REVIEW // Clarins Gentle Exfoliating Brightening Toner

The Clarins Gentle Exfoliating Brightening Toner was my first foray into the world of chemical exfoliants, which sounds a lot scarier than it is and it's that statement that initially put me off trying anything like this. If it had the word acid in it, I immediately thought it was going to burn my skin off. In reality, this toner is a lot less scary than some of it's bead exfoliating counter parts which can scratch and irritate the skin and I actually have to stay away from those kind of exfoliators, because I just end up with sore, red skin (aside from the Antipodes Exfoliator which is a wonderful product). I won't go into the full details of it but it uses fruit acids to break down the dead surface skin and wipes it away to leave fresh super soft skin, you must however use an SPF after using this product, because if you're skin may be more sensitive to harmful sun rays after using.

This particular toner is probably one of the mildest of the toners currently on the market but it works really well with my sensitive skin and doesn't cause any irritation, it just makes my skin look younger, tighter and smoother, using Tamarind Fruit extract to exfoliate the skin and white nettle to tighten pores. I tend to use this on a cotton wool pad, after I've cleansed and before I moisturise, it takes away any trace bits of makeup left on my skin and buffs away any dead skin (Nice!), After using this, I find I wake up with more even skin, both tone and texture and any potential breakouts seem to have calmed down. It does state to use this only once or twice a week, I use it more than this because it is very mild but you need to test it on your skin to see what works best for you, I use it maybe 4 times a week and that seems to work quite well for me. 

It's a whole new area for me, but I really love using this and the effect it has on my skin, I now really want to try the Pixi Glow Tonic and the Alpha H Liquid Gold. You can pick this up here for around £25, which seems steep initially but you only need a tiny amount and it's not something that you will use everyday so it will last.

Do you use an exfoliating toner? Any others I should be looking out for?

Soph x