Toning Up! 01 : Orfilame Pure Skin Blackhead Toner

Heyllow heyllow...

Nope, the toning up part in the title's got nothing to do with toning up your body (although of course i still go for yoga regularly-the class' slackening a little bit lately due to too many holidays.. Hopefully we'll get back to our diligent selves once the holiday's over on August!) but it's what i decided to call my new series (yes, i like coming up with weird names now haha) for toners. 

I am not really adventurous with skin care as in i stick to whatever works for my skin, but you know i love to experiments with my facial wash-and actually with toners too (yes, i know it's part of skin care too, but i find out that experiencing with toners doesn't affect my skin much *negatively*, unlike serums or moisturizers) so... I very rarely buy the same toners/lotion and instead keep on trying new ones whenever i run out (but i have a different, oil controlling toners that i use before makeup. They're usually from Acnes or Oxy). 

I have declared my love to Oriflame's cheap prices, constant promotions and glossy catalogs (you only need to type the word "Oriflame" on the search box on the right bar to see what i mean) many times and my recently finished toner was from them!

Oriflame Pure Skin Blackhead Toner (picture courtesy of Mr. Google, of course)

Other than a promotion, the lure of this particular toner of course lies on the name. Blackhead toner? I have endless blackheads (and whiteheads) which is emphasized painfully on my last facial just a week ago T.T so whenever i see products that supposedly would be great to get rid of them, i'd come FTL to grab them!

Oriflame's Pure Skin Blackhead Toner (i'll just call it Blackhead Toner from now on!) comes with a sturdy, generic looking blue bottle with blue twist cap. I totally forgot to snap pictures (and accidentally threw the bottle away before blogging about it apparently-coz i can't find the bottle in the box full of empty, need-to-be-reviewed containers) of the bottle opening, but it's just regular hole opening that's not too small nor too big so it wouldn't be spilled everywhere (like some toners do) if you tip your bottle a little too enthusiastically.

The bottle and the cap really are quite sturdy and not made from thin, cheap plastics. I dropped it a few times (as you do) accidentally and it's totally intact. The twist cap is not the best thing for me because of my clumsiness (meaning i kept on dropping it), but since most toners come with similar packaging i don't think it's a fault.

The claims

The bottle contains 150ml of toner which is normal. For me personally, toners always take FOREVER to run out. I always use cotton pads to soak my toners before wiping it all them all over my face and neck. Is it just me or toners really do lasts forever despite the fact that we use them every single day?

When i first saw the blue bottle, i thought the liquid inside would be clear colored and only the bottle's blue but i was mistaken, the toner itself is actually very clear light blue colored, for cute things sucker and colors lover like me this is a plus on the aesthetic part.

The consistency of the toner is like most toners (which is slightly different than lotions, which usually has slightly thicker consistency), pretty much the same consistency as water. It gives a refreshing feeling when applied and absorbs/dries rapidly.

Now as usual, as i am very particular with scents (i have a very sensitive nose but there are a lot of smells that i can tolerate that others can't, i just can't stand BOs and the pals!) and my nose detected a strong, chemically scent which is normal for most toners, but this one actually kinda reminds me of an old, weird lipstick scent. I dunno, i am weird i guess, but that's what i picked up! So scent wise, it's not pleasant but totally bearable, especially coz it disappears fast once the toner got absorbed into my skin.

We should all know by now that the main purpose for a toner is to clean whatever makeup/dirt you have left on your face after cleansing them as well as prepping your skin so it'll be able to absorb your next skincare steps better. In terms of final cleansing, i find this toner to work really well. If i have any makeup left on my skin, this lotion's always able to pick up and clean them thoroughly.

I know that most people has bad reaction with alcohol in their skincare products, as i find in this website - the ingredients that can be found in this toner are as follows :

AQUA, ALCOHOL DENAT., GLYCERIN, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, SALICYLIC ACID, OLETH-20, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, PARFUM, ALLANTOIN, UNDECYLENOYL GLYCINE, SODIUM BENZOTRIAZOLYL BUTYLPHENOL SULFONATE, PHENOXYETHANOL, SODIUM CHLORIDE, CI 42090, CI 17200

Hmmm, i'm utterly useless with ingredients and stuffs, but i read that the higher up on the list the ingredient's placed, the higher the content is. And alcohol denat is placed second so... This is totally bad news for people with sensitive skin, i believe! As for me, the toner actually works really well (as well as any toners i've used in the past) with no bad side effects. It does sting my skin whenever i have an open wound like a recently popped acne (especially after facials)-that's not very nice but i've used toners that stings like hell in the past so it doesn't really bother me.

Their claims :

This powerful blackhead toner deeply cleanses and significantly reduces enlarged pores. Apply on cotton wool and sweep over face. Removes excess oil, dirt and dead skin to prevent the appearance of blackheads.

I don't find any significant pore reduction after finishing a whole bottle, my pore's now a lot better but i totally have other products to credit it for! The removing excess oil, dirt and dead skin part totally applies. I also didn't see any significant reducement on blackheads, i mainly have blackheads around my nose and with using this toner along with my usual skin care-the amount of blackheads remains the same. Again, i have less blackheads now but no thanks to this toner haha.

From the link i've embedded above, you can see that this toner's being rated pretty highly by their users (i just realized that it's India's Orifilame website. As it's in English i find it more relateable with this post as i am writing in English too!) and they pointed out that it's great for oily and acne prone skin. I have very oily skin but i don't really think this helps much with reducing the oil, and my skin's not acne prone so i can't comment on the acne preventing part.

Price wise, Indonesia's Oriflame website stated that it's IDR 79.000 (which is very affordable for a toner, around USD 7) but you know with Oriflame products-your Oriflame lady should be able to give you up to 20% off the original price! I bought it while it was on promo on top of the 30% off (my previous Oriflame lady gave me all of her profit!) so... It was really really cheap. Below IDR 50.000, i'm sure.

In the end i find this toner to work rather well but not very special either. For me this is just another generic toner that is affordable, easy to get (you must know at least one person who's selling Oriflame's products around you especially if you're Indonesian), works as well as most toners do.

I would recommend this for people who are looking for affordable, generically nice toner to complete their skincare products, and not allergic to alcohol! As i find it not drying at all, i dare say this toner can still be used by normal skinned ladies even though it's targeted more to the oily skinned ladies (like i said, i didn't find it helped to reduce the natural oil on my skin but many find it does!).

Not recommending this for those with very sensitive nose (as the scent in the bottle and when poured into cotton pads can be pretty strong), very sensitive skin which reacts badly with alcohol contents and for those who are looking for a miracle product hehe.

Will i repurchase this? Well... Like i said, it works quite well on me, so when it's time to stock up (i don't feel the need to stock toners as much as other products since it takes me forever to finish a bottle) and i feel the urge to shop for Oriflame's products again-and if it's on promo... Why not!

This toner is part of Oriflame's Pure Skin skin care range, it'd PROBABLY work better if you use the entire range but don't take my word for it since i never tried any other products from this range other than this toner hehe.

Have you ever tried any toner from Oriflame and how do you like them?

#Pink

PS : Lots of people choose to temporarily migrate overseas to avoid anything scary happening from today's election result. My mum insisted on Baby Boy skipping school, only to find out that the result wouldn't be announced later in the day (supposedly at 4 PM but it's way passed 4 with no signs of announcement yet) like, way later after he should get back from school *__* i'm honestly pretty annoyed, he skipped school for no reason whatsoever! Thanks for being crazily paranoid, mum! Does any of you (who are Indonesian) skip errr country (not skip town eh) or hide at home too today?