Glycolic Acid Toner

I've stayed away from toners for years simply because I didn't think my dry skin needed that step. If you google it, "toner" is defined as an astringent liquid applied to the skin to reduce oiliness. Reason number 1 why I never used it- I have dry skin, not oily.

However, I rediscovered a Peter Thomas Roth 10% Glycolic Acid toner I'd had for a while I figured, why the hell not, and started using it (knowing full well I would moisturize my face like crazy afterward.) And lo and behold, I loved it.

It made my skin super smooth and even and when I'd wake up in the morning, my skin was really taut and firm, but not tight and dry.

I used it for a couple of weeks and thought I would glance at the ingredients list. To my horror, I saw that the *third* ingredient was alcohol (the higher on the ingredient list, the more of the ingredient is included in the product). If you know anything about skin care you know that alcohol is a huge no no: it's incredibly drying and can age your skin really quickly, regardless of hyper moisturizing products you may use afterwards. So although the glycolic acid was doing it's thing and my skin was responding well to it, the alcohol would have long term drying effects on me. I threw it away that day and ran to Ulta to find a replacement. (Ok "ran" is a bit of an overstatement. I went that following weekend.)

Unfortunately Ulta didn't have a big selection of glycolic acid toners (I guess toners aren't really that trendy anymore but whatever man, if it works, I don't care.)

I did see Mario Badescu had an alcohol free Glycolic Acid toner available so I snagged it:

This toner is 2% Glycolic acid, so less strong than the Peter Thomas Roth one but now that I'm thinking about it, the Peter Thomas Roth one has been sitting on my shelf for some time and it might have lost it's efficacy. Now it makes sense why my skin handled the 10% so well given my skin is normally so sensitive. Doing some more research, Peter Thomas Roth doesn't even make a 10% glycolic acid toner; they now have an 8% one in new packaging available at Sephora. (I'm not linking it because the third ingredient is still alcohol).

I've been using the Mario Badescu one and I'm really liking it. It's gentle but I'm still seeing the same effects- smooth and even skin.

I'll continue using this one and see how it goes but for now, I'm really pleased. Plus at 18 bucks for 8 oz, that's a pretty good deal.

So tell me, do you guys use a toner? Or do you use glycolic acid in your skin care routine?