Beauty

Where Does Toner Go in My Skin Routine?

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Short answer: On just-cleansed skin, before any serums, moisturizers, or other treatments. Long answer: The right toner can pretty much revolutionize the kinds of results you’re getting from any skin-care routine; here, the best tips for optimizing your regimen.

BEST BASICS FOR EVERY SKIN TYPE

Whether you’re sensitive or you can use very powerful treatments without reacting, gently exfoliating in your first few steps paves the way for your whole routine to function better. These two work together beautifully to cleanse thoroughly, exfoliate, and hydrate skin all at once. Over time, they refine, brighten, and soften skin.

  1. Jelly Face Wash

    Cleanse, smooth, and brighten your skin morning and night with this unique, soft, exfoliating jelly face wash made with natural fruit enzymes, arctic cloudberry, and bitter orange peel.

    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW Cloudberry Exfoliating Jelly Cleanser, goop, $28/$25 with subscription
    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW Cloudberry
    Exfoliating Jelly Cleanser
    goop, $28/$25 with subscription
    SHOP NOW
  2. Flower Acid Toner

    This two-in-one daily treatment toner gently resurfaces, hydrates, and leaves skin glowing in just one step.

    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW Flower Acids Resurfacing Toner, goop, $45/$40 with subscription
    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW Flower Acids
    Resurfacing Toner
    goop, $45/$40 with subscription
    SHOP NOW

SEE KATE’S ROUTINE

Kate Vaught, our senior manager of beauty product development, explains that clean ingredients and ingredient technology in general have made this kind of gentle but powerful skin care possible: “We’re discovering ways to get the results we want without the irritation that used to be part of achieving those results,” she says.

“I love the jelly cleanser—I’m a physical-exfoliating-cleanser die hard, and the cocooning jelly texture feels so incredible on my skin,” Vaught says. “I smooth it on for a full-on soft-skin sensorial moment, and my skin feels so clean and dewy. Then, after cleansing, I give the toner a little shake, add a couple drops to a cotton pad, and sweep it everywhere, focusing on areas that need a little bit more exfoliation, like the T-zone, around the nose, and around the lips, while avoiding the eye area. Take it down your neck (or even on your hands if you like). It exfoliates in such a gentle way and feels hydrating, balanced, and refreshing.”

How to Build Your Routine

After cleansing and toning, layer on a treatment serum tailored to your skin goals, then follow with moisturizing, protecting ingredients on top. Don’t forget sunscreen—it’s the ultimate beautiful-skin-every-day miracle, and if you do any kind of exfoliation, it’s even more important to help protect your skin.

  1. Normal to Dry Skin

  2. 1. Treatment

    A dose of long- and short-chain hyaluronic acid molecules, this serum is ultramoisturizing, giving skin an instant boost.

    Dr. Barbara Sturm Hyaluronic Serum, goop, $300
    Dr. Barbara Sturm Hyaluronic Serum goop, $300
    SHOP NOW
  3. 2. Moisturizer

    This has to be the thickest, richest cream ever made. With thirteen different oils, it’s dense, ultramoisturizing,and skin-soothing.

    Surya Balancing Collagen Cream, goop, $185
    Surya Balancing Collagen Cream goop, $185
    SHOP NOW
  4. 3. Sunscreen

    This hydrating natural sunblock sinks right in and protects skin with SPF 30.

    The Organic Pharmacy Cellular Protection Sun Cream SPF 30, goop, $69
    The Organic Pharmacy Cellular Protection Sun
    Cream SPF 30
    goop, $69
    SHOP NOW
  1. Sensitive Skin

  2. 1. Treatment

    Made specifically for sensitive, dry, or reactive skin, this silky serum delivers powerful but gentle ingredients to brighten, smooth, and firm.

    Tata Harper Superkind Bio-Barrier Serum, goop, $130
    Tata Harper Superkind
    Bio-Barrier Serum
    goop, $130
    SHOP NOW
  3. 2. Moisturizer

    This silky-smooth lightweight moisturizer, made with nourishing botanicals and hyaluronic acid, deeply nourishes even the most reactive skin.

    Tata Harper Fortifying Moisturizer, goop, $120
    Tata Harper Fortifying Moisturizer goop, $120
    SHOP NOW
  4. 3. Sunscreen

    This beautifully textured everyday tinted mineral sunscreen blends like an absolute dream.

    Unsun Mineral Tinted Face Sunscreen, goop, $29
    Unsun Mineral Tinted
    Face Sunscreen
    goop, $29
    SHOP NOW

A Routine for Ultimate Youth-Boosting

  1. 1. Treatment

    This daily glow serum combines two skin-care powerhouses—vitamin C and hyaluronic acid—for skin that looks radiant, moisturized, and healthy.

    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW 20% Vitamin C + Hyaluronic Glow Serum, goop, $125/$112 with subscription
    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW 20% Vitamin C + Hyaluronic Glow Serum goop, $125/$112 with subscription
    SHOP NOW
  1. 2. Moisturizer

    This luxuriously rich supercream significantly improves firmness, elasticity, glow, the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and brightness after just four weeks. A single application leaves skin nourished, firmer-looking, and moisturized for forty-eight hours.*

    goop Beauty GOOPGENES All-in-One Nourishing Face Cream, goop, $95/$86 with subscription
    goop Beauty GOOPGENES All-in-One
    Nourishing Face Cream
    goop, $98/$86 with subscription
    SHOP NOW
  2. This clinically tested eye cream helps firm and smooth the appearance of crow’s-feet, fine lines, puffiness, and dark circles for a fresh, visibly well-rested look.

    goop Beauty GOOPGENES All-in-One Nourishing Eye Cream, goop, $55/$50 with subscription
    goop Beauty GOOPGENES All-in-One
    Nourishing Eye Cream
    goop, $55/$50 with subscription
    SHOP NOW
  1. 3. Sunscreen

    This lightweight cream melts into your skin, blocking both UVA and UVB rays with zinc oxide. (And have you ever seen a cuter tube of sunscreen?)

  2. Grown Alchemist Natural Hydrating Sunscreen SPF 30, goop, $39
    Grown Alchemist Natural Hydrating
    Sunscreen SPF 30
    goop, $39
    SHOP NOW
  1. Extra Credit

  2. Once a Week

    An intense exfoliating overnight glycolic acid glow peel that refines, retexturizes, and brightens skin while you sleep.

    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW 15% Glycolic Acid Overnight Glow Peel, goop, $125/$112 with subscription
    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW 15% Glycolic Acid
    Overnight Glow Peel
    goop, $125/$112 with subscription
    SHOP NOW
  3. Every Few Days (but Never within Twenty-Four Hours of the Peel)

    This clinically proven microdermabrasion exfoliator delivers the benefits of both physical and chemical exfoliation, instantly polishing away roughness, smoothing uneven texture, and revealing a healthy-looking, glowing complexion.

    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW Microderm Instant Glow Exfoliator, goop, $125/$112 with subscription
    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW Microderm
    Instant Glow Exfoliator
    goop, $125/$112 with subscription
    SHOP NOW

Which Toner, Essence, or Tonic
Is Right for My Skin?

While our flower acid toner works for all skin types, there are more great, complexion-supercharging options in the clean space.

  1. All-in-One Multitasker for Every Skin Type

    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW Flower Acids Resurfacing Toner, goop, $45/$40 with subscription
    goop Beauty GOOPGLOW Flower Acids Resurfacing Toner goop, $45/$40 with subscription
    SHOP NOW
  2. Breakout-Fighting

    True Botanicals Clear Nutrient Toner, goop, $48
    True Botanicals Clear Nutrient Toner goop, $48
    SHOP NOW
  3. Moisturizing and Astringent

    UMA Brightening Rose Toner, goop, $65
    UMA Brightening Rose Toner goop, $65
    SHOP NOW
  4. Active Essence

    Vintner’s Daughter Active Treatment Essence, goop, $225
    Vintner’s Daughter Active Treatment Essence goop, $225
    SHOP NOW
  5. Makeup Remover and Essence

    Furtuna Skin Acqua Serena Micellar Cleansing Essence, goop, $78
    Furtuna Skin Acqua Serena Micellar
    Cleansing Essence
    goop, $78
    SHOP NOW
  6. Deeply Exfoliating Tonic

    goop Beauty G.Tox Malachite + AHA Pore Refining Tonic, goop, $75/$68 with subscription
    goop Beauty G.Tox Malachite + AHA Pore Refining Tonic goop, $75/$68 with subscription
    SHOP NOW

*Based on an eight-week third-party consumer-perception and clinical study conducted on thirty-three women ages thirty-five to sixty-five.