All I hear about in the beauty biz is the hype about charcoal. We have the charcoal masks and pills and I even came across charcoal lemonade this weekend. So what's the deal with charcoal? I wanted to see what the fuss was about. The thought of ingesting charcoal seemed so gross and the idea of putting on my face seemed like a big mess! Here is what I've found!
My investigating:
The benefits of charcoal are actually quite amazing! It has been mostly used in hospitals for alcohol poisoning and other poisoning. It essentially is a filtration system for whatever it is applied to. Chemicals attach to it and pull the toxins from your body. It's all natural and detoxifies and reenergizes skin, hair and your gut.
How it's being used for beauty:
So I made the mistake of going to charcoal full force without doing the full research. And I made Erik do it too! LOL! He had no clue I was doing it wrong! I'm dying now laughing but it was a mess!! I literally put a tsp of Activated Charcoal in water and slapped it all over our faces. Yep! We looked like chimney sweeps! So note....that is the wrong way!!!! The whole point of charcoal applied to skin is that it grabs all the impurities, oil and all the gunk that sits on the skin and lives in your pores. It doesn't leave any residue of itself behind so your skin is left squeaky clean. It helps oily skin and shrinks pores because they aren't holding a bunch of junk in them. If you use an exfoliator before you even get deeper clean out! Make note though, you aren't supposed to use charcoal daily! Once a week is fine!
How I was supposed to use it:
1/2 tsp of Activated Charcoal
1/2 tsp Bentonite Clay ( this is the step I missed. The Bentonite helps give potion an extra punch and also helps bind the mask together.
1 1/2 tsp water
Mix in a little mixing bowl and apply to face. Wait 7-10 minutes. Wash off your face and pat dry. Let skin breathe for a bit then apply your regular moisturizer. Say good by to black heads!
