Toners 2017

I never skip toner in my skin care. In fact, I am quite generous with the usage. So, I gone through quite many toners in a year. All are Asian brands.

my pass and current toner (from left: White Formula Super Moist Toner With Hyaluronic Acid, 2 Hada Labo Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion, Silk Fibro Lotion & Hatomugi skin conditioner)

One of my pass toner was Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion (Gokujyun) 肌研極潤スーパーヒアルロン液, bought this because many people swore by it. Well, from the ingredients, one can see that it is very moisturizing, it contains 4 types of Hyaluronic Acid (HA) that have different sizes that can penetrate different layers of skin. The large HA forms a layer of barrier to prevent moisture loss. Medium HA has high water retention ability, able to hold moisture and maintain a longer period of lasting hydration. Next is super HA which able to mimic the natural moisturizing ability and finally, nano HA with tiny fine molecule size of 1/20 of HA that can penetrates and infuses easily into skin. Wow, reading the introduction really makes one has high hope on the moisturizing properties, all those humectants. Well, for me, it's kind of sticky. I use it after a more waterly toner. I only apply 2 layers of toners, I have no energy to apply until 7 layers of toners (Korean 7-skin method). I think it is similar to the Shiseido D-Program lotion, but with a much smaller price range.

Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Premium Hydrating Lotion; Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion

After finished up the Super Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Lotion, I bought this Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Premium Hydrating Lotion 肌研極潤プレミアムヒアルロン液. The name is so mouthful. The previous one was "super", the latter one is "premium", hahaha, great naming. For this premium version, it has 5 types of HA. Normal HA to form a barrier. Super Hyaluronic Acid with 2x moisture retaining capacity of HA to lock in large volume of moisture inside the skin. Nano HA to penetrate deep into the skin. Absorbent HA that allows HA to stay longer on skin (even after sweat or washing), I cannot go back to the normal version anymore. Hahaha. And finally, 3D HA (sounds of amazing) that can bind to form a 3D moisture net to help provide superior and long lasting moisture retention. Wow, actually, if read carefully, all sounds similar, salute the marketing members who wrote all these lines. 

I don't understand why Hada Labo Hydrating Lotion is on most people's radar, but not their milk (moisturizer), must buy one to try it out later. Anyway, for me, for these 2 Hada Labo lotions, the latter is more dense, for both, I use my palm to pat into the skin, didn't use cotton. The feeling for both after apply is the same for me. But since the price is similar, I will choose the "premium" one. Hehehe. 

Above 2 are the more heavy toner. For my first layer, I apply a more waterly toner using cotton pad.

One was Silk Fibro Lotion シルクフィブロローション, I bought this from a shop in Rakuten Malaysia before it was closed, I think. I was interested with this for quite a long time, when it was in discount, I grabbed it for less than RM100. I saw it on the company website, the price is 7452 JPY as of 7th Jan 18. So expensive. The bottle is luxurious looking with glass structure, the design is simple yet elegant. The company is called Adan Co and based in Amami City, Kagoshima. I googled Amami City, it's a place that produces silk fabric. No wonder the city can come out with a silk fiber product. For me, silk means smooth, I didn't know it can be made into a skin car product too.

According to the product introduction, silk fibrion is actually a protein  of silk fiber, it is hypoallergenic and close to the human skin in terms of amino acid composition. The 18 amino acids will activate the fribroblasts to generate collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. The ingredients include hydrolyzed silk (cell adhesion protein that helps cell migratin and skin regeneration), Rosa Centifolia flower water, butylene glycol, glycine max (soybean) oil, etc. And it specifies that it is surfactant-free. Normally, other product will mention alcohol free or paraben free, surfactant-free is quite fresh.This lotion is very watery. For application method, it recommends gently patting on the entire face. Well, I use cotton pad. Kind of waste actually. But I think it can help exfoliate the skin.

Silk Fibro Lotion (made in Amami, Japan)

Next watery toner is also Japanese made. In the naver matome, a lot of summary listed hatomugi based toners as a good skin care product to fight dryness. Hatomugi is also known as job's tears or barley. I am not a fan of barley drinks. I bought a job's tears based night gelly and not impressed with it. When I bought this bottle of Hatomugi skin conditioner (ナチュリエ ハトムギ化粧水 スキンコンディショナー), I was worried that I might not be able to stand the smell. But it is fragrance free, nice. The texture is very watery too. For the ingredients, the most surprising component is alcohol! But i didn't feel that it dries up my skin, maybe I use the Hada Labo Gokujyun Lotion right after. In the usage suggestion, the manufacturer recommends to pour a generous amount of hatomugi lotion onto cotton pads and apply it as face mask. I didn't because I feel that it is quite messy to have few cotton pads stick to the face and to maintain a certain posture so that the cotton pads remain on the face. I only use this as toner after face wash. Anyway, I think this is a good affordable toner. I bought this from Guardian Pharmacy. It is cheap, 500ml for around RM30. However, in 2016, this toner have a recall in Japan due to a mix up of glycerin with some surfactant. Well, at least the manufacturer admitted the mistake and recall the NG products.

I was very surprised to know that there are so many hatomugi based toners in Japan. Even Hada Labo has a toner based in hatomugi too. It's called Hada Labo kiwamizu hatomugi  VC Lotion (肌ラボ 極水 ハトムギVC化粧水), I think it's not available in Malaysia. Other than that, there are Cezanne Hatomugi Skin conditioner (セザンヌ スキンコンディショナー), Magiabotanica hatomugi skin conditioner (マジアボタニカ スキンコンディショナー), Platinum Label hatomugi skin conditioner (プラチナレーベル ハトムギ化粧水), etc. In Japan, many people tweeted that they used this hatomugi skin conditioner with Nivea Creme to fight dryness. For me, it's kind of a weird combination.

Hatomugi Lotion Skin Conditioner (Usage instruction)

Hatomugi Skin Conditioner (ingredients)

Lastly, it's a free gift when I bought White Formula (自白肌) moisturizer. It's called Super Moist Toner With Hyaluronic Acid (ヒアルロン酸保湿化粧水). White Formula is a Taiwanese brand. When I first heard of this brand, I kept thinking the name was  "白白肌" in Chinese, I just realized the actual name now when I am typing this post, Hahaha! The name is quite special, if direct translate, it means white from within. I googled the company name (President Pharmaceutical Corp) because it's not so tally with a skin care company, the brand shares the same parent company as My Beauty Diary, wow, that's a surprise. Anyway, like the Hada Labo, this toner utilizes Hyaluronic Acid to keep the skin moisturized. It also stated that it has no alcohol, no fragrance and no colourant. The texture is a bit like the Hada Labo Gokujyun Lotion, but maybe more fluid. I think it's a good toner.

White Formula : Super Moist Toner With Hyaluronic Acid

Well, for the above 5 toners. definitely candidates for repurchase. Asian toners are more attuned to my face. I will definitely not buying any more witch hazel based toners!