Our skin routines need to shift with the seasons — or at the very least, our moisturisers should. I've always had combination skin (dry in winter, oily in summer), but for the last two years, it's settled firmly into oily. I've been experimenting with products built for that, and Plum's Green Tea Toner is one that's stuck around.
A Brief Introduction
Plum's Green Tea Alcohol-Free Toner is solid on quality, price and actual results. It does genuinely help control acne on oily skin (not cystic acne, to be clear — that needs a different approach entirely). It's not the toner for dry skin, since it isn't hydrating or moisturising by design — but for what it's built for, it delivers.
Packaging & Consistency
Comes in a basic white-and-green recyclable plastic bottle. Worth a mention: Plum runs an "Empties4Good" programme, where you can send back empty bottles for a small credit on their site. The toner itself has a watery consistency.
Price
₹390 for 200ml (full size) · ₹149 for 50ml (travel size)Keep an eye out for regular discounts on plumgoodness.com or Nykaa.
What's In It
An alcohol-free, non-drying formula built around green tea extract (which combats acne) and glycolic acid (which gently exfoliates dead skin). It's designed to sit exactly on the line between "leaves oily skin greasy" and "strips oily skin dry" — genuinely hard to get right, and Plum mostly nails it.
Why Bother With Toner at All?
- Helps rebalance your skin's pH after cleansing.
- Adds a layer of hydration, for the moisturising type of toner.
- Supports gentle exfoliation, particularly useful for oily skin.
Availability
Online via Nykaa, Amazon, Myntra, and Plum's own site.
My Experience
I'm two full bottles deep at this point, which should tell you how much this has become part of my summer-monsoon routine — my skin runs oiliest in that stretch of the year. A quick story: monsoon season is reliably when my acne and breakouts flare up worst. I've tried swapping products around, with little success — this toner is consistently the one that calms things back down.
It's a genuine win for oily or acne-prone skin. If that's you and you're looking to rebalance your skin's oil production, it's worth trying — start with the travel size to test the waters.
The Right Way to Apply Toner
Take it in your palms and pat it into skin until fully absorbed. No need to waste cotton pads or extra product swiping it on.
My honest rating stands, and I'd repurchase this without a second thought.
Written by Ritu Singh
Makeup artist and founder of The Beauty Thesaurus. Every review here is written after real, first-hand use — no PR spin, ever.
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