Frankincense Clove Anti-Aging Toner: Better Than Botox
A toner is a thin water layer with something useful dissolved in it, and that is the honest ceiling of what this can do. Within that ceiling it does a lot: clove and green tea are genuinely strong antioxidants, frankincense resin is anti-inflammatory, and skin that is well hydrated and less inflamed looks smoother and firmer within a few weeks. Makes about 115ml. I have changed two things from the version of this recipe going around, and both changes matter, so the ingredient list below is not quite the one you have seen elsewhere.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp whole cloves
- 2 tsp frankincense resin tears
- 60ml distilled water
- Freshly boiled 30ml alcohol-free witch hazel
- 15ml strong-brewed green tea, cooled
- 10ml food-grade aloe vera juice
How to make it
Put the whole cloves and the frankincense tears in a heatproof jar. Pour the freshly boiled distilled water over them, cover, and leave to steep for 20 minutes. Hot water pulls the polyphenols out of the cloves and softens the resin.
Let it come down to room temperature on its own, then strain through a coffee filter. A fine mesh sieve leaves grit behind and the grit is what clogs a spray nozzle three days later.
Stir in the witch hazel, the cooled green tea and the aloe juice. If you are using preservative, add it now, once everything is cool.
Bottle in a sterilised 120ml amber glass spray bottle. Label it with the date, because you will forget.
The two changes, and why
The original recipe offers 5 drops of frankincense essential oil as a substitute for the resin. Do not do this. Essential oils do not dissolve in water, so those drops sit on the surface as neat oil and get sprayed onto your face undiluted. That is the single fastest way to sensitise skin to an essential oil, and once you are sensitised you tend to stay sensitised. Use the resin tears, which give you the water-soluble compounds without the problem. If you only have the essential oil, you need a solubiliser like polysorbate 20 to disperse it properly.
The original also adds a vitamin E capsule and describes it as extending shelf life naturally. Vitamin E is oil-soluble and this product is water. It will not disperse, it will float, and it is not a preservative under any circumstances. It is also a fairly common contact allergen. I have taken it out.
How to use it
Patch test on your inner arm and wait 24 hours. Clove is not a gentle ingredient and eugenol, the compound doing most of its antioxidant work, is a documented contact allergen. If you react to this toner, clove is the first suspect.
After cleansing, morning and night, hold the bottle about 20cm from your face, close your eyes, and mist two or three times over face and neck. Press it in with your palms rather than rubbing. Follow with serum or moisturiser while the skin is still damp.
Once a week you can soak thin cotton pads and lay them over forehead, cheeks and smile lines for five minutes. It is a nice ritual and the extra contact time does help.
Sunscreen in the morning, every morning.
