Boscia Balancing Facial Tonic

Update Friday, April 4, 2014.

On my second bottle of this Boscia Balancing Facial Tonic (finally) and to my surprise, I like it a lot better than the previous one!

The second bottle must be of a new formulation, because unlike the herbal scent of the last this one has a very prominent note of lavender, although it does retain the slight sweetness, almost coconut-y, and not spicy or overwhelming like lavender can get. It feels a lot more hydrating too, and not just slightly better than water, so I am using it as a toner now and not just as a daytime refresher spritz!

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Original post Wednesday, August 7, 2013.

From Boscia's generous The Surprise Beauty Box event back in January, I ended up with two 150mL/5fl oz. bottles Boscia Balancing Facial Tonic. I gave one bottle to mum in law and have been using the second bottle for the past few months.

This is a multi-purpose product that can be used as a toning mist after cleansing, or throughout the day as a freshener/booster whenever the need arises. After the two travel size 30mL bottles of Astalift Lotion, I wanted mix things up a bit since I still have the two 20mL bottles from the 2013 Astalift trial sets. So I moved on with this Boscia Facial Tonic first as a toner, before "demoting" it to occasional day use whenever my skin feels dehydrated and/or dry.

***Screencap from Boscia.

This Facial Tonic is a watery liquid in a spritzer bottle. You can mist it directly onto the face, or into the hand first, then splash onto the face. The spray mechanism is decent. Held at about 3+ inches from the face (with eyes closed!) and you'll get a nice and even misting that's just right and not too "squirty." I recommend one spritz on each cheek, then pat into the skin. It's unscented but still smells slightly herbal with a tinge of sweetness, very similar to the scent of the Soothing Cleansing Cream. It's also alcohol-free but I still detect a faint smell of alcohol - huh?

I didn't like it as a toner, because, well, it's really watery and didn't feel adequately moisturizing at all. Of course I don't need a super moisturizing toner, because I'll be layering over it with other moisturizing products. But then if I just needed water on my face, I would have done just that, misting water onto my face!

As a daytime freshener though it's great, delivering just the right amount of hydration and moisture. Keep in mind that as a daytime freshener, I would mist this over my sunscreen, sometimes over makeup, so I actually prefer it light and not too moisturizing. That said, would I spending some $24 for a product that's only slightly better than water? Probably not. So in the end, this product is sadly ineffective for me for the purpose of toning. However, someone with oily and super sensitive skin (like my sister) will probably appreciate the light moisture and hydration it delivers.