Toners are considered to be one of the most basic products in most Asians’ skin care regimen. In the US, we are trained by marketing and commercials to think that this is an unnecessary step in the skin regimen when using a proper toner can completely affect your skin condition. There are all types of toners that will cleanse, tighten, brighten or moisturize your skin. From a recent study by Japan’s TV station, NHK, they discovered that the way you apply your toner not only makes a huge difference on how effective your toners are, but one should also realize the importance of toners and its application to make the rest of your skin regimen more effective.

Japan’s NHK recently interviewed 30 people off the streets and discovered that more than half of them apply their toners by lightly patting on the product using their hands. Only less than half of the consumers gently pressed their toners onto their skin. In order to discover which method is better, Japan’s NHK TV Station gently patted on toner the right side of a model’s face with their hands, and then in contrast gently pressed the toner onto the left side of the model’s face with hands. Then the research team used high tech equipment including a microscope to take a picture of the model’s face to detect the moisture level of the model’s right and left side’s face. 

The results were incredible and shocking. NHK discovered that even though they used the same toner on both sides of the model’s face the application process made a significant difference: the moisture level of the right side of the model’s face did not go up but the constant patting actually caused stress to the model’s face. Compared to the left side, the right side of the model’s face appeared darker, and had thin white lines which indicated damage of some skin cells.

Conclusion: I’m definitely pressing my toners onto my skin from now on. I really love these experiments!