A client in my chair last week told me she stopped using toner because it made her skin feel tight

She was in for a facial in my home studio, and we were talking about her routine. She said she quit using any toner about six months ago, thinking the tight feeling meant it was working. I explained that feeling often means the product is too harsh and stripping her skin's natural oils. Now I'm wondering, how many other people have that same wrong idea about what toner should feel like? What's your go-to way to explain it to clients?

3 comments

3 Comments

cole_patel412mo ago

Tell them it should feel like a drink of water for your face, not like it's shrinking. That tightness is your skin begging for its moisture back.

miles5812mo ago

Yeah that "skin begging for moisture" line from @cole_patel41 is spot on. Tight is not right.

david_hayes28d ago

Back when I first started doing my own skincare at home, I had this one toner that smelled like straight rubbing alcohol. Used it for weeks because I thought the stinging meant it was killing bacteria or something dumb like that. Turned out I was basically just stripping my face raw every night. My skin got so dry it started flaking around my nose and chin. Took me forever to figure out that a toner should feel like nothing at all basically. Like if you can feel it working at all beyond maybe a little cooling, it might be too much.