What are the best facial toners for sensitive skin?
A facial toner is a necessary step in a good skincare regimen. This step comes after cleansing the face but before applying any moisturizers or serums.
Facial toners used to consist of strong astringents or drying alcohols for oily, acne-prone skin. Today, facial toners are made for all skin types. They’re loaded with healthy ingredients that remove any post-cleanse dirt and nourish, clarify and protect the skin.
Choosing the right toner is essential for your skin, especially if you have sensitive skin. We’ve put together a list of the best toners on the market, along with their key ingredients, to help you choose the best state-of-the-art toner that gives your skin what it needs to look its best.
What is sensitive skin?
According to an article published in the National Institutes of Health, sensitive skin is the burning, itching and general skin irritation. This feeling is often accompanied by redness and inflammation. Skincare and cosmetic products frequently contain certain ingredients that can inflame the skin. Check with a dermatologist if you think you have sensitive skin.
What should I look for in a toner for sensitive skin?
Toners for sensitive skin should have calming ingredients such as aloe vera, chamomile, allantoin and licorice extract.
A toner doesn’t have to be all-natural to be effective. Ingredients such as niacinamide, glycolic or hyaluronic acid are gentle and suitable for hydration and restoration. Green tea and resveratrol are good antioxidants.
Avoid toners or astringents loaded with drying or burning ingredients such as witch hazel, SD alcohol, denatured alcohol or menthol. These ingredients typically cause redness and inflammation.
How do I use a facial toner?
A facial toner comes in the form of a liquid or mist. After cleansing the face, apply a small amount of liquid onto a cotton ball and gently rub the toner all over the face, avoiding the eye area. Allow the toner to dry before moving onto the next step.
Facial toner for sensitive skin prices
As with many skincare products, facial toner can cost from $4-$100. Ingredients, not price, should be the determining factor when purchasing a toner for sensitive skin.
Best facial toners for sensitive skin
Best of the best toner for sensitive skin
Sisley-Paris Floral Toning Lotion: available at Saks Fifth Avenue, Violet Grey and SpaceNK
Cornflower is the star ingredient that soothes sensitive, irritated skin while rose water refreshes and softens. Free of alcohol and harsh chemicals, this French toner leaves skin feeling refreshed and clean.
Best bang for your buck toner for sensitive skin
Andalou Naturals Clementine + C Illuminating Toner: available at Ulta and Amazon
With its variety of quality antioxidants and anti-irritant components, this vegan, cruelty-free and gluten-free toner is an excellent choice at an even friendlier price point. It comes packaged in a tinted bottle to protect the light-altering ingredients.
Best toner for rosacea-prone skin
Kiehl’s Calendula Herbal-Extract Toner: available at Macy’s, SpaceNK and Ulta
Calendula and allantoin are natural ingredients from flowers that soothe and comfort skin. Allantoin is incredibly soothing for rosacea. Great burdock root, along with calendula, help reduce oil production. When combined, these ingredients offer a great toner that has been in Kiehl’s line-up since the late 1960s.
Best toner for dry, sensitive skin
Murad Hydrating Toner: available at Murad, Sephora, Macy’s and Ulta
This paraben, sulfate and phthalates-free spray restores pH balance and neutralizes surface impurities. While it’s not explicitly made for sensitive skin, ingredients such as chamomile and cucumber extracts soothe and minimize skin irritation.
Best mist toner
Dermalogica Ultracalming Mist: available at Dermalogica and Ulta
Lightly spray this toner on your face and neck to reduce redness and calm irritated skin. This mist toner contains oat kernel extract for soothing the skin.
Best toner for normal-to-oily, sensitive skin
La Roche-Posay Serozinc Face Toner for Oily Skin: available at Lovely Skin, SkinStore and Amazon
This spray toner functions nicely to ward off excess oil, thanks to the safe ingredient zinc sulfate. It is also designed to be gentle enough for sensitive skin as it uses unique thermal spring water to purify and soothe the skin.
Best toner for normal-to-dry, sensitive skin
Paula’s Choice Calm Soothing Toner Normal to Dry: available at Amazon
This milky liquid toner combines green tea antioxidants to fortify skin, hyaluronic and other safe acids to restore the skin’s moisture barrier and licorice herb to calm redness and irritation. It is also beneficial for rosacea-prone skin.
Best toner for men with sensitive skin
Jack Black Oil Control Toner: available at Lovely Skin
This toner, made especially for men, has red microalgae extract to protect against free radicals, along with a combination of helpful ingredients such as zinc PCA and salicylic acid to keep oil at bay.
Best toner for mature skin
Indie Lee CoQ10 Toner: available at Violet Grey, Credo Beauty and Amazon
This antioxidant toner offers skin-soothing effects and helps the skin regenerate. Along with red-reducing aloe, cucumber and chamomile, it also has much-needed hyaluronic acid to help hydrate and plump the skin.
Best natural toner
Paula’s Choice Earth Sourced Purely Natural Refreshing Toner: available at Amazon
Paula’s Choice merges natural ingredients with solid scientific research in just the right amounts to nourish the skin without aggravating the face with fragrance or harsh chemicals. 98% of its naturally-derived formula includes camellia, grape seed and green tea extracts along with sunflower seed oil, black elderberry and more.
Best clean toner
Youth to the People Adaptogen Soothe + Hydrate Activated Mist: available at Youth to the People and Amazon
Even though it feels almost light as air, this tone comes with a spray mist and offers natural, non-irritating ingredients of reishi mushroom, ashwagandha herb and holy basil extracts. Youth to the People focuses on being vegan and offers superfood-focused skincare products.
Tammy Tilley is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
