By Francine Holmes

Many of us have seen or heard about toners and astringents, but not sure what they do.

  So here is the most basic explanation, so in one hand you have your toners, they are generally made with emollients, water and extracts to moisturize, hydrate and soothe your skin. Astringents, on the other hand, though may have similar ingredients, as toners are typically alcohol-based, and are used to remove excess oil and to tighten skin and pores.

So based on your specific needs, adding one, toner or astringent to your daily skin care routine might not be such a bad idea. I have combination skin and use this recipe. It’s a gentle floral astringent or clarifying toner, I call it that  because in a sense it does both: moisturizes, while removing the excess sebum.

So give it try and see how you like it.

 Gentle Floral Astringent/Clarifying Toner

This recipe is ideal for normal, combination and oily skin. It can be used daily, followed with your moisturizer

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of distilled water
• 1 cup of unsweetened plain Vodka
• 4 teaspoons of Vegetable glycerin
• 1/3 cup of dried rose petals or dried Calendula
  
• 3 drops of Tea Tree essential oil
• 30 drops of Lavender essential oil

Tools:

• plastic or glass bowl with lid (for mixing/steeping)
• Fine strainer
• 16oz plastic bottle with cap or spray bottle

This recipe has a prep time of approximately 2 weeks and yields about 16oz. In your bowl, pour in the Vodka, add the vegetable glycerin and the essential oils. To that, add the rose petals and gently stir as you pour in the water. Tightly close your bowl with the lid and store your mixture in a cool dark place. Leave it for two weeks to steep. During that time, shake the mixture vigorously everyday.

After the two weeks, strain the content of your bowl into your storage bottle and voila! 

  To use it simply place about a teaspoon of toner on a cotton pad, then cleanse your face and neck, be careful to avoid your eyes. The toner doesn’t need to be refrigerated because the vodka and Tea tree oil act as preservatives. However I find that it does have a longer shelf life when I do refrigerate it once in a while, and a cooled toner feels great on a warm summer day.

Note: If storing your toner in a spray bottle, it is ideal to thoroughly remove the rose petals to prevent clogging your spritzer.