Cosrx AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner Review

Cosrx is a skincare brand that I can count on. I appreciate Corsx's simplicity of their ingredients lists and the effectiveness of their skincare. I have tried many of their products, one of them being the Cosrx AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner. Since I've been using this toner for the past three months, I can say I have give a good verdict of what my thoughts are on this product.

Price: ~$12
Notable Ingredients:

• Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Water: contains BHA in the form of salicylic acid. Willow bark water works well to treat acne since it helps to chemically exfoliate the skin, removing the impurities (dirt, sweat, sebum, etc.) within the pore.
• Glycolic Acid (0.1%): a chemical exfoliant in the form of an AHA that loosens dead skin cells
• Betaine Salicylate (0.1%): a  chemical exfoliant in the form of a BHA that goes into the pore and removes impurities 

What is interesting is that the toner contains moisturizing ingredients such as allantoin and panthenol to prevent the skin from drying. However, these ingredients are located towards the bottom of the list, so it may not appear to be moisturizing on the skin once the toner is applied.

1. Use in skin/toner stage after facial wash every morning/evening.
2. Apply on a cotton pad and blot along the skin, from inside out (from center of the face to the outside of the face).

I apply the toner right after my cleansing. Since the product is in a spray bottle, I spray the toner straight on to a cotton ball, and apply it from the center of my face and out. I found it more difficult to use a cotton pad when applying this toner; the combination of a thin cotton pad and a thin toner does not make application easy. With that being said, the toner itself is thin (like water), which makes it quick to sink into the skin. That is one of the things I like about this product, is that it absorbs quickly into the skin, making my skincare routine faster to do (I get impatient you know??).

My Thoughts:

Although this product contains AHA and BHA, it's not enough to use as your only form of exfoliation. However, I do like that there are chemical exfoliants in this toner, even if it's not enough to truly exfoliate your skin. It maybe a psychological thing, but I feel better knowing I have AHA and BHA incorporated into my skincare routine, even if it's not a lot.

If you are implementing the 7 layer method (in which you put on 7 layers of toner on to your face) into your routine, this product may not work well for that. As mentioned before, this product contains chemical exfoliants, and layering that on to your face can be quite harsh on your skin. Plus, it does not add any moisture to the skin, which the point of the 7 layer method is to plump the skin with toner. Although this product does contain ingredients that are meant to moisturize the skin, they're more like preventions to stop the skin from drying out. So if you are wanting to do the 7 layer method, skip this product.

What I like about this toner is that it does not dry out my skin. Yes, it's not moisturizing, but at least it doesn't suck the moisture out of my skin. I also like that the toner removes the remnants that remain during the cleansing process, making my skin more clean. It's what toners should do-- clean the face once more before applying your other skincare products. Additionally, I do find that my other skincare products work better after applying the toner before-hand.

Claims: This advanced formulation reduces the appearance of whiteheads, blackheads, and blemishes, while cleansing pores.

Another thing to note is that its claims of reducing the appearance the whiteheads, blackheads, and blemishes is false. I still find that my whiteheads, blackheads, and blemishes looked the same to when I wasn't using this product. It seems like this product want to more than just your standard toner, however, the claims on the bottle do not appear to be true. Well, for me at least.

Something I would definitely would like Cosrx to fix is the bottle. I get how it's in a spray bottle-- it's convenient and does not contaminate the actually product.  But, it often leaks, loosing product in the process.

Pros:

• Great, exfoliating ingredients
• Not drying
• Preps skin for other products

Overall, this is a solid toner that does what a toner should do: it cleanses, does not dry out the skin, and provides the base for your other skincare products. However, toners these days do more than just a solid toner. Many toners on the market have added antioxidants and moisturizing ingredients that are the forefront of the ingredients list. In addition, the things the toner claims it does, is unfortunately not true. It would be amazing if it did (like reducing the look of whiteheads, blackheads, and blemishes who doesn't want that !!), but my skin looked the same to what it was like prior to using this toner. But, if you want a toner that does what a solid toner should do, then this product may work well for you. Personally, I'll keep using this toner until I run out, but I think I'll try out other toners before purchasing this product again.