Black magic beauty: activated charcoal is the hot ingredient right now

When January comes around, detox might possibly be the most used – and abused – word in every water cooler chat and every get together with friends to greet the new year. Everyone starts dieting, everyone starts new exercise routines, everyone tries to change their lifestyle for the better. Even if January is almost over, getting rid of toxins and impurities and purifying our body are still top priorities. This is why we started our quest, searching for the right ingredient to add to our beauty routine. We didn’t have to search so long, since the must-have element right now has exactly that purifying property: the active ingredient we are talking about is activated charcoal, excellent for eliminating traces of pollution and makeup from your skin.

Activated charcoal wasn’t born yesterday: largely used in the medical field, it used to be a treatment for alcohol poisoning in the past, as well as some types of drug overdoses, thanks to its ability to bind with toxic substances in the stomach, preventing their absorption into the bloodstream. Activated charcoal works similarly in the field of beauty: it binds with impurities, and once it gets washed off, it removes these along with it, leaving the treated surface pure and clean. Active charcoal is present in several types of products, from soap to toothpaste, and even in some fruit juices – in which activated carbon finds its original purpose once again!

Masks are the best way to take advantage of activated charcoal’s purifying properties. This ingredient has to be in direct contact with your skin to work, so the longer you keep the mask on your face, the more effective it will be. It’s the perfect treatment for those who live in a big city, and are therefore exposed to large amounts of pollution. Make sure you don’t treat your face with charcoal more often than two times a week, though, as you might end up dehydrating your skin, actually, if you overdo it. Masks that contain the beauty version of this kind of black magic are also perfect to treat rashes and break-outs that are due to skin impurities. If that is what you want to do, instead of applying the product to your whole face, just go for a targeted evening treatment, before you go to bed. You won’t believe what you see when you wake up: your skin will have visibly improved, with only one application of the product!

If skincare is not your thing, be aware that charcoal is also totally part of the coming spring summer’s makeup trends: everything is smokey! Cream eyeshadows and extra-soft kohl pencils are perfect to get smokey, and the look is super easy to copy, too: say goodbye to your brushes, you shall smudge with your fingers only. You can choose black for an intense, dark version, or go for countless shades of grey – it’s so hard to write this without falling straight into a cliché nowadays, but you know what I mean, right? Anyway, here are a few ideas for your inspiration!