To Our Lovely Blog readers, and customers,
We know with current world conditions of the pandemic COVID-19 a lot of us are required to stay at home, we hope that you and your family members are well! We wanted to provide you with a good read that we hope you find interesting, and beneficial to help keep your mind on better things. We love you, and we hope the best for you and your family during this crazy time period.
Sending you our warmest love and greetings!
We hope you enjoy this Blog post.
What is Activated Charcoal?
"Hhhhmmm" you maybe thinking, "aren't those crazy peel masks people are doing made from charcoal? Is it the charcoal I use to grill my delicious meats (or veggies)?"
These are good questions! My goal of this blog is to explain what Activated Charcoal is, but not only what it is, but the incredible benefits of it, and why you should consider including it in your skincare routine and bath time.
Activated Charcoal has been all over social media beauty trends, and on a ton of labels for masks, and skincare products, but what is it? Why are people going crazy over it?
Put simply Activated Charcoal is not the same as the charcoal you use to grill food, in fact the charcoal you use for the grill maybe made from the same base materials as Activated Charcoal, but since it is not "Activated" it is not safe to use on your skin because it contains toxins that are harmful to humans. Activated Charcoal is a fine black powder made from bone char, coconut shells, peat, petroleum coke, coal, and olive pits. It becomes "Activated" when it is processed at very high temperatures, which causes the internal structure to change, reducing the size of the pores, but increasing it's surface area. This results in a more porous charcoal than your average charcoal you cook with.
What does Activated Charcoal Do?
Activated Charcoal can be taken in tablet form by mouth. The Activated Charcoal attracts chemicals and toxins within the gut, so that your gut does not absorb them. The Activated Charcoal has a negative charge which attracts positively charged molecules like the toxins in your gut, and since the Activated Charcoal is not absorbed by your body you can release it with it's attached toxins right into the toilet.
A couple years ago I was sick with a horrible stomach flu and had no relief. My friend recommended Activated Charcoal tablets for me to try. AND THEY WORKED!
(SIDE NOTE: In no way am I offering any medical advice, only sharing my experience with Activated Charcoal tablets and what led me to love Activated Charcoal so much).
This caused me to do some research on Activated Charcoal, and now I keep a bottle of the tablets in my medicine cabinet at all times, and include Activated Charcoal in a lot of Our soap products because of the great benefits it also has on the skin.
So that brings us to the next question
What benefits does Activated Charcoal have on the skin?
Activated Charcoal is one of the best natural pore cleansing ingredients out there. Why should you care about your pores? Well if you want younger looking skin you should be interested in keeping your pores clean. Activated Charcoal helps minimize the appearance/size of your pores. Granted everyone is born with different pore sizes, but activated charcoal can help keep them unclogged, and help minimize them which helps with skin looking healthier and more youthful.
Pores act as a gateway for natural oils that your body produces known as Sebum. If your pores are not cleaned you risk blocking them causing infection and breakouts such as acne and blackheads. In fact if you suffer with blackheads it's more than likely because your pores are clogged. You can't get rid of pores, your body needs them, but you can minimize the appearance of them by keeping them cleaned with a good Activated Charcoal product followed up with a good non-clogging moisturizer.
What's amazing about Activated Charcoal is that it attracts heavy metals, dirt, oils, grime, chemicals, toxins, and absorbs them, but doesn't strip your skin of any nutrients or vitamins. It effectively cleanses your skin, by deeply cleansing any impurities, unclogging your pores and cleansing your skin of dead skin cells. It results in healthier more youthful skin.
Another amazing thing about Activated Charcoal is that it lacks the ability to cause skin allergies or flare ups, in fact it can even be used as a remedy for skin allergies.
YEP! THAT'S OUR REACTION TOO!
A Note about Charcoal Peel Masks
Before we continue about products that you should look into including in your daily routine it's important we make something clear. In no way are we recommending those crazy charcoal peel masks that you see all over social media. You know which ones I mean, the ones where they peel them off and result in people screaming. First off no mask, not even chemical peels from the spa should ever be that painful.
Yes we've been discussing how great Activated Charcoal is, and it's obvious that it is one of the ingredients in the Charcoal peel masks, but the masks contain other ingredients that are not safe for the skin. It's important to note that in no way am I referring to all masks that contain Activated Charcoal because there are a lot of masks out there that contain not only Activated Charcoal but other skin safe, healthy, nutrient rich ingredients. This is referring to the crazy screaming charcoal face masks that you find for close to $10. READ READ READ ingredients on the labels of products. Do the research your skin deserves.
Many people use these masks as a quick fix for their acne problems, these masks provide a quick fix, but can result in permanent issues.
These masks can cause permanently enlarged pores, scarring (no lemon juice wont help). Scarring on your face takes many years to go away, or you can get treatment done with painful lasers. It can also cause hypo-pigmentation which is lighter patches of skin compared to your overall skin tone.
If you feel you need a peel the best solution is to see a licensed esthetician or a doctor. We highly recommend that you stay away from these charcoal at home peel masks because the ingredients are not the best and will do more harm than good. Read peoples reviews and blog posts about their bad experiences with these masks.
How Can I include Activated Charcoal Into my Skincare Routine?
Use healthy Activated Charcoal products, that contain natural, nutrient rich ingredients. Avoid using those commercial Charcoal Peel masks we previously discussed. but use good masks, with good ingredients.
We have a wide selection of Natural handcrafted soaps that contain Activated Charcoal such as our
Many people enjoy our Activated Charcoal soaps, using our soaps they have seen results within the first week. Healthier skin, less acne, and cleared blackheads.
Also always make sure to follow up with a non-clogging good balanced moisturizer, and make sure you use a non-clogging sunscreen with SPF to keep your skin safe from harmful rays. Preferably use a moisturizer that contains SPF. The sunscreen you use on the rest of your body may not be the best choice to use on your face. The skin on the face is more sensitive and can clog from a thick sunscreen, so try to find a good moisturizer with SPF to follow up on your daily face wash with an Activated Charcoal based soap.
Caring for your pores with Activated Charcoal doesn't mean your pores will disappear, but they will stay clean, unclogged, resulting in a healthier youthful looking complexion, keeping your face clear of acne, and blackheads. You owe it to your skin to keep it clean and healthy.
We hope you enjoyed this blog, and if you have any questions feel free to leave any in the comments box, or direct message us on our "Contact Us" page.
If you enjoyed this article or you're curious how we make our Activated Charcoal bars take a look at our YouTube video showing how we make 2 of our top selling most highly sought after soaps.
and Our
LOVE from the SOAP ETIQUETTE FAMILY