What do facial toners and astringents do?

What are facial toners and astringents, and what do they do?  Are they necessary?  Confused?  Use them because you think you should, but don't really know why?  Here's the scoop on this confusing issue.

Toners & Astringents are the same thing with different names.  If you ask me, both are simply an extension of the cleansing process.  If you are seeing residue on your cotton ball after applying toner or astringent the message to you should not be: "Oh good, had I not used astringent or toner this would still be on my skin."  Instead the message should be this, "You didn't cleanse your face very well."  After a thorough cleansing of your face there should not be any make-up, oil, or residue of any sort left on your face.  So in my opinion you do not need a toner or an astringent you simply need to get better at washing your face.  

What about the toners and astringents "closing down the pores".  We've all heard this right?  News flash you can achieve this with a cool water rinse.  It's not the ingredients in the product that are closing down the pores it's the temperature of the product, usually room temperature. 

 At Beautiful Radiant Skin (BRS) we do not sell or use them, instead the second step in our daily regimen is a Skin Softener.  What's the difference?  A Skin Softener is going to open the pores of your skin so the following products can penetrate to do what they are intended to do.  Remember your skin is like a sponge, it will absorb product better if it's damp when product is applied.  Skin Softener will aid in this process.