Activated charcoal seems to be a sudden hot tend in the health and beauty industry. Trend or not, let’s hope it is here to stay. Activated charcoal also known as activated carbon, is a dust like powder that is created from heating charcoal.
You see it all starts with a substance like peat, coal, petroleum, wood, or coconut shells (our favorite sustainable charcoal). The charcoal is then heated or otherwise treated to increase its absorptive power, or to put it another way, to activate it. At Très Spa we use activated charcoal from the planet friendly coconut shells.Check out our Organic Face Cleanser!
So why is it so popular?
Activated charcoal has an amazing adsorption ability. Adsorption is the adhesion of molecules to the surface. Remember the heating of the coal, what happened was the action caused .the charcoal to create gaps or “pores” of voided space. these internal spaces give the activated charcoal the ability to attract and trap chemicals. With the charcoal trapping the chemicals, they avoid getting absorbed by the body. The toxins can then be flushed out of the system. The ability to flush toxins out without 
causing a burden to the liver and kidneys is key to the internal (and even external) benefits.
Taken Orally or Ingested
Internally activated charcoal has been used for a variety of things from life saving prevention of poisoning, to relieving gas, From preventing hangovers to lowering cholesterol. It can be used to brighten the teeth and makes an excellent water filter. I have used a charcoal water filtration system in my home for years and I love it.
So what about topically?
Can activated charcoal help the skin when applied topically? Yes. It has been shown to be very helpful in relieving the skin from spider bites or other bites by creating a paste and applying it to the skin. Wait then rinse clean. You could do the same with acne outbreaks.
But to what extent is it beneficial in your daily beauty regime? Maybe not as significant as internal but still beneficial enough to consider it. The biggest drawback of topical activated charcoal is the fact that it is a mess to deal with. It will stain if you aren’t careful and it can be a mess as it coats every surface with jet black coal. This is unfortunate as you can only imagine what a wonder it would be covering us head to toe? Full on body detox mask! But I digress.
To be really effective, charcoal needs more than a split second to work its magic. So some of the treatments in our daily beauty routines work better than others. There may be some benefits to using activated charcoal in our body soap bars, but more so in our body scrubs, facial cleansers, or masks. Since these products tend to get a longer exposure time.
We are not your Doctor
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