And now for something… a little different! My Pinterest and Facebook feeds have been filled lately with skin care products using activated charcoal. When I saw Anne Marie, the Soap Queen, post a recipe for a solid black, activated charcoal facial soap, I knew I had to try it. It’s a black bar of soap! Plus, thus far, I’ve only made body soaps. I’ve been wanting to branch out into soaps geared for specific uses, especially a facial soap. This would be a great, simple starting point!
Now, you’ve probably used activated charcoal before, whether you knew it or not. It’s commonly found in air purifiers and water filters. Even my cat’s litter box has an activated charcoal filter in the top to absorb smells. Activated charcoal is known for its ability to absorb toxins. Supposedly, it can also cure blemishes and treat oily skin, while being a gentle exfoliant that can improve dry skin or even psoriasis and eczema.
This soap is also loaded with moisturizing oils, the most interesting of which is Tamanu oil. This inedible oil is pressed from the nut of the Polynesian Tamanu tree. It’s an interesting dark greenish color on its own, and it smells a lot like crushed walnut shells. I did a little bit of research about it online. Commercially, it’s primarily used in skin care products. I saw many various claims — that it’s a skin rejuvenator, that it improves acne, that it has anti-aging properties, and the list goes on. What I do know is that it’s very moisturizing. And my super dry skin can definitely use that. The rest is just a bonus!
Also exciting? I’m using a brand new mold! For this soap, I’m using the 12 bar silicone mold from Brambleberry. No cutting the soap, and the bars will all be the exact same size!
You can buy all of the ingredients for this soap (including the mold!) as a kit from Brambleberry.
