Thayers Facial Toner, Witch Hazel

I never write reviews about skin care products because no matter how many different ones I try (high end or affordable), I don't notice anything great worth mentioning. This toner though, I think has just simplified my routine by so much. For reference, I have acne-prone, combination skin (oily forehead and t-zone, normal to dry on rest) and have adult acne especially around that time of the month. Aside from cleansing, I've only been using this toner and one moisturizer (I switch those up depending on how my skin feels) every morning and night. On rare occasions my skin feels hydrated enough, I really only put this toner on and that's it. What I like about using this is that it doesn't do anything extraordinary nor does it cause any problems. It keeps my face looking NORMAL and controlled. Which is really all I need, and my skin just feels good. My breakouts have been very minimal aside from the ones in the chin area due to hormones every month. I have noticed my face overall looks significantly brighter and clearer- I think I recognized this difference about a couple of weeks in first trying it. I used to have a lot of redness which felt like they were permanently there and won't go away. Now it's only a bit red around the nose and chin area. For application, I don't use cotton pads; I think it's a bit unnecessary as it soaks up a lot of product. I put a tiny puddle in my palm (always with clean hands) and slap it on. The consistency is like water but I never have the problem of it running down my arm. On drier days, I put on 2-3 layers of this (pat in, let absorb, put some more on), after that my skin feels super hydrated. The smell isn't anything to praise about, but it's nothing that will keep me away from using it either. This isn't a perfume, and as a skin care product, I would be worried if it did smell like one. If you've smelled real flowers, they smell good, but there's sometimes that slight underlying scent that might be not as pleasant. To me, that's what this toner smells like. It does smell of roses, but it has that touch of realness (how do you even describe this). I don't find it terrible at all. At the price, it's really worth giving it a go if you're looking for a good, basic toner to start your skin care routine. Going in I knew nothing about this toner other than the amount of reviews it has on Amazon and one youtube video of someone praising it, and I'm VERY glad I tried it. One bottle kept me good for 5 months (I already have my backup bottle ready). I bought my first bottle of the rose petal at the beginning of May this year, and I'm now about to finish up the last few drops. As long as my skin doesn't suddenly decide to react differently to it, I think I'm going to be keeping this toner as a staple for a long, long time. Update (a couple of years later..): Just wanted to add I still love this toner. And contrary to my old review above, using the toner with a cotton pad has been a game changer. Using it by itself was great as well, but I tried using it with a cotton pad to gently wipe the face and within a couple of weeks, the texture of the skin got better on another level.