Must Have Monday: Top 10 Toners, Mists and Essences

Welcome to our new weekly feature, Must Have Monday. We are sharing our top ten products of certain categories, starting with essential makeup and skincare items. After fifteen years of reviewing and trialling beauty products, we are going to share our favourite products with you.  This week we are sharing our top 10 toners, mists and essences!

Toners, mists, and essences are lightweight, water-based skincare products designed to hydrate, balance pH, and prep skin for serums and moisturisers. Toners often cleanse residual oil, mists offer on-the-go hydration, and essences provide concentrated actives to boost skin health, acting as a hybrid between toner and serum.

Our top toners are:

Cetaphil Brightness Refresh Toner ($19.99)

Cetaphil Bright Healthy Radiance Refresh Toner is a non-sticky toner that gives your skin instant luminosity and hydration. After 4 weeks*, skin tone becomes visibly more even. Dullness fades away, revealing radiant skin that is perfectly prepared to receive the benefits of the creams to follow. This refreshing toner is clinically proven to improve 4 facets of skin: Improves skin luminosity (+29%), radiance (+29%), softness (+22%) and even skin tone (+18%)*. Formulated with · GENTLEBRIGHT TECHNOLOGY™, a gentle blend of natural extract of white Sea Daffodil and Niacinamide designed to illuminate, brighten and respect even the most sensitive skin as it works to reveal noticeably radiant, luminous healthy-looking skin.

Clarins Hydrating Toning Lotion ($40.99)

This alcohol-free toning lotion, enriched with organic aloe vera and organic fig extracts, hydrates and softens the skin.

Laneige Cream Skin Cerapeptide™ Toner & Moisturizer ($24)

This innovative two-in-one formula delivers the nourishing benefits of a moisturiser in a refreshing toner texture. Infused with Cerapeptide, a blend of ceramides and peptides, it helps reinforce the skin barrier while locking in moisture. Skin feels instantly soothed, plump, and balanced with a healthy, dewy finish.

Caudalie New Vinopure Purifying Toner ($44)

Vinopure Purifying Toner tightens pores, reduces imperfections and oily shine. Skin is purified, mattified, clean and clear.

Clinique Clarifying Lotion ($44)

Clinique Clarifying Lotion 1 helps clear away pollution and dulling flakes for smooth, glowing skin. This Clarifying Lotion helps pores look their smallest, and primes skin to accept moisture better, and grow more resistant to impurities, for healthier, younger-looking skin. It’s also Dermatologist-reformulated to be comfortable, and non-drying.

Cosrx AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner ($29)

COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Treatment Toner is a mist-type toner that gently exfoliates and softens the skin. Formulated with natural ingredients of Mineral water, Apple Fruit Water (AHA), and Willow Bark Water (BHA) it helps improve your skin’s texture and tightens pores. The purifying botanical ingredients eliminate impurities as they exfoliate away dead skin cells, blackheads, and whiteheads for a clearer complexion, leaving behind a soft, hydrating finish.

The Ordinary Saccharomyces Ferment 30% Milky Toner for Gentle Exfoliation and Hydration ($24)

Saccharomyces Ferment 30% Milky Toner gently exfoliates for smoother, more hydrated and radiant skin. Through this gentle exfoliation, it helps to reduce textural irregularities and smooth skin texture, and helps to reduce the look of dark spots, resulting in brighter, more radiant skin. Saccharomyces Ferment 30% Milky Toner has a lightweight texture, and is suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin.

This formulations key ingredient is a 30% concentration of saccharomyces ferment – a yeast ferment technology with 3% fermented N-acetylglucosamine (NAG). NAG exfoliates skin surface to help smooth uneven texture and boost radiance.

Saccharomyces Ferment 30% Milky Toner also gives all-day lasting hydration, and promotes a stronger skin barrier after 8 hours* after one application. Supported by squalane, this formulation is especially good for dry skin types.

Lancome Tonique Confort ($83)

Lancome’s iconic Tonique Confort is reborn with rose water and biotech actives like hyaluronic acid and squalane. Doubles hydration and restores the skin barrier in just one hour. Experience the next generation of hydration. Combining the soothing power of natural centifolia rose with the science of biotech hyaluronic acid and squalane, this new formula doubles hydration* and repairs the skin barrier in one hour.

SumaNurica Probiotic Essence ($129)