I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this in any other of my previous posts, but I have extremely dry skin. It’s a year round thing, that only gets slightly better in the summer, but just slightly. By that I mean that my T-zone gets a little bit oily, but once I wash my face, my skin becomes dry again. I use the Clinique Extra Mild Liquid Facial Soap, for dry skin. Aside from having dry skin, I do also get eczema patches on my face, usually around my mouth and under my eyes at the very tops of my cheeks. The dryness becomes way worse in the winter, so I will sometimes use a thicker moisturizer in the winter.

After knowing about all my dry skin problems, your probably wondering why the hell would I use a toner. I know that toners can be very drying, including alcohol free ones.Well, my skincare isn’t that extravagant because I’m very wary of flaring up my eczema or causing an allergic reaction.  It’s limited to the Sephora Mattifying and Purifying face mask just ONCE a week (you can check out my review here), and the rest of the week I use a facial soap followed by a moisturizer. That’s it. I decided to add a toner because I noticed, after working out so much, that I was getting more breakouts since my pores would be open. I could literally see my pores larger after a workout since my face would get so red and sweaty.

I wanted to add something to my skincare routine that could help with the breakouts. I also didn’t want to do the most because I don’t want to cause my eczema to flare. That’s where this toner came in. An employee at Impulse at Macy’s recommend the Benefit Cosmetics Moisture Prep Toning Lotion. I got a sample of it (y’all know I love me some samples) because one the ingredients is oats, and sometimes I get an allergic reaction from oats. The sample lasted me about a week–a little bit goes a long way. I used my hands to apply a tiny amount, focusing on my problem areas and then followed with my Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+.

Honestly that first week with it, I wasn’t super impressed with it. I didn’t really notice a huge difference. Then again, I did only try it for a week. However, after I ran out of the sample, I spent a few a days just using moisturizer. That’s when I saw a difference. After not using the Benefit toner for a few days, my skin did not feel as moisturized and my dry patches were back with a vengeance.

I noticed that with the use of the toner, my skin retained my moisturizer better. It didn’t just full soak it up, leaving behind some dry areas. After buying it, and using it daily, my skin feels a lot more hydrated. It feels weird putting on my moisturizer without the toner at this point. It hasn’t completely taken away my dry patches, but I get them less frequent. As for my pores, they are not gone, but definitely smaller. I get less blemishes, and I’ve even noticed less blackheads on my nose. That saying a lot considering that I ran out of my mud mask that gets rid those pesky blackheads. I could only imagine the wonders I’d see if I got the mask again and kept up with my skincare routine.

If you have really dry skin like me, I definitely suggest trying this out. Get it as a sample first in case you don’t like it. Remember to use moisturizer with it too. I’ve seen some reviews were people just use this toner and skip moisturizing, but if your skin is like mine, I don’t recommend doing that.

What’s your favorite toner? Would you try this one? Let me know in the comments.

Stay Vampy,

The Boho Vamp

P.S. A little bit goes a very very long way.