Once hugely popular, nowadays tonic seems to be a kind of a beauty relic. How did it happen? It has been crowded out by a micellar lotion. Most women consider micellar lotion as a do-it-all product that leaves the skin clean, removes makeup and balances the skin’s pH in a single step. Recent studies have proven that the role of micelles is a little bit over-hyped. Why is that?

Naturally, micelles are good at attracting dirt and impurities from face, yet this is basically where their mission ends. They aren’t able to nourish the skin. Neither can they balance the skin’s pH. That’s why resigning from using other skincare products and swapping them all for just one micellar lotion may have a pretty negative impact on the skin’s condition. Why shouldn’t you treat the face with only one product?

Tonic – why is it so important?

This skincare product is water-based, which means that it’s runny and easy to distribute on the face. It has to be applied to clean a face with a cotton pad. Tonic soothes the skin and balances its pH levels. It’s one of the essential elements in daily beauty rituals. What are the benefits of using a tonic? This skincare product:

• balances skin’s pH
• soothes, calms down and leaves the skin fresh
• supplies the skin with nutrients
• increases skin’s abilities to absorb cream/serum
• improves skin tone and leaves skin revived
• takes off makeup residues and impurities that haven’t been removed with a micellar lotion

Sometimes it’s really hard to find a tonic that satisfies all skin needs. Therefore, you can try to replace it with other skincare products that can give you similar effects. For example, you can try some floral waters (herbal distillates) or slightly thicker emulsions, which are top skin products in Asia. How do they work? Why should you try implementing them into your daily beauty ritual?

Floral water for skin. Is it a good substitute for a tonic?

Floral water is obtained through steaming. The water has the same properties and benefits that the herb/plant it was extracted from. A few years back, nobody was interested in herbal distillates. They were considered as a by-product of essential oil extraction. Luckily, this has changed and now we can enjoy the great power of floral waters in our daily skin routine. Studies proved that herbal distillates are good at balancing skin’s pH as well as conditioning and supplying the skin with various nutrients. As mentioned earlier, each floral water has a different set of properties, which is strictly connected with the plant it was obtained from. Another advantage of floral waters is their versatility – they can be applied to the skin, hands, face and even hair. Finally, floral water makes a perfect additive to homemade skincare products such as facial masks or hair mists. There are no drawbacks of using herbal distillates.

The top chosen floral waters:

• rose water
• neroli water
• lavender water
• cistus water

Emulsion for skin. Is it a good substitute for a tonic?

Emulsion for skin resembles a thick tonic or a thinned down face serum. Because it’s heavier, it’s a richer alternative to a tonic. Emulsion for skin contains more nutrients than a tonic or a floral water.

As mentioned earlier, emulsion for skin is one of the top choices of Korean women. It’s worth realizing though that they don’t use it as a replacement for a tonic but treat it as a basic element of their daily beauty ritual. Firstly, they remove makeup, then they wash the face either with a foam or gel, later they wipe their faces with a tonic and when it’s fully absorbed by the skin, they apply an emulsion. Finally, they put on a face serum and a face cream.

Emulsion for skin is a good solution for those who live in big cities, which are often heavily polluted. Emulsion supplies skin with additional nutrients which means that it’s able to satisfy the needs even of the problematic skin. Last but not least, owing to high density, emulsion shields the skin from the external aggressors.