REVIEW: Plum Green Tea Alcohol-Free Toner

Continuing with the toner review series, today, I'm diving deep into Plum's Green Tea Alcohol-Free Toner.

Erm, alcohol-free?
It is interesting how Plum, a fairly new brand (estd. 2013), inspired by global best practices in safe, natural cosmetics and beauty solutions, has to expressly state the words 'alcohol-free' in the name of its toner. For one, this (in no uncertain terms) bids goodbye to the horrible alcohol-filled toners of the yore, but also subtly educates the Indian consumer that you don't need alcohol in your toner anymore as cleansers today are far more sophisticated and thus, don't need an alcohol swab to get rid of the remnants of the cleanser.

Now that we have established how toners can very well do without alcohol, let's get to know this one well.

Why I purchased it
After my meh experience with the Sidmool toner reviewed here, I needed a new cleansing toner in my routine. And I wanted it to be an inexpensive one, especially because it's not going to be a leave-on product. I had heard about Plum from its PR machinery so I scanned their website to check for toners; this glycolic acid and green tea toner seemed to suit my requirement.

Ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, FDA Approved Colours, Fragrance Glycerin, Glycolic acid, Phenoxyethanol

Star ingredients
Since this isn't technically an exfoliating toner, I'm doing away with the usual 'how much acid is in it' part of the review. Instead, I'd like to focus on the star ingredients: glycolic acid and green tea leaf extract.

Glycolic acid: A recent favourite ingredient of mine, glycolic acid, apart from exfoliating dead skin cells, helps to reduce the appearance of clogged pores (a major concern of mine), reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and fade hyperpigmentation from sun damage or acne. Glycolic acid is a great-to-have ingredient in skincare routines if you suffer from any of the above-listed concerns. This toner, I'm assuming, contains a very small percentage of glycolic acid given that it shows up way down the inci list. It's actually second-last, right before the preservative, phenoxyethanol.
Green tea:
I only know green tea as an antioxidant for both the inside and outside of your body, but the Plum website explains it well. They say: A great natural astringent (tightens pores), green tea is also anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and provides the skin with nourishing anti-oxidants to decrease the signs of aging. Need I say more? Astringent toner lovers, if you love to "feel" the toner on your skin, the green tea in this toner will take care of that for you.

Packaging and user experience
The toner comes in a no-frills plastic bottle, with a press-down lid. I didn't imagine this would cause problems while travelling but it did. I lost 70% of the product as it leaked through the press-down lid. So, that's a big con I have regarding this product. I hope the brand takes this into account.

The toner has a very slight herbal smell, which for some reason reminds me of men's shaving cream. I can't decide if that's pleasant or not.
I use the toner poured onto a cotton pad and then swiped across the face,  neck and even hands, cuz it's inexpensive and I can afford to use it all up, sans the guilt.
Now, for the results. The toner cleans up every little particle of grime off the face, even after using a cleanser. And I take my cleansing very seriously, spending up to a minute massaging and then washing/wiping off till the cows come home, so that's saying a lot about this product's efficacy.

Price and where to buy
The toner is priced at 380 INR, which is pretty good for such an effective product. I bought mine from plumgoodness.com, where shipping is free for orders above 300 INR, and you earn points with each purchase. The product was delivered to me in two days. You can also buy the toner from nykaa.com, but I prefer free shipping and bagging reward points.

Worth the hype?
Plum's Green Tea Alcohol-Free Toner is (fairly) worth the hype. Apart from the healthy standpoint that the brand has (which other brand in India says no to fairness creams and plastic microbeads in scrubs?), the products definitely seem promising.  Now, if they'd only fix the lid on the bottle, they would have a perfect product on their hands.