Sunday Riley Martian Mattifying Melting Water Gel Toner

Sunday Riley are without a doubt, one of the most hyped up skincare brands on social media. I feel as if whenever I watch a skincare favourites YouTube video, or read a skincare favourites roundup blog post, it’s pretty much guaranteed that there will be at least one Sunday Riley product included.

I can’t believe I’d never even tried the Sunday Riley brand until December, and I did a Sunday Riley roundup back in January featuring the Sunday Riley Martian Mattifying Melting Water Gel Toner, the Sunday Riley Tidal Brightening Enzyme Water Cream and the Sunday Riley UFO Ultra Clarifying Face Oil. I’ve already done indepth reviews on Tidal and UFO, and today it’s the turn of the Sunday Riley Martian Mattifying Melting Water Gel Toner which is £48 for 130ml, and is available to purchase from Cult Beauty.

What is the Sunday Riley Martian Toner?

“Martian toner is formulated to target oily and blemish-prone skin concerns. Bentonite clay instantly mattifies excess oil, while visibly reducing pore size. Marshmallow and green tea soothe and cool the signs of redness and sensitive skin, for a calmer-looking complexion, while cucumber and witch hazel extracts tone and tighten.

Manuka (a stronger relative of tea tree oil), in conjunction with black cumin and magnolia bark extract, provides purifying properties to balance oily and problem skin conditions, promoting a visibly improved, clearer, smoother, shine-free complexion.

Skin is visibly cleaner, mattified, refreshed, and prepped for further skincare or color application.  FORMULATED FOR: Balanced /  Dehydrated / Oily /  Combination / Sensitive Skin.“

Products which are designed to target oil are rarely suited for dehydrated skin, but that’s why Martian really appealed to me. Even though it’s been designed to mattify and clarify the skin, it’s suitable balanced, combination, dehydrated, oily and sensitive skin. I have dry and dehydrated skin, but areas like my t-zone, chin and jawline are anything but dry, and I like to use more clarifying products as they’re my more blemish prone areas. I do tend to use very rich skincare products to try and remedy the dryness but these products can leave my skin looking very shiny and not necessarily in a good way either.

The Sunday Riley Martian appealed to me on many levels, and I loved the idea that it had a cooling gel to water toner formulation. The bottle has a pump, and the toner is a very lightweight gel cream and a light green in colour. As soon as you begin to massage the gel into the skin, it truly does turn into a watery consistency that’s easy to absorb into the skin.

It feels super cooling on the skin, and it’s so pleasurable to use on the much warmer days as it is so cooling on the skin. I don’t apply it to a cotton pad like I would with a conventional toner. Instead I pump it onto the back of my hand, and then apply to my face.

Something I don’t love about this product is the scent. It’s pretty strong and not the most pleasant, but considering it contains manuka (a stronger relative of tea tree oil), black cumin and magnolia bark extract the strong scent is to be expected.

The scent lingers for maybe ten minutes after application so if you’re scent sensitive, the scent might be a little too off putting for you but after using it for a good few months, it is a scent that grows on you and I barely notice it now.

If I notice any under the skin lumps which feel as if they could be the beginning of a blemish, this toner works wonders on calming the skin and reduces inflammation and any discomfort too. If I do have any active breakouts, it helps to minimise redness so they’re easier to conceal and I feel as if the healing process is quicker when using this toner. I have also noticed a reduction in milia too, which has been a very pleasant surprise.

A little goes a very long way too due to the watery consistency so this bottle has lasted seven months so far and whilst I can’t see how much product is left inside, I feel as if I still have maybe a couple more months left before it runs out so if it did last nine months, it means the £48 price works out at £5.33 a month which I think is pretty good value. The smell isn’t going to be for everyone, but for me the results are worth it and it’s a product I look forward to using especially in the mornings as it helps to minimise shine before applying my primer and foundation.

You can purchase the Sunday Riley Martian Mattifying Melting Water Gel Toner on the Cult Beauty website.

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