This toner was pretty much of an impulse purchase I made earlier of the year simply because I was swayed by its packaging. It is from the brand Good Virtues Co., a halal certified brand owned by a local company called Satin Straits Snd. Bhd. They centred "Habbatus Sauda Oil" (Black Seed Oil) as their key ingredient. All of their products are claimed to be halal, vegetarian, cruelty-free, and free from alarming ingredients such as SLES, ALES, mineral oil, parabens as well as synthetic colourants.
The toner I have here is said to be a "Brightening Facial Toner". I don't think I've ever bought any brightening skincare before, so this is indeed my first experience with brightening product. So.... What it is? How it is marketed? Below is a graphic information taken from their official website.
Review, starting off with the packaging;
16 cm is a good size, it's not that long, and it fits perfectly inside my small drawer. The spray bottle is made up of plastic. It's squeezable. I don't like it to be squeezable, mana tahu tetiba terhempap dengan buku tebal anatomy. Mesti penyek. Design- full mark. 100% WHY SO PRETTY. In fact, this Good Virtues Co. toner is probably the prettiest toner bottle from the drugstore I've ever seen. Just look at other products from the company...
Eye catching kan? doesn't you feel intrigued to buy them? at least that was what Good Virtues Co. made me into. I bought their toner, and also the shampoo and body wash. Here's the price list at Watsons;
1) Brightening Facial Cleanser (RM12.25)
2) Brightening Facial Scrub (RM12.25)
3) Brightening Facial Toner (RM12.25)
4) Brightening Day Cream SPF30 (RM21.50)
5) Brightening Night Cream (RM21.50)
6) Brightening CC Cream SPF30 (RM21.50)
7) Purifying Makeup Remover (RM14.30)
2) Brightening Facial Scrub (RM12.25)
3) Brightening Facial Toner (RM12.25)
4) Brightening Day Cream SPF30 (RM21.50)
5) Brightening Night Cream (RM21.50)
6) Brightening CC Cream SPF30 (RM21.50)
7) Purifying Makeup Remover (RM14.30)
Now back to the toner. Ingredients are as below;
I'm a bit particular with what are inside my skincare. I don't really mind about makeup, but for skincare, ingredients say a lot. I noticed the ingredients written on the official website is slightly differs from the one printed on its packaging. They seem to left out few ingredients and one of it is the Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde or also known as Lyral. Do take note that Lyral is one of the popular allergens to skin along with Benzyl Salicylate and Butylphenyl Methylpropional (which also included in the toner). All these are all fragrances or perfumes.
It surprised me how the toner has at least 7 different types of fragrances, according to cosDNA, a site that I used a lot to check on ingredients. That's a lot??! And because of the same reason, I was like "Oh no wonder the toner smells so heavily fragranced". I'd describe the scent as herbally. I don't know, maybe because of the Black Seed Oil. It's rather an odd scent which makes me believe a lot of people won't be keen to it. Weirdly enough, I do find the scent soothing. I kinda love it!
So let's get down to my verdict. First thing first, I want to say that the toner burns me a lot. Like, A LOT (with uppercase lol). My face, especially cheeks feel irritated as soon as I sprayed the toner. The sensation goes away after few minutes but you know, I need to experience the uncomfortable pain. Dah guna banyak kali pun still burn jugak. Sometimes I just sat in front of a fan until I felt better before proceed with my moisturiser. At this point, I can't even tell if the toner does any job in brightening my whole complexion. I THINK... I mean based on my personal observation, I seem to have an allergic reaction whenever I use a product containing mushroom extraction, so if you're like me, I'd not recommend you using this toner.
I also certainly not a fan of the nozzle spray that comes along with the bottle. The spritz comes out directly like jet toner or something and it makes me feel like I've just washed my face over again. Just look at the picture below, I'm sure you can tell by it.
The toner is slightly greasy but not sticky. Butylene Glycol is one of the moisturising components and a humectant in this toner and it's high up in the ingredient list. So, I wouldn't be surprised the toner has a moisturising effect. It's colourless as Good Virtues Co. claimed it to be free from any synthetic colourants. The direction is to use after facial cleansing and spritz it over your face and neck area, avoid contact with eyes.
Since this toner is not working as a skincare on me, what would I do?
Well, I'm planning to spritz it after I'm done with makeup. You know... kinda like setting spray although this toner isn't a setting spray, lol. Ye lah dah beli takkan nak membazir pulak ;___;
Since this toner is not working as a skincare on me, what would I do?
Well, I'm planning to spritz it after I'm done with makeup. You know... kinda like setting spray although this toner isn't a setting spray, lol. Ye lah dah beli takkan nak membazir pulak ;___;
Name : Glowing & Goodness Brightening Facial Toner
Brand : Good Virtues Co.
Country of Origin : MalaysiaContent : 100ml / 3.4 fl oz
Limited Edition : No
Price : RM12.25
Availability (Malaysia) :
In Store: Watsons pharmacist, Tesco & Giant
Online : Good Virtues Online Store [link], Watsons Online [link], Zalora [link], FashionValet [link]
Link : http://www.goodvirtuesco.com/
Well.... as you can tell, I'm disappointed with the toner (especially with the ingredients :/ ), hence I will rate it low. 1.5/5? One point for the packaging and I'll just be going to give another half point for the price. It is affordable. This is the only product I've tried from Good Virtues Co. skincare line, not sure if I'd want to try the rest. On the other hand, their Hair & Body Care products are amazing!!
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