How Weird Does Charcoal on Skin Sound?
Briogeo founder, Nancy Twine always has been a problem solver. She conducted researches on scalp issues, which majorly are caused by debris buildup that can clog many hair follicles. She aimed at finding a strong ingredient that could eliminate that buildup, along with those flakiness, irritation, and itchiness that come with it. She discovered that binchotan charcoal had unique properties that can eradicate this buildup without any harsh ingredients.
Twine (who has advanced charcoal into Briogeo’s well known and growing scalp resuscitating line) claimed it was important for her to create hair care products with mild, effective, gentle, and detoxifying ingredients in place of their harsh counterpart (such as sulfates), which can expose the hair and scalp of natural oils and hydration.
Styling products, natural, sweat, and sebum can accumulate on the scalp and hair for a long time leading to limp hair, scalp itchiness, clogged hair follicles, and irritation, and even alopecia (hair loss). Charcoal helps to soak up deep-rooted infirmities beyond what a well-respected shampoo can cleanse away. It is good for your scalp because it aims impurities at the tip of the hair that can put a blockage to the hair follicle and cause scalp problems.
Activated charcoal is a highly smooth, light black powder prepared from coconut bone char, shells, coal, petroleum coke, peat, olive pits, or sawdust. The charcoal is “activated” by processing it at a very high temperature that alters its internal pattern, reducing the pore sizes, and increasing its surface area. This yields more porous charcoal than the common and regular charcoal. It has a negative (-) charge, meaning when included in a product, it attracts positively (+) charged molecules, such as toxins or dirt.
Because of its high porous and purifying properties, activated charcoal is often seen in a wide range of health, cosmetic, and beauty products, from toothpaste to face masks. Parents are even encouraged by The National Poison Control Center to keep the charcoal powder in the home to help combat the absorption of accidental toxin intake by children. So you could see that the performance of charcoal is indeed active and real!
Over some past years, it has become one of the most-wanted ingredients in hair care products, with such brands as Dove, SheaMoisture, Kenra, and Huetiful, all launching several charcoal hair care products.
“We noticed that charcoal was a trend in skincare industries to pull out toxins and purifies,” says a marketing manager at Inspired Beauty Brands, which recently launched their Citrus Oil & Hask Charcoal collection. Haircare brands then thought how they could bring such an amazing ingredient into hair care to offer the same benefits as it does in skincare.”
Here are some few top reasons for its pronounced onymous:
In some regions of the world, where dust and heat mix with sweat to weigh down one’s hair, we always crave additional care. Charcoal is so helpful that it has become a primary ingredient in many shampoos, separating them from other ingredients to provide sound hair care. Below, I have listed many of the main hair care importance of charcoal.
01. Suitable for All Hair Textures
Most charcoal treatments or shampoos can be used on several hair types with different texture without messing with color or drying out strands. For the desired beautiful hair textures, you might get to find out that beginning to use charcoal shampoo for at least twice in a week and continued in the succeeding weeks might be all you need, depending on your type of hair and the number of styling products you use. Giving your scalp and hair a regular detoxifying cleanse may prevent accumulation and the need for too often shampooing.
02. Gets Rid of Itchiness and Dandruff
The process involved in turning charcoal into an activated type makes its particles highly porous as it is oxidized on exposure to carbon dioxide. This is why it is very capable of absorbing more and more toxins. If you are the type with an oily scalp with flaky dandruff, activated charcoal’s absorption feature will help soak all those excess oils, thus getting rid of dandruff on your hair.
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It Helps Other Products to Work Better
Removing caked contents from the hair aids for better absorption of essential nutrients among hair treatments and enhances the entire glowing health of your hair.
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Adds Volume
Who does not crave to have bouncy hair like that of those TV stars? Using activated charcoal on your hair can revive the dull, thin hair, lifeless, and give it that bounce and much volume it needs! As it cleanses your hair from impurities, your hair doesn’t feel weighed down any longer. You will now notice a yet healthy look on your hair immediately after the first use of activated charcoal in your hair. If you carry around enough oil and dirt, your hair will begin to sag, and frequent shampooing may not be getting them all out. Our hair can gain about 4 % of its weight in accumulation from scalp dirt, dry shampoo, and pollution. Regular shampoos only remove surface dirt, but activated charcoal pulls out even more.
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Soothes Your Scalp
Charcoal soothes irritated, itchy, and flaky scalps and moisturizes the scalp to prevent dryness. You cannot just forget to treat your scalp with just as much vital specific beauty routines as you do your skin.
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Promotes Hair Growth
Your scalp is skin also, which means just like the skin on your body and face, the scalp absorbs oil, dirt and has too much sebum, which may hamper the quality of your hair and affect its growth. Activated charcoal helps wipe out all impurities, remove sebum, and cleanses the pores deeply to allow your pretty hair to breathe. It unclogs all pores in your scalp and detoxifies the follicles. This helps your hair grow well.
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A Powerful Detoxifier
Activated charcoal is well known to behave like a magnet that attracts and removes dirt from our scalp and hair. This activated charcoal may absorb about 1000 times its weight in dirt/impurities. It is also very good post-swimming to get rid of all/any chlorine that is stocked with your hair’s natural texture and color.
An activated charcoal-inclusive shampoo product should gently detoxify your skin by capturing dirt and toxins, and oil, which would later be washed off. And because it is mild, it won’t disturb the natural moisture levels of your hair. This means that your hair will be clear, pure, healthy, and have some natural shine on it.
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Cleanses Off Your Skin from Dead Cells
Because of the “spongy” and binding properties of activated charcoal, it is very easy for it clear skin and hair dirt, skin oil, impurities, dead cells, and boosts your appearance into a clear and glowing one.
If you include activated charcoal in the composition of a cleanser, you will notice how brightened, and amazing your skin will become.
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Brightens Up the Skin
Our skin cells regenerate every twenty (21) days. This means that the old cells die and possibly shed off the skin surface. However, dirt, skin oil, and several environmental factors could slow down this process, hence causing dead skin cells to accumulate on top of the surface. This often leads to many issues, including dullness and skin tone.
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Coordinates Skin Oil Production
Charcoal attracts unwanted excessive oil from our skin without causing any damage and dryness on the skin surface. Keep in your sub-consciousness that activated charcoal in skin treatment is recommendable for people with oily skin; this is because of charcoal’s high potential to soak up oils. Should you have dry and very sensitive skin, you may consider other charcoal-inclusive skincare products.
How Can We Use Activated Charcoal in Our Hair?
There are more than a hundred ways of supplementing activated charcoal in our hair care routine (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.). The easiest method is to mix two tablespoons of activated charcoal smooth grounds alongside some coconut oil and massage it upon our scalp. Leave it on the scalp for up to 20 minutes before washing it off.
You may also add a few quantities of activated charcoal in our shampoo jars and shake well. Ensure your shampoo is a mild one.
Always endeavor to wash off the charcoal from your hair after some period to avoid too deep penetration into your skin.
