Toner pads have been very popular in Asia for a long time now. While they are less known and used in western countries, this is fast changing, so let’s take a look at how they are used and why.

Nowadays every beauty brand in Asia offers a product called Toner Pads (it could be hydrating pads, calming pads, glow pads, cica pads, etc….). These thin cotton sheets are soaked in lotions and are meant for single usage. They can be used in the morning or evening depending of their properties. Once applied all over the face, you leave them on for a few minutes so that the lotion they contain can be fully absorbed by the skin. They are very popular before makeup routines, as they decrease skin temperature and help makeup hold better and longer. 

This beauty step has been in the Asian culture for a while and before these convenient products existed, women used to take regular cotton pads, soak them themselves in their favorite lotion and apply them to their skin (actually some women still prefer to do it that way). They idea behind this habit is that products like lotions being very watery and light tend to evaporate quickly once applied on the skin. Letting them rest on the surface of the skin with a cotton or pad (like a sheet mask would) make them more potent. 

While the single-usage aspect is not very eco-friendly, brands are coming up with solutions using fully bio-degredable cotton or cellulose. They are also packaged in boxes containing up to 90 pads and rarely sold in single pack. Will we see an increase in their popularity in the West ? Given that more and more US and European brands are coming up with their own toner pads, we believe this category has a great growth potential.