Monday 10 November 2014

Pure & Light Organic Essential Toner review



For me toners are an essential part of my beauty ritual. The benefits of a good toner are noticeable after a few weeks and you get an occasional gem that soothes your skin almost instantly. There are different options available to help "purify" your skin (I am guessing that is a marketing term for help clear blemishes and clogged pores), "plump" your skin (that would be the ones for dry/mature skin), "revitalise" and so on. I divide toners in to two groups: wipe-off and spray-on. A wipe-off toners job is to remove any remnants of cleanser, and to bring skin's PH into balance after cleansing. Spray-on toners job is somewhat similar, to bring the skin's PH into balance and provide extra hydration before applying moisturiser, effectively sealing the toner before it evaporates.

One argument against the use of toners is that gentler formulations of cleanser no longer make it necessary to balance the PH levels, but that is only true if the cleanser that you are using is indeed that gentle. A well formulated toner however will help with your overall skin appearance and function, i.e. help it be less oily, or dry, or sensitive, generally bringing it closer to the happy middle. Over the years I have noticed that my skin is often happier with products designed for all skin types rather than something for oily/combination skin which is often too drying (and the normal/dry is often way too rich).

Pure & Light organic Essential toner* is one such product that has been formulated for all skin types and is recommended for people over the age of 18. The ingredient list consists of a combination of three organic distillates: orange blossom, geranium and rosemary. Orange blossom is often recommended for mature and dry skin types and it helps with general skin health, geranium helps balance hormonal skin and keep skin supple, rosemary has anti-bacterial properties and is fantastic for skin that tends to get congested.

I absolutely love the packaging of this toner. It is an airless pump container, and every time I use it I can feel the inside mechanism moving from the bottom, I think that is pretty fabulous and very clever. At the bottom of the bottle you can find both production date and expiry date (which I wish more companies would do), and once you started using your toner, it stays fresh for six months.

The scent is very mild and orange blossom is the more dominant, not surprising since it is the very first ingredient. I find this to be an excellent morning toner, I have been using it exclusively (morning and night) for the past two and a half weeks and I really like how it works for me. My skin is balanced and it helps keep the texture of my skin nice and smooth (something that only very few toners manage to do). The reason why I like this as a morning toner especially, is due to a short ingredient list. Before this toner was sent to me I have been using an Aloe hydrolat so my skin wouldn't get upset with a more active formula, and I found that Essential Toner* mixes happily with my morning skincare, without flaring up any sensitivities, and improves the appearance of my skin ( it just looks a bit smoother and pores seem a bit less noticeable). Honestly there wouldn't be anything more that I would look for from a toner. I find the quality of this one to be very high.

Now we come to the question of price. It retails for £35 which in itself is not a problem for me as I do tend to splurge on skincare and have a few pricey toners. However the size is 45ml (based on similar sized toners, I expect it to last about 3 months used once daily, with occasional twice daily use), making it a slightly rounded up £0.78 per millilitre, and it also makes the most expensive toner per millilitre in the organic beauty market that I know of. That being said I still feel that it is worth having and at the moment there are a couple of offers, if you spend £60 on the Pure & Light organic site you will get free shipping and a toner for free, and they also have a few Christmas gift sets that have the toner in them with really good savings.

If you live in London and want to see it in person before committing you can pop over to Janna Organic Remedies who carries the range in their store.


*This product was sent to me for a review. All the opinions are my own honest representations, based on my personal experience with the product. 

11 comments:

  1. This brand is outside of my budget, I'm perfectly happy to stick with floral water from Balm Balm. Of course, this is just my opinion and I appreciate that you feel differently :) Correct me if I'm wrong but Batch numbers & expiry dates are a regulation requirement so everyone should be adding those to packaging, are you not finding this?

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    1. I'm happy with less expensive things too, most of the time ;) I'm finding that batch numbers are present but sometimes represented in a say batch:317 rather than an actual date of say 10/2014, and those other numbers mean nothing to me, of course they do to manufacturer. But no expiration dates abscen on most products, the little jar with ex amount of months after opening is there but not the date at which you should toss it even if you haven't opened it. I wasn't aware that expiration date (not the best after opening) was also part of regulation. Will investigate xx

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  2. Just like I have Liz to go to with my lipstick queries, I have you for toner! This one sounds really lovely though a bit pricey and it sounds great that it really seems to hydrate. That's definitely one of the qualities I look for in a toner. *adds to growing toner list

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    1. Yes I do it to be unusually expensive which is why I did the price break down. I really enjoy using it, I'm sorry I'm making your toner list so long :) xx

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  3. Oh lala, i found it quite pricey as well…. but Nice too :-) x

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  4. I've never seen that type of air-tight pump packaging for a toner; maybe that's part of why its so pricey? Packaging is beautiful as well. I feel like I'd go through 45 ml in a week though! I'm a generous toner sprayer before and after cleansing. How long did this bottle last you? Thanks Tamara! xo

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  5. This brand sounds lovely but the price isn't justifiable to me. Sounds luxurious and like a good gift idea! Will definitely take a look if I decide to splurge.

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  6. Interesting, but I've never really considered buying a toner! I've made my own, or I use rosewater. This looks like a nice brand though...:)
    www.milkandhoneybeauty.wordpress.com

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  7. I've been contacted about their moisturiser & have seen a few reviews and it does seem to be way higher priced than other organic skincare products. It does sound lovely though :)

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  8. ooooh interesting but i bit pricey... for 45ml :) Xx

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