What are the Benefits of Activated Charcoal?

If you haven't noticed, activated charcoal has gained popularity as a natural skin care benefit. But what exactly are the benefits?

1. Detox & Anti-Aging

Activated charcoal is said to remove toxins and impurities from the skin, similar to clay.  It is known to absorb up to 200 times its weight in toxins. It is antibacterial, making it great for oily and/or acne prone skin. It is also said to have anti-aging properties as well.

2. Relieve comfort from insect bites

Because of the antibacterial qualities, applied repeatedly to bug bites it can alleviate itching. 

3. Reduces Body Odor

Some natural deodorants use activated charcoal to reduce the amount of body odor that results from sweating. However, used in large doses, it can of course stain anything it touches.

At the Body Buffet we LOVE to use activated charcoal as a natural colorant and a skin benefits. Please check out our natural soaps that have activated charcoal:

Triple Butter Raspberry

Triple Butter Salt n Pepper

Tiger Stripes

Fine Wine

Bay Leaf Splendor


Marquita Bell is a self-care advocate and the owner of The Body Buffet which creates handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry soap and more. They use local ingredients when possible and have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009. Based out of Philadelphia, they aim to live healthier, more sustainable lives inside and out.

Facial Soap Bars vs. Regular Soap - 3 differences

When I first began making soap I wondered about what many people question: What are the three differences between facial soap bars and regular soap bars?

1. Facial soap usually has a lower cleansing level.
One of the many quality scores in soap making revolve around the cleansing number of the soap. Different oils produce different cleansing numbers. For example, a soap that has mostly coconut oil has a high cleansing number and will likely strip the skin of its natural oils, leaving it dry and sometimes inducing oiliness since your skin tries to over compensate for missing oil.

On the other hand, a hard oil like shea butter has a very low cleansing number. Therefore a soap made with mostly with shea butter will not strip the skin. In soap making for facial bars, you want to keep the cleansing number as low as possible. I ideally keep mine at zero. Now keep in mind, just because something is "low cleansing," doesn't mean it doesn't clean. It simply means that it strips less natural oils away.

2. Facial soap focuses on the skin properties of the face.
You're probably saying, "Well duh, hence the name Captain Obvious." But many people forget that the skin on their face is very different from their skin on their rest of their body. Facial skin has many more glands, is a lot thinner, and regenerates cells more quickly than the rest of the body. These factors make your face more oily and more sensitive to products. Hence why something that works excellently on your body, may be terrible for your face. Because of this you may be able to use a facial soap on the rest of your body, but not a body soap on your face.

3. Facial soap usually has ingredients geared toward specific skin types.
Similar to hair products, it is very rare that you find a product that truly works on all facial skin types, especially combination skin. As a result, great facial bars usually cater to specific skin types. A facial soap bar that works well for oily skin may be stripping for dry skin. Even people with similar skin types may need to try a few different facial bars to find one that works for them.  Ingredients can play a huge factor including which oils were used in the handmade soap recipe. As mentioned before, different oils have different conditioning and cleansing levels. Great facial bars take all of that into consideration.

At The Body Buffet we handcraft all of our recipes and also test them (never tested on animals!). Check out our facial bars:

 Avocado Cucumber Facial Soap

Strawberries 'n Cream Rose Clay Facial Soap

New Product: Strawberries 'n Cream Rose Clay Facial Soap Bar

Summer may be long-gone, but the chance to enjoy strawberries isn't. And why not indulge with something that won't add inches to your waist?

Our strawberries 'n cream handmade rose clay facial soap is a wonderful way to detox your facial skin while adding the nourishing benefits of coconut milk.

This handmade facial soap bar is great for oily to moderately oily skin and can be used a few times a week. Our facial soap recipes are created to avoid clogging your pores. Our facial soap includes shea butter, grapeseed oil, and rosehip oils, all non-clogging ingredients.

This all natural bar is colored naturally with the rose pink clay. It is also scented naturally with ylang ylang essential oil, which smells like flowers. Purchase this wonderful bar by clicking here.  

The Body Buffet creates handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry soap, and more for the greater Philadelphia area and beyond. 

We use local ingredients when possible and we have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009. 

The theme behind the blog plays into the "farm to table" movement which focuses on the importance of fresh, locally produced food. Why shouldn't your bath products be fresh and local too? 

We aim to live healthier, more sustainable lives inside and out. 

We aim to live healthier, more sustainable lives inside and out.