Review: Boots Traditional Skin Care Glycerin and Rosewater Toner v Boots Original Beauty Formula Skin Tonic

Nice, small title there..

I bought both of these..well, actually, my mum bought me one (shame!) and I bought the other myself.

I've been asked for a review on the Glycerin and Rosewater toner so I'm doing a review and compare.  I was originally going to just review the first one but as both have similar ingredients, I decided to do a comparison post.

Before I get to that, I'm quite happy that in this day and age you can buy toners on the High Street which are not jammed full of alcohol and will strip your skin and make your skin complaint worse.  I swear you couldn't get these when I was a teenager, I used alcohol fuelled toners for many many years, if these were around then, I'm sure my skin would have looked nicer back then. Don't get me wrong, these two contain alcohol but it's nowhere near as much as those "traditional" ones do..I had quick look at ingredients in Boots the other day.

Anyway, review time!

Boots Tradition Skin Care Glycerin and Rosewater Toner.

When I got this, I was using a cleanser which I found contained mineral oils (if you Google mineral oil, the top three shopping items that come up are things you put in your car, which is rather telling..)I researched up on them and found that they created a barrier between your skin and anything you put on it so I chucked it away.

I like the fact that the bottle is plastic and that the opening is small so it doesn't all come spilling out when you tip it upside down.  I also like the minimal, no fuss, semi vintage looking packaging.  The smell isn't horrible either, it's not your typical toner smell.

I soaked a cotton wool pad in it and circulated it around my face.  It made my skin feel really nice and clean and more plumped up.  When I apply my toner, I usually wait about 15 minutes before putting my moisturiser on as this is my personal best course of action.  When I touched my face after 15 minutes, it felt super smooth and very plumped out but pretty sticky..I thought this was just an after effect of the mineral oil cleanser...creating a barrier and what have you.

I used it time and time again and it still made my skin feel sticky.  It's quite a shame it did that because I enjoyed how smooth it made my skin feel but the stickiness was a deal breaker.

Repurchase?
I wouldn't buy this again because I have used it weeks after I stopped using the mineral oil cleanser and it still made my face really sticky.  If you want to try it for yourself, you can get it in Boots.  I couldn't find it online but it costs about £2.90.  I noticed once I had used it that it had rubbing alcohol in it (isopropyl alcohol) and I didn't want to put that anywhere near my face so I've been using it to clean by brushes before shampooing them.

Boots Original Beauty Formula Skin Tonic.

This bottle is glass.  I am a clumsy person.  Glass and butterfingers don't mix.  This is why I was glad it came in a cardboard box so that I'd be able to transport it home without it breaking (I've broken a vase on the way home once before..) 

Apart from that, I really like the packaging as it commits fully to the vintage feel, it's a heavy glass bottle with an old school looking label on it and the bottle even has Boots embedded into the glass.  The lid is a thin metally lid and there is no "protector" so if the lid is off and the bottle topples over, the product will go everywhere.  I dislike this. I feel a bit thick saying that I like the vintage design yet dislike the fact they've used glass? What I'm saying is, if it came in the same packaging that the Glycerin and Rosewater did..it would be perfick.

The smell..what to say about the smell..it's not pleasant. It does whiff a bit but you'd be surprised how quickly you get uesd to it, plus, you can't smell it once you've put it on.

I (once again) put this onto a cotton wool pad and rub it around my face in circular motions.  I feel this one feels a lot fresher than the Glycerin and Rosewater counterpart and it cleans my skin a lot better.  I look at the pad after cleaning my face with it and can see visible bits of "dirt" on it.  My face feels a lot cleaner after using this toner than it did with the other.

I waited again for 15 minutes and felt my skin, it didn't feel plumper but then it wasn't sticky and I'd rather have non stick than plump.

Repurchase?
I will deffo buy more of these in the future, I'm thinking to stock up whilst they're still on half price in Boots. £1.94 is a brilliant price to pay for a toner which actually works.