3 easy hydrating toners to make at home!

I’m a newbie to toner. I recently discovered what a enormous difference toner makes for my dry skin when this winter I was desperate and decided to use it twice a day after cleansing my face in the morning and before bed. Within two days my skin felt so much softer and the dry patches completely disappeared! While there are some ready-made toners that I love (this one is so luxurious and smells amazing!), I wanted to make my own with some essential oils, hydrosols (a hydrosol is made by distilling fresh flowers or herbs) and witch hazel so I could tailor the scent and ingredients to what I was in the mood for and more could make every time I ran out. You can use any witch hazel you like, but I like it Thayer’s because it also contains some aloe juice and that gives you extra moisture. Here we go!

This toner has the power of rose oil (which reduces wrinkles, smoothes the skin and the scent promotes relaxation), rose hydrosol for hydration and some alcohol-free witch hazel which helps hydrate and balance the skin’s pH. skin. A fresh and floral way to end and start every day!

Pink toner:
-18 drops rose essential oil
–Solubol (a carrier for your essential oil when used with water…is also possible Polysorbate 20 according to the Guide of the Tisserand Institute about safely adding oils to water)
-2 tablespoons rose hydrosol
-2 tablespoons non-alcoholic witch hazel
–2 ounces fine mist spray bottle
–small funnel set (optional)

First you will want to add your Solubol carrier oil to your bottle. For every drop of essential oil you use, add 4 drops of Solubol. For a 2 ounce bottle, we keep our rose oil at a 1% dilution rate (you can do more, but don’t go higher than 1.5% for use on your face), so that’s 18 drops of essential oil and 72 drops of Solubol. If you are using the Polysorbate 20 as a carrier, you can use one drop of carrier oil for every drop of essential oil, so 18 drops of each. Once your carrier oil has been added to your bottle, add your essential oil and gently roll the bottle between your hands to blend the oils together. Use a funnel or carefully pour in your hydrosol and then your witch hazel and shake the bottle to combine.

If dandruff isn’t your thing, this toner uses lavender oil and hydrosol as powerful agents (which help soothe the skin and the scent is very calming too) and the alcohol-free witch hazel reduces irritation and gently cleanses the skin.

Lavender toner:
-18 drops lavender essential oil
–Solubol (a carrier for your essential oil when used with water…is also possible Polysorbate 20 according to the Guide of the Tisserand Institute about safely adding oils to water)
-2 tablespoons lavender hydrosol
-2 tablespoons non-alcoholic witch hazel
–2 ounces fine mist spray bottle
–small funnel set (optional)

First you will want to add your Solubol carrier oil to your bottle. For every drop of essential oil you use, add 4 drops of Solubol. For a 2 ounce bottle, we keep our rose oil at a 1% dilution rate (you can do more, but don’t go higher than 1.5% for use on your face), so that’s 18 drops of essential oil and 72 drops of Solubol. If you are using the Polysorbate 20 as a carrier, you can use one drop of carrier oil for every drop of essential oil, so 18 drops of each. Once your carrier oil has been added to your bottle, add your essential oil and gently roll the bottle between your hands to blend the oils together. Use a funnel or carefully pour in your hydrosol and then your witch hazel and shake the bottle to combine.

If you want to get the most out of your toner and don’t mind a more earthy scent, choose a chamomile toner (an excellent softener for congested skin, contains antioxidants and reduces bacteria to prevent breakouts) with a calendula hydrosol (with a long history of soothing pimples and irritation)

Chamomile toner:
-18 drops chamomile essential oil
–Solubol (a carrier for your essential oil when used with water…is also possible Polysorbate 20 according to the Guide of the Tisserand Institute about safely adding oils to water)
-2 tablespoons calendula hydrosol
-2 tablespoons non-alcoholic witch hazel
–2 ounces fine mist spray bottle
–small funnel set (optional)

First you will want to add your Solubol carrier oil to your bottle. For every drop of essential oil you use, add 4 drops of Solubol. For a 2 ounce bottle, we keep our rose oil at a 1% dilution rate (you can do more, but don’t go higher than 1.5% for use on your face), so that’s 18 drops of essential oil and 72 drops of Solubol. If you are using the Polysorbate 20 as a carrier, you can use one drop of carrier oil for every drop of essential oil, so 18 drops of each. Once your carrier oil has been added to your bottle, add your essential oil and gently roll the bottle between your hands to blend the oils together. Use a funnel or carefully pour in your hydrosol and then your witch hazel and shake the bottle to combine.

Shake before each use to remix the essential oil. You’ll want to keep the bottle in the refrigerator to keep the hydrosols fresh, but I promise the cooling mist will make those few extra steps to the kitchen worth it (or you can go for one of these mini beauty refrigerators if you have the space in your bathroom)! You can spray on your face or soak some in it a cotton round and rub in circles to exfoliate and clean your face (you can get reusable cotton rounds like this one). For best results, use it morning and evening after cleansing your face before applying a moisturizer or serum (this is a great budget friendly face wash). Combine this with a quartz facial roller and you will be in self-care heaven! And in case you were wondering, you can mix and match your oils and hydrosols to create custom scents with different accents. Instead, I used a rose essential oil toner with the lavender hydrosol and I loved the mix of the two, so feel free to get creative and personalize your own! I hope toner will be a game changer for you too! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Color Story desktop.