Unboxing Beauty

I wanted to sneak one more Benton review in before I start on some other skincare products.  It won’t be my last Benton review, as I really am eager to write up a full review of their amazing Snail Bee Essence. However, this review is on Benton’s Aloe BHA Toner and I have used this all summer long and I never want to be without it ~ I don’t know how well it will work in the cooler months, but I have purchased another bottle, that is how much I love this item.

 

Just Fun Info:  Ever wonder how Benton came up with their name?  Well, according to their webside, it came from a movie

The name and definition of Benton took its motives from the movie ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ (also known as ‘Benjamin Button goes backwards in time’ in Korea) which had a warm touch on many people’s heart. In the movie, Benjamin is born as an old man and he becomes younger and younger as time goes by and ultimately dies as a new born baby. Benjamin happens to deeply fall in love with a woman named Daisy. However, as time goes by and as Benjamin becomes younger he has no choice but to leave Daisy. What if Daisy could have also turned back time on her physical appearance, wouldn’t she be happier? It may just be a fictional movie, but wouldn’t most people have the same desire to be young again? Benton’s desire is to turn back the time of your skin. Unlike the instant temporary effect created by the chemical ingredients, we hoped to improve skin care by using the natural ingredients in our products which will help regain your skin to its original healthy condition.  (source bentoncosmetics.com)

image from bentoncosmetics

Aloe BHA skin toner is made for all types of skin including sensitive and trouble ones.  Instead of purified water, the product contains Aloe Barbadensis leaf water with natural cosmetic ingredients such as BHA and snail secretion filtrate to help prevent skin damages from skin irritants and stress

What is it?

Benton Aloe BHA Toner will help moisturize and help reduce and help skin issues, such as blemishes, that are caused by stress and pollution.  It will help soothe irritated and itchy skin, while smoothing your skin, removing dead skin cells and improves skin texture.  It will address the following needs and concerns

• Skin that needs gentle dead skin cell care (remove dead skin cells, unclog pores)
• Dry and sensitive itchy skin
• Oily dehydrated skin that needs moisturizing
  
• For tight and dry skin that needs moisturizing
• Non-oily formula
• Balancing skin moisture/oil level
• Sensitive skin needs

Star Ingredients

To help improve your skin’s texture and appearance, Benton’s Aloe BHA Skin Toner contains a blend of aloe vera leaf water, instead of just plain old water, along with natural ingredients, 0.5% of Salicylic Acid (BHA) and a patented ingredient:  Phyto-Oligo (more aloe!!)

This contains three different types of aloe vera: aloe vera leaf water, aloe vera extract and aloe vera leaf juice.

The all-purpose miracle ingredient, snail slime!  I have found that this ingredient works for dry skin, oily skin, combo skin, young, old ~ it doesn’t matter. It seems to work well for a vast majority of people.

This contains 0.5% of salicylic acid (BHA) ~ .5% is the maximum amount that S.Korea will allow in a skincare product for salicylic acid.   BHA (beta hydroxy acids) are normally extracted  from willow bark if it is a natural ingredient ~ however, Benton doesn’t state if it is willow bark or not.  BHA needs a lower concentration, around 1 to 2 percent, and should have a pH level between 3 and 4 to work effectively ~ which this product fails miserably (more on that later).   BHA ingredients should be in the lower half of the ingredient list, which is where it is at in this product.  BHA’s are usually less irritating than its cousin AHA and unlike AHA’s, BHA’ are lipid/oil soluble, which means they can dissolve in fats and penetrate sebum filled pores much better than AHA’s.  BHA’s are best for oily skin and blemished skin.  If you have combination oily/normal, you can use BHA’s, barring any sensitivities.

Patented ingredient (Patent No. 10-0887294) Phyto Oligo:  “The low temperature extraction from hollyhock (Althaea Rosea) root and aloe barbadensis leaf separates Phyto-oligo components. The high content botanical based ingredients helps skin activeness and add life to the skin. It maintains the elasticity and smoothness of skin with excellent skin moisturizing ability and is also for excellent for soothing the skin and even the skin absorption is excellent“

One of my favorite ingredients is the peptide Polyglutamic Acid, which is made from fermented soybeans (natto) and helps moisturize and exfoliate old skin cells.  It can penetrate to the deepest layers in your skin, locks in moisture and helps increase the production of NMF (Natural Moisturizing Factor).  This also contains a trio of humectants that will attract moisture to your skin and keeps moisture locked into your skin: vegetable glycerin,  sodium hyaluronate and beta-glucan

So, based on the ingredient list, this looks to be a soothing, smoothing and very hydrating product, very gentle with anti-inflammatory benefits. Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner  does not contain parabens, mineral oil, alcohol, benzophenone, steroids, artificial fragrance or artificial dyes.  Since January 2016, Benton has switched to pentylene glycol as their preservative, as it is more stable and also acts as a humectant ~ however, that is a synthetic ingredient, so the claim that they do not use synthetic preservatives is no longer true.  I believe they switched to this preservative, due to issues with some of their product line going bad too quickly.

image source from bentoncosmetics

Ingredients:  Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water, Sodium Hyaluronate, Snail Secretion Filtrate, Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract, Arginine, Salicylic Acid (0.5%), Althaea Rosea Flower Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Beta-Glucan, Polyglutamic Acid, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract, Aspalathus Linearis Extract,  Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Cross Polymer  cosDNA analysis

This 200 mL forest green plastic bottle has a sturdy black pump applicator that gently dispenses the toner. You might see reviews with this toner as a pin hole applicator or a spray applicator, but those are really old bottle designs.  Benton has changed their bottle to a pump applicator and I feel this is probably the best applicator out of the three designs.

Its texture is watery but thicker-than-water. It has a nice feel to it, very slippery and slick, but not greasy or oily.  It has a great cooling effect and I just want to dunk my face into a bowl of this toner, it feels that good. It is colorless as there are no artificial colors in this product, and it is unscented as well ~ however, I do smell a slight bitter scent to it.

I pour the toner in my hand and then pat on my face ~ I feel that it is wasteful to use a cotton pad with this product.  It does take a few minutes to absorb fully as I do use a lot, so if you use less, it would absorb more quickly. It dries down and leaves no greasy residue ~ just hydrated skin.  How hydrated?

This improved my oil/moisture level by about 37%, which I think it is pretty good for a toner. My skin actually feels more cool and refreshed when I use this toner.

image source from bentoncosmetics

Benton states that this product is slightly acidic at a 6, so I will give it a pH test.  This looks to be a solid 6 to me.  Now, to really have a BHA product be effective, the pH level should be 3 to 4.  This product is practically useless as a BHA toner and I do not treat it as such.

I actually use this product as one of my last steps ~ seriously!  Since any BHA benefits are really non-existent, I don’t feel the need to apply this as one of my first steps. In fact, I use other toners first as this toner has a thicker watery texture.  I actually like splashing this on my face right before my moisturizer/lotion step.   It seems to work for me. 

Final Thoughts

Benton Aloe BHA Toner is too weak to be a true BHA product ~ so it doesn’t really lighten my skintone or help with old hyper-pigmentation as it cannot exfoliate.  What it does do is soothe my skin, reduce redness and help heal blemishes quickly.   I use this with my Melano CC Spot Essence, which will handle the PIH (post inflammatory hyper-pigmentation) where the toner really helps with inflammation.  It has a cooling effect and I feel that it supplies my oily skin with ample hydration, especially during the hot, humid summer months ~ my oil production is in high gear, but I still need to add hydration to my skin.  It is natural (well, almost with the exception of the pentylene glycol) and works well for sensitive skin, as it is doesn’t have any artificial scents or dyes.   I just want to fill a bathtub with it and soak for a while as it feels so good on my skin.  As you can tell, I am a convert ~ and just like my Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel review, I am probably one of the last people in the world to review this!! ahaha

Have you tried Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner?  Did you like it?  Or any of the other Benton products?  Let me know in the comments below 🙂  If you are interested in my other Benton reviews, please click here.

Where to Purchase

Just about EVERYWHERE. Benton is insanely popular.  Check out my Promo/Referral (click here) page for coupons and referral discounts at some of these stores before purchasing ~ you might save some dinero.  This is a 200 mL bottle and you should be able to purchase this for under $20.00 USD.

• Memebox
• BB Cosmetic (this is a sample kit, so you can try several Benton products)
• BeautyNetKorea
• Cosmetic Love
• RoseRoseShop
• Tester Korea
• W2Beauty
• Wishtrend

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