About a month ago, I landed back in the United States after studying abroad in Florence for a semester. Even though the experience was great, I arrived back with a face looking like a brittle biscuit of acne. Why is that, you ask? Europe was certainly beautiful but my apartment water was not. The chlorine-inhabited water in my Italian apartment dried out my skin, leaving my face looking like a brittle biscuit of acne. I tried many different facial scrubs in hopes of my skin clearing up, but none worked as quickly as I wanted them to. I desperately researched ways to help my skin and one of the most popular solutions was charcoal.
It’s crazy to think there are other uses for charcoal other than to roast a steak. The popular health trend of activated charcoal has made its appearance on beauty market shelves over the past couple years. I bought my first bottle of Beauty 360 Deep Cleansing Charcoal Facial Cleanser for $6 at my local CVS. The scrub felt like I was applying Icy Hot to my face, but after washing, my skin felt more tingly than Pop Rocks, and fresher than mint flavored gum. Activated charcoal is a mineral that is used to absorb toxins and oils, which made this substance a blessing to my skin. I saw changes in my face almost the next day.
My addiction to charcoal didn’t stop there. I went to the beauty section of Walmart to pick up a box of Bioré Charcoal Bar soap for $6, and a bottle of Freeman Polishing Charcoal and Black Sugar Gel Mask and Scrub for $4.
The texture of the gel mask made it feel like I was pasting pure wet sugar onto my face. The sugar did benefit as a scrub, making my skin feel smooth after washing. Being so used to clay masks, this gel and scrub mask was a new experience for me. I was not swayed too much into liking the charcoal gel mask. The benefit was that the scrub made my skin feel polished and smell fresh. My sister was kind enough to try the gel mask with me.
The Bioré Charcoal bar soap smelled like mint as soon as I took it out of the box, which was a relief because I didn’t know if it was going to make me smell like black soot. Using the soap made me feel like a cool, mint leaf even after a hot shower. I might as well have been drinking a frappuccino because my skin experienced a cooling sensation after showering, like ice being sprinkled on my skin. I never felt so clean.
After using these charcoal associated products, I highly recommend them to anyone who is looking for a new way to have clearer and healthier skin!
Know any other ideal charcoal infused skin products? List them in the comments below!
