3 Easy Hydrating Toners to Make at Home!

I am a newbie to the toner game. I recently discovered what a huge difference toner makes for my dry skin when I was desperate this winter and decided to try using it twice a day after cleaning my face in the morning and before bed. Within two days, my skin felt so much softer and the dry patches totally 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 customize the scent and ingredients to what I felt like and make more whenever I ran out. You can use whichever witch hazel you like, but I like Thayer’s since it also has some aloe juice in it and that gives you extra moisture. Here we go!

This toner has the power of rose oil (which reduces the appearance of wrinkles, helps smooth skin, and the smell promotes relaxation), rose hydrosol for hydration, and some alcohol-free witch hazel which helps moisturize and balance out the pH level of the skin. A fresh and floral way to end and start each day!

Rose Toner:
-18 drops rose essential oil
–Solubol (a carrier for your essential oil when used with water … you can also use Polysorbate 20 according to the Tisserand Institute guide on safely adding oils to water)
-2 tablespoons rose hydrosol
-2 tablespoons alcohol-free witch hazel
–2 ounces fine mist spray bottle
–small funnel set (optional)

First, you’ll want to add your Solubol carrier oil to your bottle. You’ll add 4 drops of Solubol for each drop of essential oil you use. For a 2 ounces bottle we’ll 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 would be 18 drops of essential oil and 72 drops of Solubol. If you use the Polysorbate 20 as your carrier, you can use one drop of carrier oil for each drop of essential oil, so 18 drops of each. Once your carrier oil is added to your bottle, add in 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 rose isn’t your thing, this toner uses lavender oil and hydrosol as its power agents (which helps soothe the skin and the scent is also very calming) and the alcohol-free witch hazel reduces irritation and gently cleanses skin.

Lavender Toner:
-18 drops lavender essential oil
–Solubol (a carrier for your essential oil when used with water … you can also use Polysorbate 20 according to the Tisserand Institute guide on safely adding oils to water)
-2 tablespoons lavender hydrosol
-2 tablespoons alcohol-free witch hazel
–2 ounces fine mist spray bottle
–small funnel set (optional)

First, you’ll want to add your Solubol carrier oil to your bottle. You’ll add 4 drops of Solubol for each drop of essential oil you use. For a 2 ounces bottle we’ll 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 would be 18 drops of essential oil and 72 drops of Solubol. If you use the Polysorbate 20 as your carrier, you can use one drop of carrier oil for each drop of essential oil, so 18 drops of each. Once your carrier oil is added to your bottle, add in 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 maximum benefit of your toner and you don’t mind a more earthy scent, go for a chamomile toner (an excellent soother of congested skin, has antioxidants, and reduces bacteria to prevent breakouts) with a calendula hydrosol (which has a long history of soothing blemishes and irritation)

Chamomile Toner:
-18 drops of chamomile essential oil
–Solubol (a carrier for your essential oil when used with water … you can also use Polysorbate 20 according to the Tisserand Institute guide on safely adding oils to water)
-2 tablespoons calendula hydrosol
-2 tablespoons alcohol-free witch hazel
–2 ounces fine mist spray bottle
–small funnel set (optional)

First, you’ll want to add your Solubol carrier oil to your bottle. You’ll add 4 drops of Solubol for each drop of essential oil you use. For a 2 ounces bottle we’ll 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 would be 18 drops of essential oil and 72 drops of Solubol. If you use the Polysorbate 20 as your carrier, you can use one drop of carrier oil for each drop of essential oil, so 18 drops of each. Once your carrier oil is added to your bottle, add in 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 blend the essential oil back into the mixture. You’ll want to keep the bottle in the fridge to keep the hydrosols fresh, but I promise that the cooling mist will make those few extra steps to the kitchen worth it (or you can go for one of these mini beauty fridges if you have the space in your bathroom)! You can spray onto your face or you can soak some into a cotton round and rub in circles to exfoliate and clean your face (you can get reusable cotton rounds like these as well). For best results, you’ll use it morning and night after you clean your face before applying moisturizer or serums (this is a great budget-friendly face wash). Pair this with a quartz face roller and you’ll 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 focuses—I did a rose essential oil toner with the lavender hydrosol instead and I loved the mixture of the two, so feel free to get creative and customize your own! Hope toner is a game changer for you as well! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.