DIY Toner

It looks a little like cloudy lemonade.

I’ve been thinking a lot about toner lately.  I’ve managed to float through my life with relatively clear skin despite the fact that I’ve really never had what you’d call a skincare routine.  Most nights I don’t even wash my face, out of nothing but sheer laziness.  Though I drink a lot of water and stay out of the sun, my good skin is the result of nothing more than good genes (thanks, Mom!) and luck.  The past couple of weeks, however, have been pretty stressful.  I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee (over a pot a day, probably) and staying up late to get everything done and my skin is pretty pissed off by the whole thing.

So, back to toner.  My sister Dawn and I were talking about toner the other day.  She researches her beauty products as much as most people would major appliances or cars, and I really value her opinion.  She told me that she’s planning on adding toner to her skincare routine, and I thought I might try some out as well.  But I just ordered some hair dye, so toner isn’t really in my budget right now.  I poked around the internet to see if I could find a suitable substitute and found this DIY Toner recipe from The Daily Green.  It captured my attention because I had all the ingredients on hand.  I put it in an old olive oil bottle, and even though the bottle was on the smaller side it still held much more liquid than The Daily Green’s recipe made.  If you’re not sure if this toner will work for you, I’d recommend following their recipe first and then doubling once you need to make more.  I hate to see things go to waste!  Still,  I think I ended up tripling or quadrupling it for myself.

To make this toner, all you need is:

• 12 oz or 1 1/2 C water
• 4 T apple cider vinegar (I used organic, unfiltered Braggs)
• 20 aspirin

Crush aspirin in mortar and pestle (or a heavy spoon in a bowl, if you don’t have one) funneled it into the bottle.  Then pour in the water and the ACV, screw the top on, and shake the  bottle until the contents dissolve.  That’s it!

After washing my face like usual (with Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap), I applied the toner with a cotton ball and went to bed.  I used it again this morning, though I only splashed my face with water.  I haven’t noticed a huge difference yet, but I will say my skin feels less oily than it usually would by this time of day.  I felt like I had a couple of spots popping up yesterday afternoon, but those have now calmed down considerably as well.  I have incredibly sensitive skin, so I’ll keep you guys posted on how it responds to this over the next few weeks.  I’ve used all these things on my face separately at one time or another, so I’m interested to see how they’ll work together.  A word of caution:  this stuff really smells like apple cider vinegar, so if you’re bothered by that smell then make a smaller batch first.  I can, however, attest to the fact that the smell fades really fast, and after fifteen to thirty minutes I can’t smell it any more.

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