I’ve had many people ask me now and again what I thought about the REN Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic, and I’ve often been a little uncertain. As much as I think it’s effective for what it does, this isn’t a product that works impressively well for me.
The REN Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic comes under the Radiance range, which offers to help your skin maintain or attain radiance, depending on how dull your skin is. Aside from the REN Wake Wonderful Night-time Facial, which I particularly enjoy using, I regret that I haven’t had much luck otherwise from this range.
What the REN Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic promises, is to gently exfoliate your skin, using lactic acid and willow bark extract. Lactic acid is one of the most gentle of alpha-hydroxy acids (AHA). For those who may find glycolic acid too strong for their skin, lactic acid is usually a good place to start. Willow bark extract gives us salicylic acid (beta hydroxy acid – BHA) which can help unclog pores and dry up spots. It also contains Azelaic Acid Precursor, which is supposed to prevent melanin production, that helps brighten your skin tone and address uneven skin tone and dark spots. So this really operates as an all in one “toner” lotion, to brighten skin tone and improve radiance and clarity of skin.
The REN Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic is also supposed to be gentle enough, that you can use it daily. And it comes in a generously sized 250ml bottle, at a pretty decent pricetag. On paper, I thought it was quite wonderful.
In practise however, I regret that I wasn’t quite impressed nor blown away by this acid toner. I did not find it particularly gentle, to begin with. I found that daily use would make my skin feel a little more stripped than I like. So, I eventually dialed down to use it on every alternate day instead. I now think that it might be due to the willow bark extract, for BHA can be more drying for my skin. However, if you have combination, oily or congested skin, then this would make a good all in one product, to address clogged pores while providing gentle exfoliation. By contrast, I feel that Pixi Glow Tonic, even if used daily, does not strip my skin as much. It might be to do with their ingredients, which contain some hydrating ingredients like aloe vera and glycerin, which balances it off better.
REN Skincare is one of my favourite skincare brands, and many of you know I’m into using acid toners. So, when REN released the REN Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic earlier this year, I was off like a shot to grab hold of it! My face needs me some acids!
I do think that this REN Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Lotion is a good one if you’ve never used an acid toner and are looking for one to start with, or if you have combination or oily or congested skin. I think these skin types will benefit most from using this lotion. But if you use Lotion P50 or even Pixi Glow Tonic, then I do feel like this is a step down.
Review: REN Ready Steady Glow Daily AHA Tonic - My Women Stuff