If you haven’t tried a charcoal mask you, what are you waiting for?! I feel like this is THE mask to get you into masking on a weekly basis. Remember this post about the 8 products every skincare routine needs? A weekly mask is on there! Charcoal face masks are great because they’re kind of fun to do. They’re a fun charcoal color, lots of them have a fun clay consistency and well they help clear up your skin! There’s also some cool peel off masks that seem fun! I’ve tried several and wanted to share my reviews on some of my favorites.
If you have DRY skin, I honestly wouldn’t recommend a charcoal mask. I would instead, recommend a restorative mask that helps in hydration (this is a great one from my friends at Cosmedix) and maybe adding in one of these hydrating oils. The only time I’d recommend this if you have dry skin is to help remove dead skin since it’s exfoliating and then follow up with a SUPER intense hydrating moisturizer and oil.
Charcoal masks are more ideal for those of you with oily and congested skin. That is me, to a T. As in, my T zone is a BOLD T of oil.
My Charcoal Mask Review
What’s The Benefit Of Charcoal For Your Skin?
I think first and foremost we should chat about charcoal itself. It’s definitely a popular ingredient that we’re seeing more and more. And no, this isn’t the charcoal you use to cook with! It’s activated charcoal, like the kind that you may drink in a charcoal lemonade, or an activated charcoal pill after a night of drinking. Here’s why it’s so popular.
Draws Out Dirt & Toxins
Activated charcoal attracts to dirt and oils and toxins. Therefore making it an ideal ingredient in skin care to help remove all of that gunk from your skin and help to unclog pores. Also great to pull out toxins from your body after a night of drinking in pill form, but maybe that’s for another post.
TIP: To make it easier for your masks to pull out dirt and blackheads, you want to always cleanse your face before a mask. If you put a mask on skin that hasn’t been cleaned and pores haven’t been warmed up, ain’t nothing gonna come out! Do a 2 minute cleanse to get things moving, dry your face, then put on a mask. You’ll see MUCH better results this way.
Great Exfoliator
A lot of charcoal cleansers or masks are more gritty in texture when they’re a charcoal powder. The Dermalogica scrub is like this and is a great weekly exfoliator to use. When there is charcoal powder in a scrub or mask, it becomes a really amazing exfoliator in addition to pulling out dirt and oil.
The Charcoal Masks & Scrubs I Like
Cosmedix Detox Mask
The Cosmedix Detox Mask was the first charcoal mask I ever tried. Shocker, you all know I love Cosmedix. It’s super gentle which is great since charcoal can actually be a tad harsh. It helps to draw out excess oil, dirt
My Take // I personally love this mask the best out of the ones in today’s post. I found it TRULY pulled out my blackheads the most.
Shop Cosmedix Detox Mask – $54
Beautycounter No. 3 Balancing Facial Mask
I love this mask because when you do it and it starts to dry, you see the oil pull out of your pores. I love a good visual, you feel me? Like those Biore pore strips?
My Take // I love this one because it didn’t make me feel dry
Shop the Beautycounter No. 3 Balancing Facial Mask – $49
Dermalogica Daily Superfoliant Charcoal Scrub
Although this Dermalogica Superfoliant isn’t a mask, I did want to add it in here. I personally love it. It’s a great exfoliator and somehow leaves your skin feeling so so silky and reveals beautiful skin. I add a tbsp or so in my hand while in the shower and add in a few drops of water and work it into a paste. Then I exfoliate my face with it and rinse. This is the ONLY one listed here that can be used daily since it’s NOT a mask and instead, a daily scrub. I would still work my way up to daily use if you are looking to use this daily.
Shop the Dermalogica Superofliant – $59
Biore Charcoal Whipped Detox Mask
In an effort to offer options in varying price points, I headed to Target to check out the charcoal mask selection. I was hoping to find a peel off mask option, but couldn’t find one. It just sounds fun, right? But I did find Biore’s charcoal whipped detox mask. I tried it and liked it. It had a tingly cool effect while it worked and helped to clean out some pores while also exfoliating since it has salicylic acid in it. For under $7, it’s a great option for something inexpensive.
However, I am a firm believer that skincare is worth the money and shouldn’t be cheap. So although I liked it just fine, I’d still choose my Cosmedix one out of all of these for sure!
Shop the Biore Charcoal Whipped Detox Mask – $6.49
For more skincare posts, check out all the things you need to know about face oils and also my take on what clean beauty really means.
Photos by Hannah Michelle
