This pretty yellow Rejuvenating Pine Pollen Facial Toner packs a punch for skin that needs a bit of a kick in the pants in the refreshing category. Rich in humectants and alpha hydroxy acids, this toner helps encourage your skin to regenerate and stay hydrated so your complexion can be all “✨🌿🌟” instead of “💀🍤🍂”.
Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) are one of those fancy-pants ingredients that seems to transform otherwise unremarkable shop-bought products into wallet-draining affairs. I was watching a YouTube video where said YouTuber was praising the merits of a certain AHA product, so I went and looked it up—$66/100mL. Yowza. Now, AHAs are pretty rad. They’re the “rejuvenating” part of this toner. In the most basic sense, AHAs are a chemical exfoliant. I say “chemical” to distinguish from “physical”—physical exfoliants like baking soda and sugar physically scrub off old skin, while chemical exfoliants help soften or dissolve it so it can be rinsed off. Both can be over-done, resulting in irritation, but if you have sensitive skin, a gentle chemical exfoliant is usually a better choice than a physical one as you don’t have to scrub at your skin.
Anywho, the AHA part of this toner helps get rid of old, dead, dull skin so lovely new stuff can shine through. Since this exfoliation does expose new skin cells to the wider world, be sure to keep your skin hydrated and protected from the sun—this is, after all, baby skin (or as close as any of us can get to it). Baby it! We’re getting our AHA’s from Multifruit BSC—an easy-to-use blend of fruit extracts that makes a lovely blend of AHAs. I added it at 5% (5g in this recipe) and that’s about middle of the road as far as recommended amounts go. AHAs are said to be safe up to 10% (Susan recommends starting much lower), but since Multifruit BSC is only about 55% active, so 5% Multifruit BSC makes a product that’s 2.75% AHA. I find I can feel that working, so I wouldn’t recommend starting higher than that, and if your skin is quite sensitive, use even less. If you make it and find your skin can handle more, feel free to add more, but I wouldn’t start with more.
I also included soothing allantoin and aloe vera, and panthenol, silk, and sodium lactate for their humectant properties (sodium lactate is also an antioxidant and can help battle acne—score!). A bit of olivem300 helps keep the toner from being too dry—it’s a water soluble ester, meaning it’s a sort-of-oil that will self emulsify into the toner. In this particular case you could try using 2g polysorbate 20 or 80 and 2g of a liquid oil of your choice as an alternative, but I really would recommend getting some olivem300—it’s super cool!
Now, for that pine pollen part. Back in December Penny sent me the raddest ever care package/box of delights/Christmas gift all the way from China. If you’ve spent any time in the comments section I’m sure you’ve seen her around—I think she may be my most prolific reader! I swear she’s tried fully a quarter of the recipes I’ve published and shared feedback on each of them. Anyhow—this magical box of DIY goodies. It was loaded with all kinds of amazing things. Moringa seeds, sea buckthorn extract, face masks, her homemade neem and clove soap, a soap stamp, wicked packaging, pine pollen, and more. I’d never heard of pine pollen before, and Penny said “I add a pinch of pine pollen to my toners and I’ve noticed a big difference in my skin in that it is much more manageable” so… ok. I can do that!
Pine pollen is a very light, very fine, yellow powder. My attempts at researching it turned up a lot of very woo-y type articles, asserting it contains every beneficial compound known to man (and several new ones!), that it will increase libido, decrease brain fog, make you lose fat and gain muscle, and just might let you finally grow that unicorn horn you’ve always wanted (ok, I might’ve made up one or two of those…). That is to say, there doesn’t appear to be much reliable information about pine pollen out there. But I figured it can’t hurt, right? So here we are. If you don’t have it, try bee pollen instead, or another botanical extract of your choice (green tea or cucumber would be nice).
To all of that I’ve added some fragrant rose water and astringent witch hazel, plus a softly bright essential oil blend. The final toner is a cheery yellow hue thanks to the pine pollen. I’m really enjoying using this Rejuvenating Pine Pollen Facial Toner after I wash my face, but before I put on some face cream ✨
Rejuvenating Pine Pollen Facial Toner
33g | 1.16oz water
0.5g | 0.017oz allantoin (USA / Canada)
0.5g | 0.017oz aloe vera 200x concentrate powder
2g | 0.07oz panthenol powder (vitamin B5) (USA / Canada)
2g | 0.07oz silk peptides (wondering about substitutions?)
2g | 0.07oz pine pollen
2g | 0.07oz sodium lactate (USA / Canada)
4g | 0.14oz Olivem 300 (USA / Canada)20g | 0.71oz rose hydrosol
30g | 1.06oz witch hazel
5g | 0.18oz multifruit BSC (USA / Canada)1 drop roman chamomile essential oil
2 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops spruce essential oil0.5g | 0.017oz Liquid Germall Plus™ (USA / Canada) (or other broad spectrum preservative of choice at recommended usage rate [why?])
Prepare a water bath by bringing about 3cm/1″ of water to a bare simmer over low to medium-low heat in a small saucepan.
Weigh the water, allantoin, aloe vera, panthenol, silk, pine pollen, sodium lactate, and olivem300 into a small heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Place the measuring cup in your prepared water bath to heat everything through and dissolve all the soluble ingredients (the pine pollen is not one of them).
After about twenty minutes, remove the measuring cup from the water bath, and add the rose water and witch hazel. Stir to combine. Check the temperature—it should be luke warm from the addition of the rose water and witch hazel, but if it still feels hot, leave the toner to cool for twenty minutes or so, until it is just warm to the touch. At that point, stir in the multifruit BSC, essential oils, and preservative.
Decant the toner into a 100mL (3.3fl oz) bottle. To use, wet a cotton pad or jumbo cotton ball with the toner, and wipe that across your face. Repeat until it comes away clean, and follow up with your favourite moisturizer. Enjoy!
Read the blog for information on substitutes.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this toner contains water, you must include a broad-spectrum preservative to ward off microbial growth. This is non-optional. Even with a preservative this project is likely to eventually spoil as our kitchens are not sterile laboratories, so in the event you notice any change in colour, scent, or texture, chuck it out and make a fresh batch.
Okay..sounds good. So what is a good source for pine pollen?
Thx
There is a link right in the recipe!
Hi Marie!
I am so glad you are making toners! And this one looks so lovely!
Ever since you have pointed me to Susan, I have been experimenting with water-based ideas. Here are two of mine.
1. Anti-aging toner with peptides and HA
Rose water 69,0%
Sodium Lactate 3,0%
Panthenol 1,0%
Glycerin 2,0%
Hyaluronic Acid 0,2%
AHA fruit acid 20,0%
tetrapeptide 21 4,3%
preservative 0,5%
black spruce 8 drops
green mandarin 8 drops
polysorbate 20 15 drops
Mixed HA with glycerin and added at cool down phase with panthenol, peptides, preservative and EOs.
Because of EOs in polysorbate it is a cloudy toner but so worth it because of the EO combo (one of your earlier suggestions) is so lovely.
It is pretty strong on acid (10%), but manageable. I got no reaction. Too bad they are not selling HA in Canada. It is a lovely serum and I finished my 30 ml bottle in 3 weeks. It went on hands and neck too.
2. Salisylic Acid toner with peptides
Salicylic acid 2,0%
Propylene glycol 10,0%
Witch hazel extract liquid 5,0%
Mixed salisylic acid with propylene glycol and warmed up for 5 second’s to help dissolve. Mix in Witch hazel.
Rose water preserved 73,6%
Sodium Lactate 3,0%
Panthenol 1,0%
Tetrapeptide 21 3,0%
Glycerin 2,0%
Hyaluronic Acid 0,4%
No EOs, and it is clear although a little runny. Smells of roses 🙂
Great against acne. Using it now.
My tiny contribution to your beautiful work … oh and I also did a sleep balm version of rose salve based with borage oil and badger recipe. It looks like and smells of ginger and is amazing but that’s for another time 🙂
What I would really love seeing a “recipe” for is the cream that is being advertised all over the web for wrinkles. They dab it on an aged grand mother and instantly her wrinkles disappear. There are variations of buying the product from one free but then you are signing up to get it once a month f.o.r.e.v.e.r, or BOGO, but o=you never get off of their delivery and charging to your CC account. Please help Marie!! Thank you!!
I’m pretty sure that cream is a lie, what you’re describing sounds a lot more like photoshop than any cream!
Thank you! I love getting readers addicted to devving up their own formulas 😀 Muahahahahahah. I really must pick up some HA on my next trip to somewhere it is available, haha. My version of a souvenir I did purchase some pre-made products that include it and I think I like it, though it’s always hard to tell when it’s mixed with other things.
Psssst! Have you tried it in your masks yet? Talk about holy moly glowy wowness!
I actually opened my ziplock bag of pine pollen today and poof! My kitchen turned yellow. The soap I was making had a lovely yellow coat. My face was covered. My hair looked awesome! That stuff gets around!
Glad you’re enjoying your stash! I heard you collect spoons? Well, you’re going to get a grand chuckle! I’ve made a fair bit of your recent posts, just been crazy busy getting a stock pile of soaps, scrubs, and such prepared for the summer as I’ll have no time to do much of anything as it will be so humid and gross, I shall be posting soonerish!
It’s crazy! That neem soap? Is the most popular soap out of anything I’ve made. I make a new batch of it monthly it is like it flies away. Sure it still sticks a wee bit, but people love it! Have you played with the moringa powder? It’s stinky goodness and your skin will love it! Another psssst! Moringa body wrap.
Not yet! It’s on the list, I swear! I just… get distracted like the dickens with Lottie around and when I do manage to do something I feel like I always forget the special things I wanted to try. Puppy brain… or something. LOL. It’s getting better with the schedule, though! Like, look—I am replying to blog comments! Huzzah! 😛
And yes… I do collect spoons like a crazy person lol. Tiny ones are best, like the ones that used to be used with old school salt casters. They are so adorable! And sort of useful for photos and stuff; not so much for eating LOL.
Hi Marie —
Pine pollen!!????!!!!
I live in pine forest and I get SO (allergic) sick from the pollen in the spring. The cars are yellow, the deck is yellow, every surface is thickly coated with yellow, the lakes are yellow, the air is yellow! I can’t imagine putting it on intentionally!!! (I’m in central BC.)
How interesting! I feel like I’ve spent quite a lot of time around pine trees, but I’ve definitely never notice anything akin to what you are experiencing. You may be able to make a fortune collecting the stuff and selling it, though 😛
During March and April, I’ll just dust the pine pollen off my furniture and baggie it up, so that stays off my shopping list.
The multi fruit stuff, is amazingly cheap at $2.85 per oz! Who couldn’t use that? And I love toners, especially when it’s humid.
Pine pollen clogs everyone’s lungs up here in Georgia. Makes people sick with lung infections (husband) with all that clog, but I’ll pay attention to my skin this month and see if I notice an improvement because one can’t escape pine pollen here. We all resemble martians. The sky is greenish with it. I seriously could collect a sandwich baggie of it before the season is over.
Penny… You’re famous!! (I accidently deleted the email with link to that new section. I miss looking at your photos)
Lol! I know! I was actually going to start my post with, “hey! That’s me! Im famous! Woot woot!” I thought that might be a little weird so in my mind I did it!
You shouldn’t need that link any more. Just go on up there and click away! Should still work! Unless you’re like me and changed your IP address every time you change the vpn setting so you have to sign in a bagillion times.
And you should see my latest soap, tried thentear drop swirl.. I got ducks.
When I was looking at how to use pine pollen (I really wanted it in my soaps, like crazy wanted a soap that was pine goodness), I found a few AMerican supplement companies that sold pine pollen to body builders. And here in The Middle Kingdom, I knew women had been using it for ages on their face. I was told some women just rub the pollen on their skin. It’s wild, it’s been used in Chinese traditional medicine for thousands of years, but there is very little writing about it.
Oh! And when you get back in? I made an eyeliner. “Earl Grey by Cristie”. It’s heavenly! Lots of pictures were posted!
How interesting! I feel like I live in a place with quite a lot of pine trees, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen pine pollen like that (though I do have some honey made from pine nectar, which is amazing!).
If the interwebs are to be believed, watch out for weight loss and libido increase as well 😉
And is the cure for life!
My old boyfriend got hard core into a pyramid scheme and one of the products they sold was pine pollen. He complained I didn’t support him in his new job so went with him to the shop to buy something. Oh dear lord. I’m not cheap by any means, but I don’t like it when some yahoo tries to take advantage of me. They tried to sell me their pine pollen lotion for an obscene amount of money. They scoffed at me because I made my own. Then tried to sell me little tiny packages of pine pollen for a price that made my jaw drop.
I would have started playing with pine pollen sooner, but meh. It wasn’t until I saw the cutest granny holding a bag on Taobao that I had to buy some.
Ppffffffft. Sounds like some EO companies I’ve heard of… 😛
Hi marie,
I am just wondering since no solubilizer was added to emulsify the EO, does Olivem 300 does the job already ? Or do I need to shake it hard before every application ?
And does this toner feel sticky ?
Thanks a lot
Renee
It does! Olivem300 is a solubilizer 🙂 I find this can feel a bit tacky for a few minutes if I apply it to dry skin, but it seems to be fine if I apply it right after washing my face.
Hi,
I notice you have linked some of the ingredients to the Dr. Adorable brand on Amazon. I’ve seen this brand pop up in my own Amazon searches, but was always weary of the quality. I have always bought from reputable distributors, like New Directions Aromatics. I
am curious to know your opinion of this brand and if you have confidence in the quality?
Thanks!
Hey Liza! I’ve purchased rose wax and raspberry seed oil from Dr. Adorable and have been impressed with both—the prices were good, the shipping was fast, and the rose wax smells divine! Hope that helps 🙂
I just ordered Pine Pollen and today received my order from LotionCrafter with Fruit Acid Complex… I love physical exfoliants (I love my clay and pumice cleansing balm) so I’m excited to try a chemical exfoliant! I’m going to start pretty gentle and take it from there 🙂
Yay for new ingredients! Have fun 😀
Hi.. Love your work.I have tried and followed many of your recipes. I just wanted to ask you is there any basic recipe for a toner. For me to source so many different ingredients is very difficult.
Thanks..
Plain ol’ witch hazel works great!
Pine Pollen Toner: I’m already using your Mango face cleaner and then one of the serums. I’m just concerned if I add this toner (between the cleaner/serum routine) I’ll be putting TOO MUCH stuff on my face and it will fall off…… Make sense?
With that amount of things, don’t worry 🙂 I currently do 2 cleaners, 2 serums, and a cream haha. Nothing’s falling off!
😯
I think it’s time for a new post on “My Skin Care Routine” and do “Hair routine” while you at it 😀
I agree! It’s just that it’s changed sooooo much that I’m having a hard time putting it all into words—and given how much I write, that’s rather surprising!
You ditched soap (for skin), you’re trying out Asian skin care. I’m excited to hear out how it’s going on for you 🙂 Take your time, I have a feeling this going to be an interesting post!
I definitely am! I didn’t quite realize it at first but now I’m going whole-hog trying stuff with snail mucin in it haha And… my skin is utterly radiant. But, yeah, I can’t help but feel like this isn’t how I was “supposed” to get here. So… struggling…
Hey, the best part of this project of yours (and I’m sure that folks here will agree with me), is that you ALWAYS trying new stuff. Yeah, sure, sometimes you make something amazing like a mattifying moisturizer or a menthol cleansing balm (there are much more example of course), and it’s an absolute hit. You use it all the time (the bees here do as well), and it becomes part of your routine. And then you hear about “snail mucin”… “Ooooh, what is that?”. The curiosity kicks in. And after some period of time you suddenly find out that this balm you made with the snail stuff, is much than the one you used for years. I believe there is no “correct” way to get anywhere. We make choices everyday, and choosing to try out new stuff is not an easy thing to do. Sometimes it requires that we acquire new skills, and it might be a very frustrating process (especially when some stuff doesn’t work), but it’s still worth it. Because even if the project was failure, we learned something from it. And what’s better than living and learning something new all the time?
I’m sure glad you think that way! I do feel like I get a lot of push back when I introduce new ingredients, but I also recognize that it’s much easier to remember the negative feedback than the positive stuff. I definitely feel like I’m butting up against the learning new skills things these days, wondering if I have the ability to create some of the things I want to use and if, perhaps, I should admit that purchasing some things may be the wiser, less frustrating, less expensive, more effective way to go. Hmmmmmmmmmm. 😛
There are a few ingredients you often use, like SCI and Amphosol CG, that I can’t seem to find anywhere, so some of the recipes calling for these are on the “someday maybe” list. So yeah, I get what you’re saying, the first time you introduce a new ingredient it can be a bit frustrating, but only because we don’t have that ingredient at that moment and it will be (at least) a few weeks until the precious package with the order comes… oooh… But then again, a few months ago I didn’t know where to find BTMS-50, polysorbate or even a preservative, and that changed quickly. Once I finally got my hands on BTMS-50.. Oh my.. It’s amazing. And I wouldn’t know anything about this absolutely-must-have ingredient or how to use it properly if it wasn’t for you. So yeah, new ingredients – scary, but usually awesome. However, if some bees here refuse to try new stuff, there are PLENTY other recipes on your blog that they can browse and try out.
You’ve also introduced me to the Asian Beauty care routine a while ago.
It’s both crazy and exciting! You start with a double wash with OCM and a pH-balanced cleanser, continue with an acid toner, then low pH serum, then BHA, AHA.. and the list goes on. The first time I’ve read the whole list I was stunned for a few minutes. Then a few days ago you’ve wrote the post about “Natural Efficacy Fallacy”, where you referenced a post from simplescincarescience.com. The guy, who wrote this great article, gives at the end of the article a whole list of tested products for all the different purposes. I don’t know if it because I’ve only been DIYing a year or less, or because I’m just a buying-new-stuff-junkie, I had a great urge ordering at least 10 different products from his list right away.. *nervous laugh*.
And a year ago, I would probably do that. But now that I have your guidance, I would prefer to waste the big $$$ on buying some ascorbic acid, vitamin E and ferulic acid and do by myself the “the holy trinity” vitamin C serum once every few weeks, rather than buying the product (have you seen it? Skinceuticals C E Ferulic, 1oz costs 176$!!!).
But it doesn’t mean I just have to DIY any product there is out there. There are some products, like you said, which are more effective and even not that pricey at all. Why can’t we enjoy both worlds? Some good working commercial pH cleanser, followed by a bunch of nice homemade serums, followed by a commercial Biore sunscreen (I have to get my hands on it!!), finished by specially adjusted for your own skin make-up you’ve made. <3
Oh goodness yes, F.C. has been terrible for my wallet LOL. I definitely bought those probiotics he recommended! I’m not sure if I can tell if they’re doing anything, but I am replacing them so… yeah lol. Have you seen the vitamin C serums from The Ordinary? They’re less than $6! You definitely can’t get all the vitamin C ingredients for that much, so if it’s a cost thing, maybe check them out. If not, well, believe me, I understand wanting to make it because you can! I definitely have the vitamin C serum ingredients on my next US-trip shopping list haha.
I’m definitely living in a much more hybrid world than I would’ve expected to find myself in a couple years ago, but I like it 🙂
Hi, I love all your recipes. And I’m going to give it a try. But in my country I can’t find Olivem 300 and Multifruit BSC. Can I use Turkey Red oil instead of Olivem 30? And what is the substitution for Multifruit BSC? Thanks.
If you can find some sort of AHA blend that’ll be a good alternative for the multifruit. You can use turkey red oil instead of Olivem 300, but it’s a pretty low-grade alternative. TRO can be irritating to the skin, so I tend to avoid it with leave-on facial products.
So sorry, I forgot one thing. That is aloe vera 200x concentrate powder. Can I reject it or repace with another one? Can I use aloe vera juice,gel or extract? If yes, how much is possjble? Thank you very much.
You can replace 20g of the distilled water with aloe vera juice, but make sure it is cosmetic grade aloe vera juice and not food grade aloe vera juice 🙂
Can I use Lactic Acid 90% instead of the multi-fruit?
I don’t recommend it unless you really know what you’re doing when it comes to working with AHAs, and I don’t feel like I know enough to give proper advice there 🙂 Happy making!
Fantasic formulation! You know how me and my skin love this type of toners. I can’t believe that I’ve missed this! I’m about to make it without olivem 300 and eo’s, with regular bee pollen + hydrolyzed rice protein and see how it goes.
Just reporting afterwards. I know that this is not the most recent formulation of yours but I like it a lot! My skin feels soft and happy afterwards. It took some heat to dissolve bee pollen and allantoin, but process was quick and easy. I didn’t heat any other ingredients. Cheerful yellow color and neroli hydrosol are quite lovely pair?
I used slightly less aloevera and rice protein to avoid the possibly pain of adjusting the ph downwards. Right now pH is 4,3 but I’m checking it again tomorrow.
Oops, sorry: avoid possibly pain of adjusting pH upwards. And yes, pH is 4-4,3 which seems great to my taste. 🙂