They were all the rage a few years ago, with fashionable salons offering them at high fashion prices and everyone was singing their praises. So when charcoal masks started appearing in tubes online to try at home at a fraction of the price, it’s no wonder thousands of us jumped at the opportunity.
One of the things to remember when looking at these faces masks is they have a tendency to make your skin look worse before it looks better and this can be due to the drying nature of the glue or your skin reacting to its contents. Either way, it is certainly not a product you want to use the day before you pack the Maxi Dresses that you have loving sourced from companies such as https://www.axparis.com/collections/maxi-dresses/ to head off on a summer holiday.
The supposed benefits
The people selling these products claim they’re made with skin purifying charcoal, that the charcoal mask attracts blackheads and impurities to release blocked pores. However, there is no evidence to support these claims. Charcoal is just carbon, burnt material, whether it comes from wood or toast, it is still charcoal. Applying charcoal directly to your skin might smooth it, but in these masks, the only thing your skin is coming into contact with is the glue.
This is because charcoal face masks aren’t the same product as a one-use sachet, mud or clay-based wash-off beauty treatment. They’re nothing like the peel off jelly masks either. To tell it straight, charcoal masks are made out of black powder and glue. That’s why, when they refuse to come off, they really do, refuse to come off. Youtube is full of funny videos of black masks gone wrong, with users pulling in vain and wondering how they’re going to explain this to their boss tomorrow. However, the damage to your skin can be no laughing matter.
So why does my skin feel so smooth?
Sadly, the reason skin feels smoother after a charcoal mask is because the glue has pulled off the top layer of your skin. Naturally, this can make your skin feel temporarily plump and smooth but it isn’t great for skin health and can lead to irritated pores and skin, and breakouts. For people with sensitive skin, redness and pain is also a factor and these individuals should steer clear of these glue masks at all costs.
Activated charcoal
However, if you really want to give charcoal a try, activated charcoal is the ingredient to buy. You can find this as a powder and add a tiny amount to your cream cleanser to make a wash-off mask, which sounds much more soothing.