DIY All-Natural Hydrating Face Toner
DIY Skincare & Beauty Natural Beauty Natural DIY
This DIY all-natural toner is the perfect remedy for dry skin! It helps balance the skin’s pH, reduce the appearance of pores, and leaves skin oh so soft.
Dry winter air got your skin calling for HELP?
DIY All-Natural Hydrating Face Toner to the rescue!
The star of this toner is an ultra-hydrating ingredient and one of my wintertime skincare must-haves: vegetable glycerine.
Vegetable glycerin has been a total game-changer for me. And I’m not saying this lightly. It’s one of those products that I just can’t ever imagine life without anymore!
Because in the colder months, I used to get really dry, cracked hands to the point where they would bleed. Nope, no fun at all. Now my hands are baby soft and oh so happy… in the dead of winter.
Did you know that skin hydration and moisture are actually 2 different things?
I know I know, they sound like they’d be the same thing. But their difference is really important to understand.
Hydration has to do with water while skin moisture has to do with oil. Skin hydration comes from both inside our bodies (via the water we drink) and outside from the air. So when the air is dry and lacking moisture as happens in the wintertime, the skin no longer has a primary source of hydration.
When skin is dehydrated, moisturizing face oils can only do so much. Because while the oil helps lock in hydration, it can only do so if there is hydration there to be locked in! So in addition to hydrating our bodies properly (i.e. drinking enough water), it’s important to add a hydrating component to our skincare routines when the air is dry.
Humectants are AMAZING when it comes to hydrating the skin. They actually draw moisture from the air and pull it into your skin (I know, it sounds like some sort of impossible magic and it IS magic but it’s also totally possible). And of all the humectants, vegetable glycerin reigns supreme.
Including vegetable glycerine in a toner is a great way to provide your skin with hydration before locking it in with moisture.
DIY All-Natural Hydrating Face Toner
Ingredients:
- A little less than 4 tbs alcohol-free aloe-based witch hazel
- ¼ tsp organic vegetable glycerin
Directions:
Simply add both ingredients to a 2 oz glass bottle. (I prefer a spray bottle.)
Screw the lid on the bottle and give it a good shake to combine the ingredients.
Wash face and gently pat dry so skin is damp. Spray the hydrating toner 3-4 times over entire face or apply to skin using a cotton ball. Follow with face oil or other moisturizer of choice to seal in hydration.
How often do you apply it?
So glad to hear it and have you as a new reader, Summer! Enjoy 🙂
Wow so happy I came across your website, it is everything I have been looking for! SO in love with it, can’t wait to go through everything!
Does this need to be refrigerated to preserve it? Or can it be stored in the bathroom/vanity/medicine cabinet?
Yep, just 2 ingredients! Super simple 🙂
Are there really only TWO ingredients in this? Witch hazel and glycerin? No water?
Glass bottles (spray and plain) are available at NatureTyme or other like Whole Foods stores!
Glass bottles, both plain & spray are available thru Amazon. Some of the ^ above comments covered this.
Wondering where to purchase a small glass spray bottle. I’ve never seen them for sale. Would love to know where to get one.
Thanks!
Hi Nadia! I’m writing from Portugal and I just met your blog this week…sad for that, but I already catch up by reading almost all your post on natural home and beauty 😀
I found this article very, very interesting to the point that I haven’t found yet a translation for moisture in Portuguese…so for us both are treated as hydration.
As I saw your ingredient’s list I didn’t found alcohol-free aloe-based witch hazel around here (unfortunately our range of raw material for natural products isn’t large… 🙁 ), is there another alternative to substitute?
Thank you so much!
Hugs
Ana
Would it be OK to add lemon essential oil to this mixture; if so, how much is recommended?
I can feel the difference in my winter dry skin – this is great! I love simple recipes you can make yourself and not worry whether something unpronounceable in the ingredients list is bad for you.
My hair got really dried out by chlorine in the pool (and probably the ACV rinse I used afterwards). Do you think spraying this on damp or wet hair would help hold in moisture there as well?
I love following your posts and have been doing so for over a year. My favorites are the DIY face wash and moisturizer with essential oils. I’m very excited to try out this new toner. P.S. I love following another Nadia!
Oh but also I just remembered – since this toner contains water, it’s already there for the vegetable glycerin to work with so no need to dampen skin! But yes, as with your hands I would apply to damp skin so it has that water to draw in.
Thank you for mentioning this! I have best results when my face has just been washed and gently patted dry, with a little moisture remaining on the skin. That way the glycerine locks that moisture in. I should specify this!
FYI: While it’s true that glycerin draws moisture from the air and pulls it to your skin, that’s not the case in our dry climate here in Colorado. If there’s no moisture in the air, then glycerin draws it from your skin. OUCH! I actually tried this once when I first learned this little known fact about glycerin. First I put some straight glycerin on my hands and smoothed it on my face. It stung me like a bee! Second, I waited for a rainy day and tried it again. It felt really good. HTH
Yes, that’s a great idea!
Thank you for sharing this – I had no idea and I’m going to try it ASAP! I was thinking of mixing a little veg glycerine into my existing batch of rose petal toner (another recipe of yours that I adore) – any reason you would advise against that? Thanks Nadia!
Hi, Yolanda! LOL yes, I’m not a big fan of plastic 🙂 Well they do sell them at most Whole Foods in the body care section if you have a store near you. They’re $2-3 each depending on the size. But you can also get a set pretty reasonably on Amazon. This set of 4 2-oz spray bottles is $11 – that way you have a few for if you do any other experiments! And Amazon has a bunch of other styles too.
Hi! Love your posts that give such great information & ideas. I’m fairly new here but am well aware of your plastic aversion. Where can I find inexpensive glass containers like the glass spray bottle you recommend above? Thank you!