This month's blog challenge was to review a product. After using "research" as an excuse to browse Pinterest for half a day, my bestie and I decided to give activated charcoal a try. But which project? There were so many to choose. You know what that means...yup, another half a day doing "research" on Pinterest...an addict will use any excuse! We decided to try the teeth whitening and the black head pill, both used with activated charcoal. You can read all about Hannah's experience here.
I began with the tooth whitening process. For this, you mix 2 tbs melted coconut oil, 1 tbs baking soda, and 5 capsules activated charcoal. Mix very well. Using an old toothbrush, wet, then dip into teeth whitening mix. Proceed to brush your teeth. It will look odd, as your teeth and gums, and lips will be very black! Brush your teeth for 2-3 minutes, then rinse very, very well. My experience: My gums did burn a little during the process. I did not see a huge difference in the shade, but they did feel extra clean and extra smooth. I will continue using and see if I see an improvement after a few tries. Here are some pictures via slide show to show how it all went down.
I began with the tooth whitening process. For this, you mix 2 tbs melted coconut oil, 1 tbs baking soda, and 5 capsules activated charcoal. Mix very well. Using an old toothbrush, wet, then dip into teeth whitening mix. Proceed to brush your teeth. It will look odd, as your teeth and gums, and lips will be very black! Brush your teeth for 2-3 minutes, then rinse very, very well. My experience: My gums did burn a little during the process. I did not see a huge difference in the shade, but they did feel extra clean and extra smooth. I will continue using and see if I see an improvement after a few tries. Here are some pictures via slide show to show how it all went down.
The next experiment was the blackhead face peel. For this one, you mix 1 activated charcoal pill, 1 tsp witch hazel, 1 tsp unflavored gelatin, and warm water. I made the mistake of not measuring and not thoroughly mixing, giving me a clumpy mask instead of a smooth one. Don't do this please.
Here are my before pictures:
Here are my before pictures:
As you can tell in these disgusting, embarrassing photos, I have a bit of a skin problem. I had quite a few black heads and was more than anxious to get rid of them. The next few photos are of the mask being applied. Again, you can see where there are clumps from me not mixing it well or quickly. I highly, highly suggest mixing it as soon as it's all combined, and mixing it thoroughly and quickly.
In the first photo, I am trying be cute (kind of hard with black gook on your face!) The second photo is me trying to peel the mask off. First off, I'll be honest...IT REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HURT!!!!!!! It was very painful, and the fact that I didn't mix it well made it worse. It did not peel at all...I started freaking out wondering how the hooey I was going to get this stuff off my face (really didn't want to try and explain it to people in the emergency room), when it hit me...maybe a loofah would work! I grabbed the oldest loofah we had and practically tore it apart. I then scrubbed, literally, my face until I was able to get everything off. My face was bright red and I was certain I got all the blackheads, along with all my skin, off of my face. I was disappointed. While it did get some off, it didn't get the vast majority...it was a lot of pain for very little result. Here are my after photos.
In short, activated charcoal and I just didn't see eye to eye and are breaking up. We simply did not get along. Let me know if you try any of these experiments and how it turns out for you! Also, my bestie, Hannah Ashley, did the exact same experiment! Check hers out to see how it all worked for her!