Are Alcohol Toners Bad for Skin?
Skincare with Friends Ep. 71- Toners- Are Alcohol Toners Bad? Do I Need to Tone my Skin? What Makes a Good Toner?
We decided to cover skin toners this week, it’s a confusing topic particularly for people who are unsure about skincare. We’ve had the mantra “You have to Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise everyday” truly drummed into our skulls, but is it something that we really have to do? In skincare circles our concept of toning has changed a lot over the years and for good reason. In this episode we quash outdated ideas of what toning should be and talk about what a toner should be so that it really works for our skin.
Other episodes you might like- Episode 44- Enlarged pores and how to minimise them, Episode 50- 7 Skins (read the 7 Skins transcript here, Episode 6- Do I Need to Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise? (it was fun relistening to that, it was recorded in 2018 and I was pleasantly surprised with how factual and enjoyable it is). To listen to the podcast search “Skincare with Friends” in your usual podcast provider. Please support the work we are doing by liking and subscribing to our podcast, we really appreciate you making the effort to support us and we love getting comments and questions. You can also follow us on our channels- @niapattenlooks, @natswf, @skincarewithfriends. The links in this post might be affiliate, if you click and buy something we will get a small percentage that goes back into making our podcast.
Skincare with Friends news
-With GetHarley.com I’ve set up a way where I can remote prescribe Tretinoin, Hydroquinone and Azelaic Acid worldwide- find out how here
-Deciem is bringing out a new product- coming out on the 7th December
-Ishtar Skinlights founder Amy has finally commented on why they’ve been taking money and not delivering
-Deciem did another AMA on Reddit and didn’t adequately explain why Niacinamide and the Vitamin C derivatives can’t be used at the same time, they said there is a potential for salt formation, an idea which we poured scorn onto a couple of episodes ago
What is a Toner?
From Wikipedia-
“In cosmetics, skin toner or toner refers to a lotion, tonic or liquid wash designed to cleanse the skin and shrink the appearance of pores, usually used on the face. It can also moisturise, protect and refresh the skin. Toners can be applied in different ways:
-On a cotton pad. (This is the most commonly used method.)
-Spritzing onto the face.
-Or by applying as a gauze facial mask—which is a piece of gauze is saturated with toner and left on the face for several minutes”
Wikipedia
Historically, Toners were originally developed to remove soap scum from the face when lye-based soaps combined with hard water left a sticky residue post cleansing. The alcohol-based toner removed the alkali soap scum and reduced irritation. Toners were of the Astringent type, high in alcohol, often containing Witchhazel, and supposedly designed to shrink pores.
I find the word toner a bit annoying because I think it comes from an antiquated thought process about what a skincare routine should be. We don’t tend to use bar soap on our faces anymore (hopefully, if you do, stop- bar soaps are very alkaline) so the purpose behind toners and their function and the ingredients in toners should evolve.
Traditionally skincare followed a Clinique 3 step style skincare routine of-
- Cleanse with a likely foaming or bar cleanser
- Tone with some fragranced alcohol
- Then moisturiser
Actually I like a couple of Clinique’s moisturisers (Dramatically Different and Moisture Surge and it was one of the first companies to eschew perfume in skincare, so I’m not slating it. But the Clarifying toner has alcohol 2nd in the ingredient list, then Witchhazel and Salicylic Acid. So since this toner and many others like it were the type of product that most people associate with this step, people might be put off by toners all together.
I’m sure we’re going to get comments, like “I love the Clinique toner” and that is of course fine, if something is working for you then knock yourself out.
There are a few other popular toners out there that have very similar formulation-
- Clean & Clear Sensitive Cleansing Lotion- ingredients- Aqua,Alcohol Denat, Salicylic Acid,Camphor,Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil,Mentha Piperita,Benzoic Acid,Parfum,Limonene,CI 42090
- Eucerin Dermopurifyer Oil Control Toner– ingredients- Aqua, Alcohol Denat., Butylene Glycol, Poloxamer 124, Lactic Acid, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Glyceryl Caprylate, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum
- Formula 10.0.06 Pore Cleanser– Alcohol Denat, Water, Sodium PCA, Lactic Acid, Fragrance, Allantoin, Sodium Carbonate, Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Citral, Comarin, Eugenol, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, Isoeugenol, Limonene, Linalool, FD&C Red 4 (CI 14700), FD&C Yellow 5 (CI 19140), FD&C Yellow 6 (CI 15985).
Now we’re in the 2020s, and not using highly alkaline lye cleansers hopefully, I consider a Toner to be something very watery in texture that is used straight after cleansing. A Toner can have lots of different functions, which we will get into…
Do we Need to Tone our Skin?
What you do immediately after cleansing is really important. Because cleansing is very stressful for the skin- During cleansing you’ve removed your natural oils as well as the dirt and raised it’s pH. Trans epidermal water loss increases and the skin starts to dry out fast. Straight away you need to address these cleanser related issues with the next skincare step.
In short, you’re not going to die if you don’t but yes, toning is a good thing if the correct product is used.
Ideally a toner should-
- Hydrate the skin to prevent water loss after cleansing
- Help allow the next skincare step to absorb with humectant ingredients and penetration enhancers
- Restore the skin’s pH, particularly if you are using a cleanser which has a pH above 5
- and maybe remove any remaining debris or makeup
I don’t personally use anything on a pad after cleansing. At the end of the day, I double cleanse with a cloth so I’m pretty confident in my cleansing. Plus I don’t like using disposable cotton wool if I can help it. I have some reusable fabric rounds if I need to use a pad, for removing bits of mascara. I do use several layers of hydrating cleanser, starting immediately after cleansing. I keep a product in my bathroom so my skin doesn’t dry out at all after cleansing. I prefer to mist my toners because it’s less messy.
From Instagram- 68% of respondents said they use a toner, and 90% say they avoid alcohol containing toners. Not scientific because our followers are a wise bunch. “I couldn’t imagine even the fumes getting anywhere near my tretinoin face..” Quite right!
Is Alcohol in Toners or Skincare Altogether Really that Bad
FYI- alcohol in a skincare ingredient list can be written as ethanol, alcohol, denatured alcohol, alcohol defat and isopropyl alcohol.
Why Alcohol Can be Good
“Ethanol is also well known as a topical penetration enhancer and may be used in transdermal delivery systems. Bommannan et al. found in vivo in humans that ethanol enters the skin and removes measurable quantities of the lipid barrier material from the stratum corneum. This lipid extraction may lower the skin barrier function and render the membrane more permeable, which is the most likely explanation for the effect of ethanol as a skin penetration enhancer. The mechanism of ethanol as a skin permeation enhancer was described to be a so-called ‘pull’ or ‘drag’ effect, which means that the permeation of the enhancer subsequently facilitates that of the solute”
(Lachenmeier, 2008)
I can see why in theory there may be some benefit to using alcohol between cleansing and applying actives that you really want to absorb deep into the skin- it helps to disrupt the skin barrier and allows chemicals to be drawn into the skin. There are other penetration enhancers to look out for in skincare ingredient lists, such as DMSO, Butyl Propyl Glycol (highly allergenic though), propanediol (which is in a lot of Deciem’s products and Ethoxyglycol (in NIODs LVCE).
Another tick for Alcohol is that it also kills bacteria, which is a plus for acne prone skin. It’s possible that some acne sufferers rely on alcohol in times of zit. I was reading a blog review of the Clean and Clear Toner and the review was positive and it helped with her spots (perfectskincareforyou.com), so I guess it’s not total poison for everyone.
Alcohol- The Bad
Speaking from personal experience, I’ve used those Clean and Clear toners that are high in fragrance and alcohol and it made my skin dry and my acne got worse. They sting and burn and I ever feel like having that kind of skincare experience. Plus, irritation worsens acne.
It’s well known in skincare circles that we should avoid alcohol as if it’s worse than Hitler. But for why?
I hold the view that there is a likely possibility that topical alcohol can irritate and dry out the skin and I’ve read that it can actually cause living skin cells to die off. The Lachenmeier review I read above stated that “Adverse effects of topically applied ethanol may include skin irritations or allergic contact dermatitis.” And that certainly rings true for me.
In terms of skin cell death, I found this in vitro study-
“We hypothesized that exposure to even low doses of ethanol causes damage to skin cells. We studied the effect of ethanol on A431 epidermoid skin cells and normal neonatal human primary skin cells in vitro. We found that, over 24 h, a higher concentration (100 mM) of ethanol caused greater cytotoxicity than that associated with 40 mM ethanol treatment. Ethanol, at a concentration of 100 mM, is roughly equivalent to a 3.1% ethanol solution; most skin care products and pharmaceuticals are composed of a much higher percentage of ethanol. This is important because our results show that ethanol-induced cytotoxicity is concentration dependent. Ethanol-induced cytotoxicity depends not only on dose, but also on length of exposure. Both normal neonatal human primary skin cells and A431 epidermoid skin cells exposed to ethanol for two consecutive 24-h periods suffered greater toxicity than did cells that received only one 24-h treatment. Thus, repeated use of an alcohol-based skincare product or medication may further threaten cell viability. That ethanol exposure is toxic to human skin cells has thus been established. One possible explanation for this increase in apoptosis and the subsequent cell loss is that the TNF- produced by an affected skin cell may interact with TNF- receptors on its surface or that of its neighbors, initiating a signaling cascade that ultimately leads to apoptosis.”
(Neuman et al, 2002)
So they found that cell death occurs at a percentage of around 3.1% alcohol and is more likely at higher percentages. I’m sure I read that one of the Clinique toners is 12% Alcohol. Also, cell death is more likely with repeated applications, which is decidedly how toners are meant to be used.
Can Astringents Shrink pores?
This is something I see written over and again- “Alcohol and Witchhazel are great for shrinking the pores”. I don’t think that anything can make pores smaller instantly, there’s no evidence for this. Think that what is actually happening is that the alcohol produces a refreshing cooling sensation as it evaporates and the dry tightness it produces feels like it’s shrinking pores.
I did a little experiment myself with a high alcohol toner-
It definitely stung my skin but my pores look exactly the same.
What Makes a Good Skin Toner? –
Now we feel confident saying that you shouldn’t use an alcohol toner, what toner should we be using? Because cleansing is drying and irritating, we definitely want our toner to be packed with hydrating and calming ingredients. Toners should re hydrate the skin, sooth and prepare the skin for absorbing actives.
Types of toner you might find and the ingredients they might have-
- Hydrating- humectants like HA, glycerin
- Exfoliating- AHAs, PHAs
- Nourishing- Ceramides, sodium PCA, Vitamins like Panthenol
- Acne Toners- BHA, niacinamide
- pH Balancing Toners- with a pH at 5.5
- Brightening Toners- Arbutin, niacinamide
- Antioxidant- vitamin C, Superoxide dismutase
You name it, you can probably find a toner for it.
We discussed what makes a good toner in our 7 Skins episode. Basically we want ingredients that mimic our skin’s natural chemistry.
Natural Moisturising Factors, which is the water soluble stuff our skin makes to keep itself healthy. NMF contains amino acids, Lactic acid, PCA, Urea, Sugars and minerals. The upper layers of skin also have a lot of glycerin and hyaluronic acid. Look for these chemicals in ingredients lists
Our favourite toners– There are so many great toners around, they are mainly Asian in origin. Yesstyle is a toner/essence treasure trove.
I love SDSM by NIOD, PyunKang Yul Calming Deep Moisture Toner (it has lovely ingredients! , Good Molecules Brightening Toner. We gave a great run through of the most popular products for post cleanse hydration in our 7 Skins episode, which is well worth a listen.
References
Lachenmeier, D. W. (2008). Safety evaluation of topical applications of ethanol on the skin and inside the oral cavity. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 3(1), 1-16.
Neuman, M. G., Haber, J. A., Malkiewicz, I. M., Cameron, R. G., Katz, G. G., & Shear, N. H. (2002). Ethanol signals for apoptosis in cultured skin cells. Alcohol, 26(3), 179–190. doi:10.1016/s0741-8329(02)00198-2
