Hi guys! Today I will be reviewing a cult favourite toner of Korea. If Japan has Hada Lado Hyaluronic Acid Lotions then Korea too has its famous counterpart- Instree Hyaluronic Acid Toner! To be honest I was a devoted customer of Hada Lado Premium Hyaluronic Acid Lotion. You can read about my love affair with it here. The Hada Labo one was like the first love of my skincare journey but it seems I have found more than its match in Instree Hyaluronic Acid Toner.

Price: 14$ approx but I got mine during Jolse’s sale at 10$ for 200ml.
Packaging: I am in love with its packaging! I mean look at this beautiful minimal design- simplicity and elegance at its best! It has a screw top cap and a pin hole opening.

Ingredients: Please refer to the picture for complete ingredient list. All the ingredients are safe and there is no harmful chemical. In fact I have never seen such clean ingredients in one product. A big thumbs up for being paraben free! For detailed analysis please click here.

My experience: As I have said, I love hyaluronic acid. I make it a point to use hyaluronic acid in every step of my skincare- be it in toners, serum or creams. I feel hyaluronic acid works best in a toner or a lotion form. The Isntree Hyaluronic Acid toner is a very pleasant to use product. It is as good as Hada Labo Gokujyun Premium Lotion in terms of immediate hydration. But when it comes to long term effects, Isntree is far superior in my opinion. Hada Labo has 5 types of hyaluronic acid but it also has a shitload of parabens and urea. The urea in it causes mild exfoliation of skin and I use AHA and BHA 2 to 3 times a week. I have noticed that Hada Labo causes overexploitation of my skin. And I do not like parabens.
The Isntree Hyaluronic Acid toner on the other hand has only one kind of hyaluronic acid compound- sodium hyaluronate. It is the most widely used compound of hyaluronic acid and arguably the best all rounder. But Isntree is bullshitting us customers by saying that the toner has 50% hyaluronic acid which is impossible. A mere 1% sodium hyaluronate in 99% water can create the same viscous liquid. Increasing the amount to 2% will result in the mixture turning into a gel. Let alone 50% , you won’t be able to use a 5% hyaluronic acid solution. So dear readers, don’t believe in this kind of exaggerated nonsensical claims.
Now that we are past the 50% ludicrous claim, let’s see what other goodies this Isntree toner has. It contains a plethora of plant derived ingredients like Beta-Glucan which is the baap of hyaluronic acid in terms of moisturizing, Good old glycerine, Birch sap juice, trehalose, panthenol or vitamin B5 and lots of other plant extracts like Aloe vera and so on. At first I did not like this toner. It felt so inferior to the Hada Labo one. But after my sister took (read stole) my Hada Labo one, I was forced to use this for 15days. And I realised that it was very soothing and did not causing overexploitation. In fact I fell in love with its runny and slimy consistancy. Hada Labo is like a thick serum but this one has greater slip. And it does not have parabens. Yaay! Another good thing about the Isntree Hyaluronic Acid toner is that it is fragrance free. So all my sensitive skin gals, this one’s great for you. It is very economical as well, for my 200ml bottle has nearly 120ml product left after 4 months of daily use. I think I am going to stick with this one for a long time. I give this toner a 5/5 score. I hope you have found this review helpful. Byee!

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