DEBUG

JUN 16 2016

My Favorite Facial Mists

A facial mist is one of the most versatile products in your skincare arsenal. Also known as an “essence” or “toner” (the alcohol-free kind only, please!), it’s the often overlooked piece that takes your complexion from good to great.

Think you don’t need a facial mist in your life? Read on about how this multitasker enhances your beauty routine, and you might just change your mind:

1. Optimizes your skincare products
Spritz a facial mist over your face and neck on damp skin after cleansing or showering. This allows the humectants and nutrients in your creams, serums and masks to better travel into the skin, and also increases hydration by locking in moisture. Believe me, it will make a big difference in how your skin looks and feels. So cleanse first, then spritz your facial mist, then apply your other skincare products.

2. Soothes and refreshes heat-stressed skin
Remember when you were kid and the thing you wanted most to do on hot summer days was run through the first sprinkler you could find? The grown-up version is a facial mist, for spritzing your overheated skin. Carry it in your purse or keep one at your desk and spray over your face and neck whenever you need to refresh your complexion.

3. Gives makeup a flawless finish
Makeup looks flawless when everything blends together seamlessly. After applying your makeup (but before mascara!), lightly mist your face and neck with one of the products listed below. The humectant properties will blur the lines between your foundation/concealer/bronzer/highlighter/ blush such that you won’t be able to tell where one ends and the other starts.

4. Calms post-workout skin
You know that red face look you get after a workout? I know it very well. Instead of waiting for it to subside you can speed up the process by spritzing your face and neck with a facial mist. It works to quickly cool down the skin and calm the redness caused by all that blood flow.

The new generation of facial mists is loaded with antioxidants, hydrating oils and soothing anti-irritants. Forget that Clinique mostly- alcohol toner in the big blue bottle, or that hippie witch hazel toner from the health food store. These elegantly formulated, skin-loving mists are Toner 2.0:

Josh Rosebrook Hydrating Accelerator

  • Like all Josh Rosebrook products, the Hydrating Accelerator is artisan skincare at its finest.
  • Both a hydrating toner and lightweight moisturizer in a base of organic aloe juice water.
  • The aloe and other anti-inflammatory plant extracts like turmeric and licorice calm and soothe, while antioxidants and fatty acids relieve redness, hydrate and lightly moisturize.
  • Infused with an impressive amount of beneficial oils - such as Jojoba, Marula, Evening Primrose, and Hemp seed oils - that leave your skin feeling super soft and supple.
  • Scent is light, sweetly herbal and very addictive.
  • 100% organic ingredients, no animal testing.

4 fl oz. (US $32.00), travel size in 2 fl oz. (US $20.00)

Andalou Naturals Clementine + C Illuminating Toner

  • You can find Andalou Naturals at Whole Foods and most health food stores, so bonus points for convenience.
  • A vitamin boost for the skin with an array of antioxidants: vitamin C (as magnesium ascorbyl phosphate), clementine and melon extracts, tea extracts (rooibos and white tea), and vitamins B5 and E.
  • Just like the Hydrating Accelerator, the base of the Illuminating Toner is aloe vera, which soothes and calms the skin.
  • Small amount of glycolic acid in the formula, but the percentage is too low to act as an exfoliant.
  • Non-GMO, cruelty-free, gluten free and vegan.

6 fl oz. (US $12.95)


Odacite Skincare Aloe & Immortelle Hydrating Toner Mist

  • Like the above two products, Odacite’s Toner Mist has a base of aloe vera that helps reduce any redness or inflammation.
  • What makes this product unique is the addition of hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a natural structural component of skin that’s present in connective tissue throughout the body. It provides long-lasting hydration because of its ability to retain moisture: it has a greater capacity to hold moisture than any other natural or synthetic polymer. The result? Skin stays soft and hydrated for hours after you spritz this on.
  • Don’t forget to pat this around your eyes too: Odacite included sea fennel extract specifically to reduce puffiness around the eyes.
  • Its light but intoxicating scent of Immortelle essential oil makes it a winner in the scent department.

 

4 fl oz. (US $45.00)