[REVIEW] Pyunkang Yul Acne Toner (Before and After)

Guess who’s back? My acne. As some of you may know, I have hormonal acne, it was extremely active for about 3 years until I underwent a hormonal treatment, after this it was mildly active, and by targeting my skin with acne specific skincare I managed to dial it down to the occasional pimple here and there.

In September, the acne came back in full force, I have Endometriosis so my hormones go wack sometimes, it was nowhere near what I had experience in past breakouts, but the breakouts were there and new pimples kept popping up every week for 2 months.

I still use the acne spot cream by Pyunkang Yul of the same line on all my pimples and this really makes them disappear in the matter of 2 to 3 days, but they kept on appearing in new random places and I just wanted them to stop being there to begin with.

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[1]🌿Ingredients Breakdown [2]Instructions [3]Results VS. Claims [4]Before&After [5]Verdict

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• Price (use this link): 14.90$ USD (If you use my code: DEWILDE you can get up to 5% off on any Yesstyle purchase at checkout)

• Texture: Exactly like water

• What you get: 150ml 

• Cruelty-free : Yes

+INGREDIENTS

Ingredients of the Pyunkang Yul Acne Toner: Water, Butylene Glycol (Moisturizer/Solvent), Dimethyl Sulfone (Solvent), Pyridoxine Hcl, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Niacinamide, Forsythia Suspensa Fruit Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Glycyrrhiza Uralensis (Licorice) Root Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Copper Tripeptide-1, Glycerin, Hydroxyacetophenone, Myrtus Communis Extract, Tropaeolum Majus Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin (Preservative), Disodium EDTA (Chelating)

🌿In-Depth Details Of Interesting Ingredients:

Pyridoxine Hcl: ‘‘thought to have anti-bacterial and antioxidant properties when applied topically to the skin, although there is very little research to verify these claims’’

Salix Alba Bark Extract: Anti-acne (salicylic acid precursor) + Wound healing ( Polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins)

Niacinamide: Anti-aging (promotes collagen production and Ceramides synthesis) + Antioxidant (Against UV-induced photocarcinogenesis and photoimmunesuppression) + Anti-inflammatory ( reductions in total sebaceous creation of lipids, overproduction being one of the causes of acne)

Forsythia Suspensa Fruit Extract: Very little research to back up any solid claims but general consensu points in the direction of it acting as an antioxidant and a potential allergic relieving substance.

Centella Asiatica Extract : Wound healing (promotes collagen production) + hypertrophic scar healing properties in particular

Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract (Japanese Knotweed): Prevents hyper-pigmentation (Inhibits Melanin forming activity of Tyrosinase) + Antimicrobial ( inhibits bacterial and fungi proliferation) + Antioxidant (Resveratrol BT) + Anti-inflammatory (Resveratrol BT)

Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract: Antioxidant (Flavonoids baicalein, Oroxylin A, and Wogonin) + Anti-inflammatory (Inhibits substances and growth factor related to macrophage proliferation) + Antimicrobial (flavonoids and phenolic acids) + Prevents hyper-pigmentation (Inhibits Melanin forming activity of Tyrosinase)

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract (Green tea): Antioxidant (Polyphenol) + Anti-inflammatory (Polyphenol) + Antimicrobial (Catechins)

Glycyrrhiza Uralensis (Licorice) root extract : Antioxidant (isoflavans and isoflavone) + Anti-inflammatory (Glycyrrhizin activity is similar to cortisol and steroids) + Prevents hyper-pigmentation (Inhibits Melanin forming activity of Tyrosinase)

Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract: Anti-inflammatory (Terpenes/Flavonoids/α-bisabolol  inhibit inflammatory pathway) + Wound Healing

Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract: Anti-inflammatory (Rosmarinic acid, carnosic acid, and carnosol, exhibit anti-inflammatory activities in particular acne-causing pathogens response) + Antioxidant (Rosmarinic acid and caffeic acid)

Copper Tripeptide-1: Wound healing (Copper tripeptide-1 is naturally released by the body to signal repair processes to begin/ increases collagen synthesis/ increases cell migration to affected area) + Antioxidant (antioxidant systems in our body is naturally induced by Copper tripeptide-1) + Anti-microbial

Glycerine: Widely used as a quality Hydrator (occurs naturally in skin and its chemical structure attracts water). You can find this ingredient in most good skin replenishing products.

Hydroxyacetophenone: Acts as a preservative and might have some antioxidative properties (depend on derivative used)

Myrtus Communis Extract: Has been clinically (clinical trial) proven to decrease acne and antibacterial activity.

Tropaeolum Majus Extract (Nasturtium): Antioxidant (Polyphenols, terpenes, Vitamins E and C) + Antibacterial + Anti-inflammatory (Polyphenols and terpenes)

🤔Hmmmmm Ingredients:

Ethylhexylglycerin : I have spoken about this ingredient extensively in my KYLIESKIN Eyecream review, basically it’s a preservative and some research has shown that it can be irritating to the eye area which tends to be more sensitive than the rest of your skin (as it was in my case). However, you won’t be putting this toner anywhere near your eye to begin with and should not experience any sensitization, if you have very sensitive skin and you’re worried about that, do a patch test, but considering that it’s one of the very last ingredients on the list, I wouldn’t be worried.

+how to use the Pyunkang Yul Acne Toner

1.After cleansing, soak a cotton pad with an adequate quantity of toner.

2.Gently wipe across the entire face

3.Pat lightly for better absorption.

+The toner feels exactly like water, and it gets absorbed instantly. It has a weak herbal smell to it as well.

+what does the Pyunkang Yul Acne Toner do?

1.Exfoliating for a smoother texture: Way up on the ingredient list is Salix Alba Bark Extract which contains a precursor of salicylic acid (a BHA), a very well known and researched anti-acne and peeling agent that penetrates deep into the skin to break down bonds between skin cells, dissolve skin debris within the pores, and also has anti-inflammatory properties. Personally, when I started incorporating this toner into my routine, my skin started to randomly peel a bit around my cheek/mouth area (where I applied it the most), I don’t know if you’ll get such a direct and intense result (as most reviews I read don’t mention this), but it is important to take into consideration. All this to say that yes, this works as a wonderful exfoliator and does result in a much smoother skin texture. The best part is that my skin wasn’t sensitized in any way thanks to all the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative compounds also present in the formula.

2.Sebum control and anti-bacterial. anti-inflammatory effects: Yes, yes and yes. One only needs to check out the key ingredients list above to notice that apart from Salix Alba which is anti-acneic and peeling in nature, the majority of the ingredients are anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. When I use this toner every day, I almost never get a single pimple. When I did get new pimples (which were much smaller than the ones I usually got), I noticed that it was because I had skipped using the toner for a couple of days. Salix Alba also contains Tannins, which have very promising research backing up its potential antimicrobial properties.

3.Minimized pores and skin regeneration: This product doesn’t really minimize pores while peeling the skin, unclogging pores, and minimizing sebum secretion can result in the illusion of minimized pores (because they are cleaner, hence less noticeable), you’d need something to actually tighten your pores (as they are basically a skin opening, and hence a small curved depression on the overall more smooth surface of your skin), which some laser treatments might achieve.

The only negative thing I could say about the Pyunkang Yul Acne Toner is that it’s not something that is going to cure your acne, it won’t supplement your skin with anything, it’s just going to control your acne (don’t get me wrong this is a huge achievement) and really help in preventing new pimples, but if you stop using the toner, the acne will probably come back eventually (that’s what I’ve experienced). However, I would still definitely recommend this treatment to anyone who suffers from acne, it’s a great add-on to your routine and really does work, plus it’s really easy and non-invasive to incorporate, while other acne medication might dry up your skin or only be used at night, this is something you can pat onto the skin at any point in your day or night and it gets absorbed as easily as water does without leaving your skin red or dry.

If you currently are suffering from breakouts, I would recommend to use the toner on an everyday basis in combination with the Pyunkang Yul Acne Spot Cream on active pimples (since you can also use it during the day as it gets absorbed very easily), to date this is the quickest way I’ve found to get rid of active pimples, and the toner works great as a preventative agent.

+Note: Some instructions say that you can pour some product onto a cotton pad and use it as a targeted treatment of active pimples, I haven’t found this to work and would only recommend to use it as something to prevent further acne rather than to treat current one.

+Picture note: I’ve circled a beauty mark just to prove that it’s still the same face/side since no visible features are seen here (I wanted to get you as close to my skin as possible). Also, yes, there are black hairs on my face, they disappear in some pictures because they only show under certain light. do notice the texture change.

+benefits:

1. Will last you a long time

2. Affordable

3. Dramatically reduces acne

4. Suited for sensitive skin

5. Easy to incorporate into any routine

6. Fights acne during the day unlike most acne skincare which needs to be applied only at night or when staying home (because of the way they make your face look: dry patches, colored patches, … )

-CONS:

1. None
   
   

🍃 Score: 4.5/5 --- This is a great product for acneic skin, the only reason it does not get a full mark is because it fails to achieve its last claim, it’s a pure marketing move to say that any product will ‘get rid of pores’.

+AMAZON

+Yesstyle: link
(If you use my code: DEWILDE you can get up to 5% off on any yesstyle purchase at checkout)

+Wishtrend product link