[Swanicoco Review] Swanicoco A.C Control Care Skin Toner (For Acne & Sensitive Skin)

Price: RM118.90 in Watsons Malaysia

(received from Swanicoco in exchange for an honest review)

Verdict: 9/10
Repurchase: Maybe

Product & Packaging

Swanicoco is a South Korean cosmetic company that has been around since 2005 and prides itself for it's patented raw component and nano-fermented formulations, using natural extracts in it's products. They launched in Malaysia Watson store recently and I was so lucky as to get to try some of the products prior to the launch.

In addition, they matched me with May from the Swanicoco team, who worked with my skincare issues in order to choose some products that would match my skin type better. Seeing as acne is one of my problems, she recommended the A.C. Control line, including the Toner and Emulsion. 

The A.C. Care line specializes in acne treatment and it's special formula balances out water and oil on the skin, leaving the skin fully moisturized afterwards. It is made with natural and organic ingredients. 

I have been using this for more than five months now and actually enjoy this enough to have backup ready already. ^^ The A.C. Control Care skin Toner is aimed for people with easily irritated skin, dealing with redness and spot, or teenagers first starting their skincare. 

The packaging is really good! Personally, I love these pump designs bottles since it keeps the product sanitary. The glass bottle design does tend to be a little heavy, but kind of adds to the luxury of the product, making me feel extra fancy when I'm using it. :P There's 120ml of product, which isn't much when I first looked at it, but seeing as the bottle is probably going to last me about 7-8 months with twice a day of usage, it's well worth it! 

Ingredients

Full ingredients list: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Water, Hydrolyzed Algin, Zinc Sulfate, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Glycerin, Erythritol, Azelamide Mea, 4-terpineol, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Beta-Glucan, Punica Granatum Fruit Extract, (Pomegranate), Ficus Carica Fruit (Fig) Extract, Morus Alba Fruit Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Nut Extract, Artemisia Annua Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Helichrysum Italicum Extract, Azadirachta Indica Leaf Extract, Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Allantoin, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Polysorbate 80, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Arginine, Carbomer, 1,2-Hexanediol

Cosnda has hydrolyzed algin on a  4 as possible acne trigger and irritant. It's actually one of the star ingredients in the toner as well! It's a seaweed (algae) water binding agent that can help condition and hydrate the skin. It contains rich minerals and fatty acids and according to swanicoco, is a gentle exfoliant that can remove dead skin cells and encourage skin regeneration.

Tea tree is a naturally healing ingredient that is widely used to calm troubled skin. I enjoy the smell of tea tree in my products and the inclusion of tea tree in general just calms my acne-prone skin greatly! Tea tree has antiseptic and anti-fungal properties that helps to treat blemish-prone skin. It is also able to reduce oil and sebum production. The product uses tea tree leaf water instead of purified water. 

There's nothing else jarring that shows up on cosdna, which is great. ^^ I see lots of plant extracts which can act as anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic ingredients, such as helichrysum italicum extract and scutellaria root extract. Sodium hyaluronate is added as a humectant and is hydrating for the skin. 

Swanicoco A.C. Control Care Skintoner & Emulsion Clinical Tests

Image Credit: Swanicoco

Swanicoco did some tests to study the product's effectiveness and found that 50-68% of the subjects (it doens't say out of how many subjects. :( ) answered that it effectively decreased new acne production, sebum control, and decrease greasy skin. In addition, tests found that the skin condition for subjects did not worsen after using the product (which is good, I suppose? XD ) while sebum control improved by 23%. I really like how they mention sebum control, cause that's the biggest difference from using the product that I've seen! 

Performance

As I mentioned, I've been using this for more than five months and honestly, I'm a fan! It smells wonderfully of tea tree and soaks into my skin without leaving a sticky residue. It is very watery, sliding off my skin and dripping a little in my palm if I use too much. I use about 1 - 2 pumps for my face, rubbing it between my palms and then pat-pat-ing on my face afterwards. Even my generous use of the product is allowing me plenty of use for the bottle! I predict about 1-2 more months before I run out, which means this bottle can last for about 7-8 months, which is really pretty amazing!

The toner doesn't evaporate on my skin either, leaving a sort of protective layer that's just the right amount of moisturizing without being sticky, as some toners kind of does. This Swanicoco Toner is one of the few products that has remained on my routine even through breakouts and painful pimples. This doesn't sting my skin, even when I'm breaking out actively. T.T

As I mentioned, the product does great at sebum control and also helps keep my skin hydrated without causing additional breakouts. On the other hand, I will have to admit that through no fault of this, my skin condition has worsened. It's a combination of stress and lack of sleep that's causing more breakouts on my cheeks and while this doesn't worsen my skin, it doesn't really help in the healing process either. Still looking for something to help with that, but in the meantime, I'm grateful for the toner nevertheless. ^^

I've actually gotten a backup bottle of this already, thanks to the Althea Trouble Breaker Box. That box was a great value and I hope they'd return, but Althea boxes are sold out once they're gone and are never replenished (sobs).

I'm reluctant to give it a HG status, if only because of the hefty price tag on the 120ml bottle. It's a whooping RM118.90 in Watsons Malaysia, available online and in select Watson stores. However, this is a case of, it's not Swanicoco, it's my broke-ass self, so I can't really blame it. ^^ I will be keeping my eye out on deals though, since Watson does pretty good deals occasionally and will likely restock then! Hehe. 

Price: RM118.90 in Watsons Malaysia

(received from Swanicoco in exchange for an honest review)

Verdict: 9/10
Repurchase: Maybe

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