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Have you ever used charcoal skin care products? How does it work?

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Carrie Ge

Activated carbon is a kind of charcoal which can improve its adsorption capacity after treatment. Yes, it's spelled correctly - absorbent, not to be confused with absorption. It's an electrical attraction that causes matter to stick together. So, basically, it acts like a magnet to absorb dirt, oil and other impurities. This process is very useful in medicine and helps to treat drug overdose and alcoholism. But when it comes to skin, it works much smaller (if any). There is almost no science behind the skin care efficacy of charcoal. On the bright side, charcoal is a fairly inert ingredient and is therefore unlikely to cause irritation or allergic reactions. There is obviously no harm in using it, but it may not bring many benefits.

 

Charcoal is the result of burning carbon based materials, which makes sense if you have ever been exposed to powdery soot. Although you may hear the terms "charcoal" and "activated carbon" interchangeably used in the beauty industry, activated carbon can be treated to produce a larger adsorption surface area. When treated with gas or inorganic chemicals, charcoal is forced to open and form pores (thought to be tiny sponges).

 

Activated carbon works by using a dispersive force, an intermolecular force. The dispersive force is the viscous force acting on all materials at microscopic level. Their formation is due to the temporary dipole formed by the movement of electrons. Because of the large surface area of activated carbon, it has a large space to form dispersion force with other substances. It is this viscous property that enables activated carbon to effectively remove substances when in contact with substances, and why it is known as such a good detoxifying agent. In medicine, activated carbon is used to remove toxins to treat poisoning, gastrointestinal infections and nausea. Activated carbon is commonly found in masks, cleansers, exfoliating sponges, deodorants, and hair and scalp care, but can also be used alone in bulk powder or tablet form. In addition, you may have heard of coal activated carbon, and if that's what you're looking for, a coal activated carbon factory can help you.

 

 

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Carrie Ge
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