Dermalogica toner I’m blaming Erina on this. She wrote a post on why women should use toners, which got me thinking:

“How essential are toners in men’s skin care?”

After all, I haven’t seen a lot of toners for men in common skin care ranges.

Ask any man about “toners”, and more of than not, I can guarantee that we’ll think you’re talking about the copier. Or the laser printer. Inks depleted and all that jazz. Knowing how frustrating the pursuit of knowledge would be, I decided not to make too much of an effort this time, and just trust the all-knowing source of information: the internet. So, hopefully this can help some men out there, but if this is wrong, I’m putting the blame on you, internet I hope a more knowledgeable bloke can help me out here.

So what the hell is a toner anyway? Basically toners are used to cleanse the skin and close the pores. One uses a toner by applying it with cotton balls right after a face wash and before moisturising, in order to remove traces of dirt, oil excess and residue from the face wash.

There are two types of toners, each for oily or dry skin types. If you have normal or sensitive skin, you’d have to choose between these two types, and with time and practice, find the one more suitable for you.

The two types are very different in how they work, obviously. For oily skin, the toner will act as astringents which control the oil gland activity and bacteria, while for dry skin, it will act against dehydration. As you can see by now, choosing the wrong type will put you in the opposite direction from where you are supposed to go, causing further skin problems.

I have found that many sources agree on one thing. Are toners important? The short answer is a resounding “no”.

Most of the people who swear by toners (I guess these are women, I can’t seem to imagine a man swearing by a toner) evidently “like” the way how toners make their skin feel refreshed and rejuvenated afterwards. The feeling of “tight skin” and the action of closing pores are basically the work of the alcohol content, rather than the toners themselves.

However, it can not be denied that toners will definitely help in keeping your skin clean, moisturised and feel fresh. It will make you feel awesome.

So, if you want to go an extra mile, go on and find a toner that’s suitable for your skin. If not, we can make do with the facial cleansers and scrubs and moisturisers for now.

What do you have in your grooming arsenal? Let us know in the comments.