The Battle Of The Toners

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It was either this topic or my half-year update on my New Year's Resolution. I choose this topic to write first because I have a few other beauty related topics that I wanted to write but I always put it on hold. It was mostly because I'm always tired and I am somehow always busy on off days. I swear I'm not procrastinating those updates cause everyone knows I suck so bad at my resolutions.




Ok. Since the air conditioner in our hospital has been down for ages, I was wondering if it causes my face to become oilier. My toner and moisturizer are from Aiken. Even though Aiken's were water-based products, I was curious if the tea tree oil content might cause my face to become oilier so I wanted to try new ones. I bought a new toner first and conveniently found this tweet telling about the 7-steps toner. 
I wanted to share the tweet but I'm just too lazy too screenshot it so you guys just have to with your guts and trust me

It basically means to apply the toner seven times which is a kind of way to moisturize your face as well. Just apply the toner by dabbing it, wait for it to dry and repeat. Since I was loving my new toner, I decided to skip moisturizer and do this. When I knew for sure the new toner works well, I decided to try to mix in other toner and that is how I ended up trying three new toners

By the way, some disclaimers, my pores aren't that big? I don't know but I never really bothers by it so the toners are merely there as it is a skin routine and since it gives a moisturizing effect as well, it just makes me love it even more. Having said that, I didn't think these toners really makes me feel like "omg my pores are a whole lot better after wearing this"
So here is my say

Aiken Tea Tree Oil Toner
 
Gotta give it up to Aiken first. Apparently, although my face does become oilier due to all the sweating in a non-air conditioned closed room, it was also because my skin is just an oily type. I should have used back a cleanser for oily skin. I stopped using it because my face got so dry while eating acne medicine. But since I didn't eat it anymore, it was best for me to use appropriate cleanser so that my skin didn't get too oily. Since the air conditioner is back on functioning so well, it is okay for me to use Aiken again. Aiken has that slight stringent effect but mostly refreshingly moisturizing. It is water like to the touch with only a hint of slimy/oily feels. I always love how it makes my face feel refreshed. Since it is also so cheap, it is still a really good choice for toner


Nutox Renewing Treatment Lotion
 
This is the first toner that I tried after Aiken. I told the salesperson (?) that I wanted something that will be good for acne prone skin and since he saw my old acne scars as well, he suggested this. The texture is slightly slimy than Aiken's but it wasn't oily at all. It gave a better moisturizing effect and made that 7 step toner far more fun. My face feels so hydrated too. But it cost me around RM40 which is triple than Aiken. The price is actually okay if I wore it just once instead of seven times. Hee

There is this time when I didn't have any spot treatment for that monthly menstrual acne but somehow the inflammation reduces quite noticeably even only by wearing this toner. Although it is good to have a dry face instead of an oily one, hydration is also important for better wound healing so yay Nutox. I'm now using a Hada Labo moisturizer cause seven steps are a tad bit too much for a lazy person like me so I'm going to continue using this toner instead of Aiken. I just feel like I need to cut down any traces of oil altogether.

Klairs Supple Preparation Toner I bought a trial sized one from an Instagram shop. I bought it since there are many good reviews about it. The texture is in between Aiken and Nutox, not too watery but not as slimy. However, it didn't give me that refreshing or hydrating effect. I keep on using it together with Nutox but since it didn't give me that satisfying feeling, I just don't feel the urge to wears it anymore and simply settles for Nutox only. It's quite sad cause it is supposed to have all those good stuff for the skin but I don't wear it anymore just because it didn't give me "that feeling". It really be like that sometimes.

Hada Labo Hydrating Lotion

So after my endeavor with Klairs didn't turn up well, I decided to buy Hada Labo's trial set. There is one for dry skin and one for normal/oily skin which cost around RM25. This allows me to try both the toner and the hydrating gel. The hydrating gel feels so good. It doesn't feel oily at all and directly absorbs into in my skin and made it feel so plump. But the toner, however, wasn't. It literally feels like water and I need to use quite a few more drops than usual because it gets absorbed right away. It too wasn't as moisturizing and refreshing as Nutox. I guess it makes sense since the hydrating gel works well. By this time I was convinced to just use Hada Labo as my moisturizer and thus skip that seven-step toner. However, I might change my mind and use both Hada Labo's and Nutox's toner since Hada Labo ones got all those hyaluronic acid and stuff.



That's it!

I wanted to tell how the texture is because having an oily skin makes me really particular on the products feel. I couldn't get a hand on Nutox's moisturizer to test on my skin so that's why I didn't try that one first. In conclusion, these all are a good choice for oily skin. Even though Aiken's has tea tree oil, you can hardly feel it so it really is okay. Actually, I probably a tad bit too in love with Nutox.

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