Forest Essentials Tejal Balancing Water Review

 

Price: Rs 1975 for 200 ml

Best before: 1 year

Update: Rs 2175 for 200 ml (as of Sept 2022)

For me, toners/essences/serums are the most integral part of the skincare routine. And when I talk about toners, I DO NOT mean rose water or any other water of that sort. I mean, sure, I love a good rose water bottle, but that's more of a feel-good requirement than a skincare requirement. But a toner with an amazing ingredient list, that's something I am always on the lookout for.

According to product description, this toner gives ethereal luminosity to the skin, provides deep hydration, abundant moisture, and so on.

But at the same time, the website says, "The Tejal Balancing Water is an essence, which must not be confused with our toners.

I have never read a more confusing product description!

Anyway, the ingredient list looked very promising and seemed to have everything that a person with sensitive, dehydrated, combi-oily skin would love, so I had to try it.

It indeed is full of antioxidants, moisture-boosting, soothing, calming ingredients like Centella, Licorice, Ashwagandha, Aloe, Green tea leaf distillate, Soybean ferment, Lotus extract, Honey, Panthenol, Glycerine, Sweet potato-derived hyaluronic acid, and other great ingredients. It just seems Forest Essentials has picked all the best skincare ingredients and put them in a bottle! The consistency is not watery. It does have some viscosity and thickness to it, without any tackiness...and the texture...exactly as described...rich velvet! 

But there is a roadblock here: pure grain alcohol. The alcohol as the 6th ingredient just doesn't let me use this product as much as I would love to. Pure grain alcohol is basically ethanol or pure Ethyl Alcohol with no other additives or denaturation. On application, it evaporates quite quickly, almost leaving your skin dehydrated. And the alcohol seems to be the culprit here. I can't have more than one layer of it as this makes my skin feeling itchy and tight after a minute or so.

The company instructs to use their serum before this. Mind you, this a peak humid/peak summer skincare product, so it would have been great if it didn't require any layering with any other product. Also, the alcohol content seems to be high here as you get a whiff of it while applying. I don't know, I almost cough if I inhale too strong. I am not trying to bash this product, but the alcohol kind of ruined the party for me. At Rs. 1975, I was expecting a better product!

Would I repurchase?

I would love to, but NO, unless they replace the ethyl alcohol with a more hydrating alcohol, or do away with it! Or just, push it down the ingredient list. May be it'll work for oily skin people, but combi-dry skin won't like it much. I can only use this in peak humid, summer months (which is just a month or two), with the constant stickiness and sweat, and when there is more than enough moisture in the air! Any other season just doesn't go well with this product. So I am just waiting for a reformulation and will certainly buy if there is one.