Skincare brands have been using charcoal's reputation as an absorbent substance to sell a range of charcoal-containing facial cleansers and masks.
What are the common uses of activated carbon? What's so bad about using more activated carbon? Activated carbon adsorption capacity test? What are the activated carbon detection methods?
The science behind activated charcoal
As someone who has been looking for inexpensive ways to solve your beauty problems, I've read a lot about the many ways activated charcoal should benefit you. Here's a summary of what I've learned, from scientific facts to research-backed theories, and a longer list of possible possibilities:
Many skincare products, juice bars, and healthy brands advocating activated charcoal can be speculated:
- Whiten teeth
- Prevent hangovers
- Promotes healthy digestion and relieves gas and bloating
- Control body odor
- Treatment of acne
- Relieves itching and pain caused by insects, snake bites, and poison ivy or oak trees
- Prevents cell damage to the liver and kidneys – and prevents premature aging
- Lowers cholesterol
It definitely doesn't help you lose weight or provide nutritional value – it actually absorbs other valuable things. Drinking plenty of water and eating more fiber helps the body detoxify better.
So, at the end of the day, almost all home therapy claims about activated charcoal are not supported by scientific evidence. There have been earlier studies on the benefits of reducing gas and bloating, but even this is not clear evidence. However, some people still strongly support the proposal for activated charcoal.
So, as an editor of health information, I decided to test three of the most popular claims for myself – with some scientific evidence:
- Acne treatment
- Teeth whitening
- Hangover treatment
Does activated charcoal control oil and bacteria on the skin?
Skincare brands have been using charcoal's reputation as an absorbent substance to sell a range of charcoal-containing facial cleansers and masks. So far, there have been no studies testing charcoal's ability to absorb facial oils. However, two studies from trusted sources found some evidence that activated charcoal and clay masks have antibacterial effects. Maybe they can kill the bacteria that cause acne?
Science-based beauty blog Lab Muffin speculates that using charcoal on the skin has the same effect as using a clay mask — if you keep it for hours.
So, as a "control", I used a bentonite mask on my nose, which is the oiliest part of my face. I leave the mask on my face for about 20 minutes and then wash it off. After a few days, I mixed bentonite powder with charcoal and water.
The biggest difference I noticed was that the clay mask mixed with charcoal made my face less itchy compared to when I used clay alone.
My skin does feel good and smooth after the charcoal mud mask, but the effect is not particularly long-lasting. But I've never heard of a mask that can cure all skin problems after one use.
Will I do it again? Charcoal seems like a nice addition to clay masks if only to make them less itchy. It may be better at controlling bacteria than oil.
What do two weeks of activated charcoal do for your teeth?
Here's how a regular non-whitening toothpaste works: it removes stains from your teeth by rubbing. There is some scientific evidence that activated charcoal may be an effective tooth whitener because activated charcoal is more abrasive than toothpaste. This means that it can potentially whiten teeth, but it can also damage tooth enamel.
To test the effectiveness of activated charcoal — and also to avoid hurting my enamel by rubbing it directly on my teeth — I mixed it with coconut oil and pulled it with the oil. Extracting oil involves holding coconut oil in your mouth and then learning from trusted sources to find that it can help reduce gingivitis and plaque.
For two weeks, I broke a capsule of charcoal powder and mixed it with coconut oil, pulling the oil for two minutes in the morning. After spitting out the mixture, I brush my teeth with a toothbrush non-electric toothbrush and ordinary non-whitening toothpaste.
No one tells you that charcoal powder is super messy
It's all over my sink, my hands, and my face. This is much more than using a standard toothbrush and toothpaste. I would spit charcoal oil into the sink and then melt the coconut oil with hot water to try to clean the sink properly (I found at the end of the experiment that this was really bad for your drain – so don't do it).
I took pictures every day when I did this experiment, and while I don't think the photos have improved much, I feel like my teeth look whiter. But that may just be the placebo effect – after a bite of black teeth, any number of white teeth will look white.
Will I do it again? No, I'm happy to go back to regular old toothpaste and toothbrush because it's much simpler. If you want to try it, there's already toothpaste with charcoal in it.
Can activated charcoal treat hangovers?
A lot of people have theories about the perfect way to prevent hangovers (except not drinking). Since charcoal can absorb some of the poison in the stomach, one wonders if it can prevent you from getting drunk or having a hangover.
A credible source in animal studies suggests that consuming charcoal while drinking alcohol prevents elevated alcohol levels in the blood. Some websites, forums, and magazines recommend the use of charcoal because it absorbs the sulfates in wine or the sugar in cocktail blenders. But not much research supports this. Charcoal is used for specific poisons, not alcohol. The stomach absorbs alcohol too quickly.
But I decided to give it a try anyway. There is no official guideline on when to take activated charcoal, but I decided to take the pill after taking it instead of before taking it because I had to test the potential for treating hangovers.