PRODUCT REVIEW: OLE HENRIKSEN GLOW2OH DARK SPOT TONER – BEST AHA TONER WITH GLYCOLIC ACID, BEST EXFOLIATING TONER
OLE HENRIKSEN | GLOW2OH DARK SPOT TONER
This product review was originally part of my blog article titled, Three New Treatment Toners I'm into from Kiehl's, Dr. Zenovia and Ole Henriksen. You can catch the full piece here.
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I love diversifying my skin care with the change of seasons and a change in my mood. And I love, love, love toners.
I alternate between hydrating toners and more active treatment toners in my skincare routine — and often use one of each, one after the other. As crazy as it may sound, it is not uncommon for me to use three different toners in a routine: an antioxidant toner, a hydrating toner, and a treatment toner powered by an exfoliating acid.
I think toners are wildly misunderstood. The funny thing about toners is that not all are created equal — or do the same thing. There are two major types of toners: hydrating toners and acid, or treatment toners. The two are not mutually exclusive; that is, you don’t use one or the other. While they’re both called toners, they have completely distinct purposes and benefits for the skin.
But my favorite toner is an antioxidant toner: NIOD’s Superoxide Dismutase Saccharide Mist. As with everything NIOD offers, the Superoxide Dismutase Saccharide Mist isn’t just some run-of-the-mill skincare product; and it’s much more than a hydrating toner. (NIOD denies that SDSM2 is a toner at all.)
PRODUCT REVIEW: NIOD SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE SACCHARIDE MIST (SDSM2) - BEST ANTIOXIDANT TONER
SDSM2 is enriched with Superoxide Dismutase — a naturally occurring antioxidant found in the skin that’s the body’s most essential antioxidant to fend off cell damage. I use it religiously immediately after cleansing, day and night. Be sure to catch my review of it on the blog here.
Every skincare routine, morning and evening, should consist of a hydrating toner — applied immediately following cleansing. Hydration is a must for skin health, central to a K-beauty routine and IMO essential to a robust and healthy skincare regimen.
A treatment toner, on the other hand, is formulated with any number of beneficial exfoliating acids — usually one or more actives from the class of hydroxy acids — AHAs, BHAs or PHAs. After applying a hydrating toner, if you want to use a treatment toner to exfoliate and boost skin’s desquamation process, you can (and should!).
My latest deep-dive into treatment toners came in the fall in an article titled, Seasonal Skincare Transitioning: Treatment Toners I Love That Make Me Excited For Cold Weather. In it, I featured some of the best exfoliating toners with Glycolic Acid, Salicylic Acid and even Mandelic Acid. You can catch the full article here.
SEASONAL SKINCARE TRANSITIONING: TREATMENT TONERS I LOVE THAT MAKE ME EXCITED FOR COLD WEATHER
One of my favorite products six months later remains the Farmacy Deep Sweep 2% BHA Pore Cleaning Toner with Moringa + Papaya. As far as exfoliating toners go, the Deep Sweep 2% BHA Pore Cleaning Toner is a good, clean formula and among the best Salicylic Acid treatments for face. It’s a safe-for-skin, refreshing, effective treatment toner and a pleasure to use.
As I said in my initial review of it, I’m so impressed by Farmacy’s Deep Sweep BHA toner and really appreciate the pro-skin health approach, making it useful for all skin types, not just those with oily, acne-prone skin who benefit most from Salicylic Acid.
PRODUCT REVIEW: FARMACY DEEP SWEEP 2% BHA PORE CLEANING TONER – BEST SALICYLIC ACID TONER FOR OILY SKIN
But a word of caution…
There are so many things I love about skincare and how skincare products work with the skin. But there’s one entire skincare habit which, while popular, is quite out of control. And that’s exfoliation and the overuse of exfoliating treatments, including acid-powered treatment toners.
Unlike so much of what we do for our skin — including moisturizing, cleansing and protecting from sun damage — the one thing skin does pretty well on its own is the basic function of desquamation.
Every skin cell originating in the lower levels of the skin rises to the surface within 28 days, where it’s freed from the body — like pollen gently floating from wild poppy flowers and disappearing into the air over the horizon.
What Does Desquamation Mean and Why Does Desquamation Occur?
In short, desquamation is a term that encompasses cell regeneration, cell death and exfoliation. More specifically, desquamation is the process by which the skin generates new skin cells and, 28 days or so later, sheds them. Desquamation essentially encompasses the life cycle of a skin cell. A treatment toner formulated with an alpha hydroxy acid like Glycolic Acid can, if formulated properly and at the precise pH level, amplify the cell turnover process.
There’s an excellent, insightful piece on the Very Well Health website titled, Desquamation Process and the Outer Layer of Skin. According to the health site Very Well Health:
Desquamation is the natural process in which skin cells are created, sloughed away, and replaced. The desquamation process happens in the outermost layer of the skin called the epidermis. The epidermis itself has four unique layers. Each of these layers plays a role in desquamation.
Skin Cells are Born
Sometimes called cell turnover, desquamation happens every second of the day, without you even noticing.
New skin cells are created in the stratum germinativum, which is the deepest layer of the epidermis. This layer is also called the basal layer.
Skin cells begin their life as a single layer of thick, column-shaped cells. These cells are responsible for creating every cell of your skin.
The cells in this layer divide. Half of them stay behind in the stratum germinativum. The other cells begin their migration to the skin's surface.
Cells Reach the Surface, Then Slough Off
The skin cells have reached their final destination — the stratum corneum. Once the cells arrive at this uppermost layer of the skin they are essentially dead.
The cells in the stratum corneum are very flat and tightly packed. These flat, dead cells continuously fall away as newer cells push their way to the surface. In this way, your skin is constantly renewing itself.
Where do all of those dead skin cells go? You might be surprised to know that most of the dust in your home is actually made up of dead skin cells.
The entire desquamation process, from cell birth to sloughing away, takes approximately 14 to 28 days.
Because the desquamation process is so efficient and methodical, I don’t believe skin needs or can generally tolerate daily exfoliation — whether chemical or physical. That’s why it’s essential to incorporate multiple toners into your routine. Make a habit of using a toner that hydrates the skin AM and PM and perhaps three or four times per week, apply a treatment toner with an exfoliating acid that works for your skin.
In fact, I don’t use a chemical exfoliant — either a treatment toner or acid-powered serum — more than thrice weekly. Even if skin tolerates excess exfoliation, it doesn’t need it as often as you may think. In fact, our skin doesn’t need us to do anything when it comes to exfoliation.
That said, the kind of exfoliation you can achieve with popular, iconic products like the Sunday Riley Good Genes All-In-One Lactic Acid Treatment or a personal fave, the Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% Bha Liquid Exfoliant, helps to speed up the process of desquamation. Doing so, leaves the complexion free of dead skin. Dead skin cells aren’t doing you any favors.
PRODUCT REVIEW: PAULA’S CHOICE SKIN PERFECTING 2% BHA LIQUID EXFOLIANT – BEST EXFOLIATING TREATMENT
While AHA and BHA-powered chemical exfoliators are the best acid treatments available, they’re not always the most gentle. And sometimes are no more exfoliating than a hydrating toner. The potency and efficacy of an acid toner is dependent on the pH level of the formula and which of the six alpha hydroxy acids are being used; the most potent being Glycolic Acid, the least, Mandelic Acid.
That said, with an acid-powered treatment toner, it’s best to be a bit more conservative. Don’t over-do it and even if your skin tolerates it, remember that it may not even need it. Again, I like to alternate between an acid toner, a hydrating toner and even an antioxidant toner.
With that, let’s take a look at one of my new fave treatment toner discoveries of the last few weeks…
Ole Henriksen | Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner
The first time I experienced Ole Henrisken was the brand’s Goodnight Glow Bakuchiol Sleeping Crème, the first Bakuchiol product I’d ever tried. That was well over four years ago, long before Bakuchiol exploded onto the scene as a favorite alternative to Retinol, the best anti-aging ingredient in skincare.
The Ole Henriksen brand will always have a special place in my heart. Several years ago, in 2017, I was hired to work on a rebranding of the iconic, LA-based spa brand. I spent many waking hours over the course of that year renaming products, crafting packaging copy, and helping to realign the product architecture around key benefit-focused franchises.
And Ole Henriksen’s Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner is perhaps my favorite product of the brand’s extensive offerings. With what I estimate to be a 20% concentration of Glycolic Acid, the Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner is one of the most potent exfoliating toners I’ve come across.
PRODUCT REVIEW: YOUTH TO THE PEOPLE MANDELIC ACID + SUPERFOOD UNITY EXFOLIANT – BEST TONER FOR OILY SKIN
In addition to its very high levels of AHA Glycolic Acid, there’s also about a 5% concentration of Lactic Acid in the formula. This stuff is not for the faint of heart! If you’re in the market for a serious exfoliating treatment toner, the Ole Henriksen Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner is the perfect option.
As I’ve shared previously, my skin doesn’t really love Glycolic Acid and I can’t tolerate it at a level above 10% more than twice weekly. For enhanced exfoliation, I prefer a Lactic Acid serum or toner in my skincare routines.
I recently took a deep dive into the best Lactic Acid serums on the blog a few weeks ago in an article titled, 3 Lactic Acid Treatments to Get Your Complexion Lit in the New Year from Drunk Elephant, Biossance and Sunday Riley. Be sure to check it out here.
3 LACTIC ACID SERUMS TO GET YOUR COMPLEXION LIT IN THE NEW YEAR FROM DRUNK ELEPHANT, BIOSSANCE & SUNDAY RILEY
The Ole Henriksen Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner is truly a brightening powerhouse and may even have an effect on moderate dark spots and an uneven skin tone. In addition to its AHA content, there are several natural brightening extracts, including Lemon Fruit Extract, Sugar Cane Extract and Licorice Root Extract — a favorite botanical brightener of so many wonderful K-beauty products.
The Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner has a super lightweight watery texture that’s as easily applied with palms as it is with a cotton pad. It’s also an absolute pleasure to use, and one of the more pleasurable exfoliating toners.
What Is Glycolic Acid and What Does Glycolic Acid Do to Your Face?
There is an insightful article from the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team titled, Glycolic Acid: What It Is and Why You Should Use It. In it, the experts expound on the many superb benefits of Glycolic Acid for the skin.
Glycolic Acid Benefits
Using an exfoliant with glycolic acid for your face results in a brighter, more even toned complexion. Like all AHAs, glycolic acid works by helping turn over spent cells on skin’s surface.
This type of exfoliation addresses numerous skin concerns, including sun damage, uneven tone, rough, flaky patches of skin, fine lines, and wrinkles. In higher concentrations, glycolic acid can even improve the look of deeper wrinkles.
Studies also show that glycolic acid significantly increases skin’s hydration. It does this by helping skin make substances like mucopolysaccharides, which help skin stay hydrated by increasing its natural content of hyaluronic acid, which in turn enhances skin’s resilience.
One exciting new note about glycolic acid: emerging research shows it might even protect skin against UV damage (in addition to reducing its damaging after-effects), though more studies need to be done and of course it doesn’t replace the need for sunscreen. Still, it’s a promising development!
Glycolic acid occurs naturally in sugar cane, but is most effective when synthesized in a lab, where its potency and concentration are optimized for use in skin care. Using plant sugars, like sugar maple, for their glycolic acid content is an option, but the bulk of the research on glycolic acid’s benefits for skin is about the synthetic form, because this type can be optimized for effectiveness, purity, stability, and pH, all critical to getting effective glycolic acid products.
Originally a wild-harvested Mediterranean plant, blue tansy — which is actually yellow in color — is now cultivated mainly in Morocco. When the flower’s popularity in beauty products surged, it was harvested almost out of existence in the wild. Today, supplies are steadily increasing, but it’s still one of the more expensive essential oils. A 2-ounce bottle may cost more than $100.
The blooms of Tanacetum annuum are yellow. Its slender leaves are covered with a fine white “fur.” The oil has a sweet, herbal fragrance due to its high camphor content.
While its got legitimate exfoliating and brightening oomph, the Ole Henriksen Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner is not a perfect formula. There are added fragrant components to the formula, including Citral, Limonene, Linalool and even fragrance itself listed on the INCI.
If you’re sensitive to fragrance, I would pass on this one. (You can check out my latest collection of some of the best exfoliating toners on the blog here.)
What I like about it: The Ole Henriksen Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner is an exfoliating powerhouse and one of the most potent and effective toners with Glycolic Acid. It’s an absolute pleasure to use and can certainly brighten the skin while minimizing the appearance of dark spots over time.
What I don’t like about it: It’s really unfortunate that it contains the levels of fragrance and fragrant components that it does. They render it less than ideal for sensitive skin.
Who it’s for: All skin types, except the sensitive skin.
SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Ole Henriksen Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner for $32 here.
The Ingredient List of the Ole Henriksen Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner:
exf|chel, Niacinamide cci|sb|aacne|h, Pentylene Glycol solv|h, Glycerin sii|h 0 0, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice 
so|h, Potassium Sorbate pres, Sodium Benzoate pres, PPG-26-Buteth-26, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil emu|surf, 1,2-Hexanediol solv, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, Ethylhexylglycerin pres, Citric Acid buff, Sodium Hydroxide buffWATCH MY VIDEO REVIEW
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