I just love gimmicky skincare (also, watch me complain about gimmicky skincare all the time here!), I love the idea of a treatment mist, and then I do love a watery toner – as which I wanted to use AOS’ Probiotics Treatment Mist. After using it for four months, I’m wholly meh about it: find out more in my Allies of Skin Probiotics Treatment Mist review.
The brand
Allies of Skin was founded 2019 by Nicolas Travis in Singapore. 2020 he launched a more affordable sister brand called PSA.
- More: PSA Reset Cleanser
“Our mission is to disrupt the way personal care items are formulated. We do that by using highly concentrated, clinically proven ingredients that help give you the results you want in fewer steps. (…) Made with the most potent and state of the art ingredients available, my goal was to make formulas that actually work.
Allies of Skin
The result? Highly efficacious skincare products packed with actives, designed and developed fresh from the lab.”
What it is
And here’s my problem: I absolutely don’t know what this is. I mean, sure, it’s a mist that’s supposed to hydrate, soothe and brighten. But then, my Innisfree toner for 10 bucks that does as well, so where’s the USP?!!? Let’s have a look at the official description:
Allies of Skin Probiotics Treatment Mist review: Description
A godsend for thirsty skin, our Molecular Saviour Probiotics Treatment Mist is an award-winning, multi-active mist with a reparative blend of Probiotics, 5% Niacinamide, and 6 Antioxidants, like Silk Amino Acids, Zinc PCA, and Acai Berry, that leave the skin’s complexion glowing and dewy.
Allies of Skin
(…)
Every spritz delivers a potent dose of soothing actives and restorative nutrients like Silver, Silk Amino Acids, and Ergothioneine, that work throughout the day to refine the appearance of pores and counteract the effects of jetlag and fatigue.
As someone whose middle name could be fatigue, this sounds GREAT. Also, the microbiome thing is huge right now: what I understand about it is that in nurturing the healthy bacteria living on your skin, you’ll have an acidic skin, which germs don’t like, and the whole thing will help fighting infections and help our immune system. Okay then! Sounds great.
Ingredients
Aqua (Water), Polysorbate 20, Niacinamide, Propanediol, Lactobacillus Ferment, Gluconolactone, Mangifera Indica Fruit Extract, Lactobacillus Ferment Lysate Filtrate, Yogurt, Zinc Pca, Bisabolol, Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Extract, Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, Cocodimonium Hydroxypropyl Silk Amino Acids, Silver, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Callus Culture Extract, Ergothioneine, Glutathione, Glycerin, Populus Tremuloides Bark Extract, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Chrysin, N-Hydroxysuccinimide, Glutamylamidoethyl Imidazole, Xanthan Gum, Calcium Gluconate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sorbic Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Gluconate, Steareth-20, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol
Hover the mouse / tap over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.
So, we have some anti-inflammatory ingredients like Niacinamide and Zinc, some peptides for collagen production and the super-soothers, like Bisabolol, Aloe and lactobacillus ferment, the prebiotic mentioned above.
This sounds actually really nice for my reactive skin, especially in winter (it sounds heavenly for a long-haul flight, but I haven’t been on one since 2018, so yeah).
Application
You can spray it directly onto your skin, sure, but when I’m at home, I do spray two short spritzes into the palm of my hand and pat that into my skin. It’s too much waste otherwise for me. Basically, I’m treating this as a toner as my skin isn’t so dry that I need various applications during the day. Apparently, AOS uses a “special anti-evaporation molecule” for lasting hydration. The mist isn’t as fine as I’d wish it to be, but it also isn’t horrible. (You won’t feel like standing under the shower.)
Effect
“Tones and refines appearance of pores
Allies of Skin
Provides healing hydration and antioxidant protection
Soothes and brightens skin
Reduces appearance of imperfections”
I hate to say it, but the Probiotics Mist doesn’t do any of these things for my skin but giving it some hydration. Bummer, I know.
Here’s the thing though: that’s what I want from a toner. I don’t want it to do fancy stuff but hydrate and soothe my skin. My latest repeatedly bought toner from cosrx does that just fine, for a quarter of the price.
I’ve been using my usual actives throughout (i.e. Vitamin C, Retinol and Azelaic Acid), which give me the most visible results. It’s hard to see a dramatic result on skin that also reaps the benefits from those ingredients (at least for me).
Comparison
Like I said, I’ve been testing A LOT of toners since my fave one from cosrx has been discontinued. I tried various K-Beauty ones (here and here), some from Paula’s Choice (here and here), and the Brightening Toner from Good Molecules. In terms of brightening ingredients, I think it’s the most similar to the Probiotics Mist, although it’s lacking the peptides. It’s less hydrating, but even boasts some ferments.
Allies of Skin Probiotics Treatment Mist review: Worth it?
Like I said in my review of the Peptide Moisturiser: There’s no way around it – Allies of Skin is insanely expensive. But we all know that “expensive” or “affordable” means different things to each and every one of us.
Buying an AOS product only makes sense if you can replace one or more existing products from your cabinet with it. (For me, that is.)
I wanted a product that would replace my regular K-Beauty toner and Paula’s Choice’s Niacinamide Booster. But this is not it. I don’t love the texture, and astonishingly, I feel like Paula’s Choice’s 10% Niacinamide Booster works better for me than this mist. I’ve to love the feel and finish of a luxury skincare product, and I don’t love this. It’s a bit too blah for me, and also didn’t change my skin one bit for the better. (If at all, it got worse – I should really start to use PC’s Niacinamide again!)
If you’re interested, wait for one their deals to stock up (sign up for their newsletter!)
Availability & Price
66€ for 50ml on their own website. Allies of Skin is also available at Niche Beauty, Cult Beauty, Lookfantastic, Zalando and Douglas.
Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods or money for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.
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