Peter Thomas Roth 8% Glycolic Solution Toner Review

Way, way back in January, I went to Sephora where I received a fantastic makeover that introduced me to one of my new favourite products: Peter Thomas Roth 8% Glycolic Solution Toner.

This stuff is magic. While many skincare products require weeks of daily (or even twice daily) usage before you see results, this toner started improving my skin within 48 hours. It was brighter, fine lines were soften and pores were less clogged. Yes, that's right, this amazing product targets both aging and blemishes.

The star of this product is glycolic acid, an type of alpha hydroxy acid (or AHA) that's renown for its ability to renew skin. PTR uses it at eight per cent, which apparently is ideal for AHAs. It also contains a good dose of witch hazel, which "helps effectively remove excess oil, dirt and impurities." This extra ingredient makes this product especially beneficial to someone like me who is prone to oily skin.

According to PTR, this toner "chemically exfoliates the skin’s surface to help reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, pores and uneven skin tone while helping to brighten, clarify and smooth out the look of skin." I completely agree with all of this. This toner is one of those rare products where if I skipped using it for a couple nights, the quality of my skin visibly diminished. Like I said, it's magic.

These impressive results almost tempted me into using this toner every morning and night, but I know that nightly use is the best course with a product like this. While there are certainly stronger glycolic acid products out there, this stuff can still cause irritation, especially if you use it too much (or are using it in combo with a bunch of other effective acid products). Some people may even find that daily use is something that they need to build up to (and those with really sensitive skin may need to skip this toner all together).

To balance this powerful formula out, PTR notes that, "Allantoin, Chamomile and Aloe Vera help soothe and calm the look of skin while Sodium PCA leaves skin lightly hydrated." Even with all of those goodies, I still find that this tone can sometimes lightly sting when it's first applied. But beyond that, I never had any issues with irritation.

Since glycolic acid, like any AHA, can increase sun sensitivity, I make sure to always wear sunscreen while using this product (though of course you should always being applying sunscreen everyday, regardless of your acid regime).

The cherry on the top of this amazing product is an equally amazing packaging. It comes in a sleek plastic bottle that has a "push-style" top that dispenses just the right amount of toner onto your cotton pad. This is key since this product isn't cheap: Over at Sephora Canada, it retails for $50.

Thankfully two "push downs" does my whole face so even though I bought my current bottle back at the start of January, I'm only a little more than halfway done it. At this current rate, I figure that I'll be done my bottle by the end of May. So that works out to about $5 a month, which I think is perfectly reasonable, considering the results.

Will I buy this product again: Yes!

Should you buy this product: Yes! (Unless you have very sensitive skin, then skip it.)