Etude House Soon Jung pH 5.5 Relief Toner Review | Beautiful Simplicity
I’m a self diagnosed toner-holic. I think you know me well enough by now to know my favorite skincare step is toner. And boy, do I love discovering new toner options.
My bias leans towards watery, thin and light toners that pack a punch of hydration. I also appreciate mild ingredients and a small price tag. Finding one that meets all those requirements is an exceptional experience, and today I have one to share with you.
Skin type: Combo/dry, dehydrated, sensitive
Soon Jung pH 5.5 Relief Toner
The Soon Jung line from Etude House was released with sensitive skin in mind. Soon Jung is about reducing skin irritation and healing damage on skin, all while being totally gentle and safe for sensitive or acne prone skin.
The Soon Jung products are free from animal derived ingredients, mineral oil, colorants, fragrance, polyacrylamide, silicone, imidazolidinyl urea, triethanolamine, PEG surfactants, and parabens.
The pH 5.5 Relief Toner in this line claims to soothe heated skin caused by external stimuli while being weakly acidic and low irritant.
Ingredients
Ingredients: WATER, PROPANEDIOL, GLYCERIN, BETAINE, PANTHENOL, MADECASSOSIDE, CAMELLIA SINENSIS LEAF EXTRACT, SCUTELLARIA BAICALENSIS ROOT EXTRACT, 1,2-HEXANEDIOL, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, CARBOMER, POLYGLYCERIN-3, DISODIUM EDTA
Highlights: Alcohol, fragrance and essential oil free. Fungal acne safe.
Look at how minimal this ingredients list is! This list is only 14 ingredients long and yet still manages to pack in the good stuff!
- Panthenol has always been a soothing favorite of mine. Panthenol, also called pro-vitamin B5, is a sensitive skin friend for its ability to help protect and reduce irritation on the skin. It’s also an effective hydrator, acting as a humectant to attract and bind water to the skin. Panthenol can also help our skin’s lipid production which helps to support a healthy barrier function.
- Madecassoside is an active compound found in our favorite ingredient, centella! Madecassoside is the compound in centella particularly responsible for skin calming and wound healing, plus it has antioxidant protection.
- Green tea extract also makes an appearance here and I’m always happy to see that! Green tea is a great skin soother that carries antioxidant protection. It’s also a well known anti-acne ingredient, with anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial benefits.
- Skullcap root extract (scutellaria baicalnsis root) might be an ingredient you’re a little less familiar with, but one you should take note of if you have acne. This is a traditional Chinese herb that has great antioxidant and inflammation fighting benefits. But, it may also have anti-microbial and anti-fugal properties, making it especially promising for those fighting fungal acne!
Texture
Texture here is just pure water, no body or rich slip to this, it’s very thin and absorbs into the skin quickly. This layers up very easily and doesn’t really “build up” on the skin, you won’t get a greasy or heavy feeling from layering this on multiple times.
Hydration level is high with this toner. You’ll feel your skin fill with hydration as it drinks in the toner, 2-3 layers is perfect to keep my dehydrated skin happy. This has a nice, refreshing feeling on the skin. Etude house claims this cools down skin, I wouldn’t go so far as to describe it as cooling on the skin but I for sure feel the refreshing hydration.
This light texture makes the toner very versatile for use in the 7 skin method and can easily saturate dry sheet masks or 5 layer cotton to make a toner mask pack. You can also decant this into a mist bottle to carry the refreshment with you. In fact, some marketing material (all in Korean) shows the model using the toner in a mist bottle on her back, indicating this can be used to refresh your skin anywhere you like.
Experience
This is going to be a short one. I love it! This fits perfectly into what I look for in a toner: thin and easily absorbed hydrating texture, minimal ingredients that are perfect for sensitive skin and available at an affordable price (this 180ml bottle is about $16)!
I’ve always preferred the very thin and watery toners to the thicker, jelly-like textures (they have their place but my heart is with the thin ones). I think it’s because my dehydrated skin craves deep hydration and thinner toners seem to be able to absorb and deliver that hydration deeper into my skin than their thicker counterparts. I also love to layer my toner up, so the thinner textures don’t have that heavier, built-up feel on my skin.
This just performed beautifully for my skin, providing deep hydration and easily layering up. This works well with other skincare products in a multilayered routine and has kept my sensitive skin balanced and happy.
This is a rather simple toner. The trick to making a simple product exciting and worthy of a rave review has to do with formulation. And this toner is well formulated.
Every ingredient chosen has multiple benefits for skin that make this toner a well-rounded choice for all skin types. Each ingredient plays a role and nothing additional or unnecessary has been added. The careful selection of a few choice ingredients has created a product that inspires little worry for those with acne or sensitive skin conditions. I really can’t find any fault with this product and its simplicity is what inspires admiration.
No need to complicate things, simplicity can be beautiful.
Who is this for: I recommend this for all skin types, dehydrated and acne prone will especially appreciate this and those with fungal acne can use without concern.
Soon Jung pH 5.5 Relief Toner on Yesstyle:
(code KELLYDRIS saves 5% for new customers [2% for returning] on your next yesstyle order)*
*indicates use of affiliate links that pay a small commission to help support this blog.
2 responses to “Etude House Soon Jung pH 5.5 Relief Toner Review | Beautiful Simplicity”
I’ve already got it in my cart!!
Yay! Excited for you to try it!