If you have oily skin or acne-prone skin, a charcoal mask is a must-have in your skincare routine. They’re super-effective at ensuring that skin looks and feels less oily, plus they’re effective at reducing the look of pores. Here’s everything you need to know about using a charcoal peel-off mask!

What is a Charcoal Mask?

What is charcoal, anyway? It’s the pure carbon left behind after burning wood. The charcoal in skincare isn’t any old burnt wood, though - it’s specially created to ensure there are no external contaminants in the charcoal. A charcoal face mask uses activated charcoal - it’s super absorbent and super effective at grabbing any impurities in the skin.

Like clay, charcoal can absorb both oil-based and water-based impurities. A charcoal mask (peel or clay, it doesn’t matter) gives skin an incredibly deep clean, grabbing everything from acne-causing bacteria to pollution particles that might be hiding in your pores.

These types of masks come in two different forms - you can get a charcoal peel-off mask or a clay mask with charcoal. Which one you go for depends on your skin type! If your skin is on the sensitive side, you might prefer a clay-based charcoal mask to wash off rather than peeling it off of your skin.

Benefits of Using a Charcoal Face Mask

Oily skin and breakout-prone skin benefit the most from using a charcoal mask. Charcoal is excellent at calming down existing breakouts and preventing more from happening. How? It absorbs all the acne-causing bacteria on the skin, eliminating a major source of breakouts.

Charcoal is also a fantastic way to reduce the appearance of pores - pores can look larger than they really are due to excess sebum and dead skin cells hanging around. A charcoal mask (peel or otherwise) can grab every last speck of sebum-based debris for clearer, smaller-looking pores.

At Beauty Affairs, we’ve got deep-cleansing charcoal masks from all your favourite brands - shop now! Afterpay is available.