Ingredient Deep Dive: Investigating The Many Benefits of Charcoal in Skincare
Intimidated by the idea of using charcoal to treat your skin? If you answered yes, you’re going to want to keep reading. For anyone who is curious as to why charcoal is a trending cosmetic ingredient, today’s blog has all the important details.
Starting with a quick origin story, it’s worth noting that charcoal is actually a natural ingredient. It comes from the residue left behind when organic matter is heated or burned. Some common sources include different types of wood or bamboo.
But what exactly can charcoal do for your skin? Here’s what you need to know:
What are the benefits of charcoal in skincare?
When included in topical formulas, charcoal is perhaps most famous for its detoxifying and oil balancing benefits. It works to gently lift impurities like dirt, bacteria, pollution, and other debris from the skin without stripping the skin or causing irritation. It’s also been documented that activated charcoal helps with addressing pore-clogging buildup – including excess oil and dead skin cells – to prevent blackheads, and breakouts.
Lastly, one surprising, but nonetheless exciting, finding from recent studies is that charcoal may be effective for improving dull skin with its natural brightening properties.
What skin types and conditions benefit from charcoal as an ingredient?
Because charcoal is generally safe and gentle, it is appropriate for all skin types, including sensitive skin. That said, due to its ability to absorb excess oil and target congested pores, it may be an especially great ingredient for combination, oily, and acne prone skin.
How to include charcoal products in your skincare routine
Charcoal appears as an ingredient in just about all types of skin care formulas, but some of the most effective will be those that are left temporarily on the skin, like a cleanser, scrub, or mask. This ensures that once the product is washed away, any impurities and excess oil will be removed along with it.
If you are wanting to address active breakouts or oiliness in the skin, charcoal products are gentle enough for daily use. Then, once you notice that your skin feels more balanced, once per week may be sufficient to maintain your results.
Our Favorite Products Featuring Charcoal
For enjoying all the advantages of charcoal-infused skincare, one of our go-to treatments is the Bamboo Charcoal Facial Sheet Mask. In addition to cleansing and clarifying charcoal, our sheet mask essence features brightening vitamin B3, hydrating sea water, nourishing botanical extracts, and oxygen bubbles that are activated upon application to promote circulation in the skin. Because sheet masks are easy to use and require minimal cleanup, the Bamboo Charcoal Facial Sheet Mask is great to use on the go, or as part of any daily skincare ritual!
References:
Formulation and Evaluation of Activated Charcoal Peel Off Mask By Sweta V. Kulkarni, Dr. Arun K. Gupta, Shubham Bhawsar, School of Pharmacy, Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam University, Indore
https://ijccts.org/fulltext/17-1558929589.pdf
Application of Activated Charcoal from Coconut Shell Waste for the Manufacture of Skin Lightening Creams and the Mechanism of the Process By Dwi Atmantoa and Neneng Siti Silfi Ambarwatib, Department of Cosmetology, Faculty of Engineering, State University of Jakarta
