Product Review: Pangea Organics Italian Green Mandarin with Sweet Lime Facial Toner

By: Megan
Cost: $26

   Yes, it’s another Pangea Organics product review, what can I say I really love this brand.  This time its there toner, for normal to combination skin (they also have one for oily to blemish prone skin) that is up for evaluation. Now let me start off by saying, before reading “No More Dirty Looks”, I was never, EVER a toner user.  I just couldn’t wrap my head around putting alcohol directly on my face, no matter what it claimed to do.  So when my go-to gurus praised toner so highly, I was a little skeptical.  What a toner is supposed to do, is balance your faces ph and prep it for moisturizer.  The great thing about using a clean toner is it should actually do that for you and not end up drying you out.  I started using this toner along with Pangea Organics Moroccan Argan Facial Cream, so some of these results could be from the combination of products, but believe me, the toner definitely holds it's own.
   When I started using this toner my skin was already behaving pretty darn well, with a few break outs every now and then that cleared up lickedy- split.  For about the first week of using the toner (and lotion), my face freaked out. It did not like the change.  I was devastated; I had fallen so quickly for Pangea Organics and assumed that they could do no wrong.  Plus the thought of having to give up any of my new products (which I had just dropped money on) did not sit well with me at all. I tried my best to be positive while sticking it out, in hopes my skin was just in shock.  Boy am I glad I did!  My skin tone is more even, clearer, and black heads are non existent.  Breakouts are pretty much a thing of the past and if they happen,  they disappear over night.
   I tend to base how well my skin looks by how much makeup I have to use in the morning.  For the past 2 weeks, I have been able to simply cover any small red spots and my dark circles and feel confident with how I look.  Before adding this to my routine I didn’t like to leave my house until I had applied multiple layers to my entire face.
  Okay, now more details about this toner specifically. Typically, when I  thought of toner,  I pictured a liquid you put on a cotton pad and then apply to your face.  This is a little different as it comes packaged with a spritzer top.  I was nervous to blindly spray my face with a new product but ended up loving the feeling.  I always take some waking up in the morning and the cool mist definitely helps do the trick.  Oh, and the smell, it just might be my favorite part!  It has no artificial fragrances (thank goodness) and smells crisp and refreshing, reminds me of summer.  I also use the toner for more then just the step between cleansing and moisturizing.  I have taken a tip from the ladies atnomoredirtylooks.com and have stopped washing my face everyday, yes you read that right. I know it sounds crazy, but I suggest giving it a try.  On the days I skip the face wash, I rinse my face with warm water in the shower and instead of spraying toner directly to my face I give a cotton pad a sprits and wipe over my face.  My face always feels clean after and I still get to receive the benefits of the toner.  Similarly, I’m horrible about washing my face at night and I can use the toner almost like a makeup remover, which I figure, is better than doing nothing, gives me the same clean feeling before I go to bed and takes very little effort.  There is one last use for this toner, and it was the one I was scared to try the most.  The packing on the toner and according to our clean product bible (No More Dirty Looks, if you haven’t figure that out) suggests using toner to refresh your mineral make up. To me that sounds insane.  All day I try and keep my makeup looking perfect and now you want me to mist my face, I don’t think so.  But as always I took a deep breath and misted away, and the results were very good.  First time I tried this was at the end of a busy work day, when I had no plans after, because I was scared.  What it is supposed to do, is reduce the powdery or chalky look that can sometimes happen with mineral make up.  That is exactly what it did, plus it provided that refreshing feeling that I am now obsessed with.  Overall, this is a phenomenal product and has become one of my favorite products that as come from this clean quest, and I wonder what I did before it came into my life.  And as excited as I get about trying new products when my current one runs out, I don’t think this one will be leaving me any time soon!