If you’re not already following Caroline Hirons’ blog, then please do so now. Her blog is quite to the point and brutally honest; providing you with down to earth and clear instructions on what you should and shouldn’t do to your skin. I’ve learned some tips & tricks from Caroline -which I’m so thankful for- and one of them is splitting up the toning step in your skin care routine in two different parts. Caroline feels like you should use one toner to exfoliate, and one toner to add moisture or other beneficial components to your skin. And boy is she right.. This makes such a difference! I have added this extra step to both my morning & evening routines since a month or so.


I used to just use an exfoliating toner, which was already a great first step since using an exfoliating toner is an important part of anyone’s skin care routine. It’ll take away whatever is left after cleansing your face with a make-up remover and proper face wash. After doing that, you should soothe your skin & already add some moisture before applying serum & moisturizer. I’ve been using two toners for this, depending on my skin’s mood aka how-bad-is-the-acne-today. La Roche-Posay Serozinc (full review here) is great for battling break-outs, soothing skin and adding some extra moisture. This is my go-to for whenever my skin is inflamed or when I feel it’s going to have an acne outburst. Whenever my skin is calm and angelic, I go for the Caudalie Eau De Raisin. This one is super gentle to your skin & is made of organic grape water, extracted straight from the grapes during the harvest. This’ll feel super refreshing and at the same time will quench your skin’s thirst after the first toner. It’s important that you don’t pat your face dry when using this: let the mist sink in until it’s completely absorbed. Then proceed to use serum & moisturizer. This is especially great for oily skin types that are still dehydrated.. I know how uncomfortable it can feel after cleansing, and this’ll be your first step in quenching that thirst.

Both La Roche-Posay & Caudalie are pharmacist brands that are quite readily available in Belgium. Serozinc retails for €10.50 here, while Eau De Raisin is €6.20 for the pictured travel size and €11.20 for the full size.