Glycolic Acid, Rosa damascena flower water, Centaurea cyanus flower water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water, Propanediol, Glycerin, Triethanolamine, Aminomethyl Propanol, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Tasmania Lanceolata Fruit/Leaf Extract, Aspartic Acid, Alanine, Glycine, Serine, Valine, Isoleucine, Proline, Threonine, Histidine, Phenylalanine, Glutamic Acid, Arginine, PCA, Sodium PCA, Sodium Lactate, Fructose, Glucose, Sucrose, Urea, Hexyl Nicotinate, Dextrin, Citric Acid, Polysorbate 20, Gellan Gum, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Sodium Chloride, Hexylene Glycol, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol

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