“Do you smell like a barbecue now?” asked my friends when I told them about my new find: a charcoal soap. I tried rolling my eyes and ignoring them — my friends are awful — except for this nagging feeling that they were kind of right: my shower did smell more like a barbecue.

Activated charcoal — the latest detox fad has taken the world by storm. The new go-to natural beauty ingredient you can now find in handmade soaps, toothbrushes, face washes, nose strips — pretty much in everything. And I have tried them all.

So what is ‘activated’ charcoal and how is it used? To begin with, activated charcoal is manufactured specifically for use as a medicine, not for the grill. Regular charcoal is made from coal, wood, coconut shell and petroleum. Activated charcoal is made by heating wood or any other high-carbon product and then oxidising it. As the charcoal expands, it forms ‘pores’. The pores of activated charcoal absorb and trap various chemicals to its surface. ‘Activated’ charcoal also has a considerably higher content of carbon than regular charcoal.

How effective and safe is the latest detox fad and does it actually work?

Medicinally, activated charcoal is used for the treatment for various kinds of poisoning but it should be mentioned here that it’s not considered to be very effective, and should only be administered in a clinic under the guidance of a physician. Activated charcoal is also said to help cure gastric issues and constipation, but the research on that is very limited and not conclusive. You can get activated charcoal pills in some pharmacies in Pakistan, but it’s best to consult your physician before consuming them.

There are a lot of online resources that encourage you to add charcoal into ‘detox lemonade’. The amount used in such recipes is small and should result in fewer side effects, but activated charcoal doesn’t discriminate between unwanted chemicals and healthy nutrients in the digestive system. It can potentially make the food and drinks you consume less nutritious. The effectiveness of activated charcoal is limited to the gastrointestinal tract (studies are limited to situations involving poisoning) and it doesn’t actually eliminate toxins from the rest of your body. So it’s best not to fall for the hype.

Now for the other use: activated charcoal is supposedly great for skin and to whiten your teeth. I haven’t used activated charcoal (in powder form) to brush my teeth with, but I have used a factory-manufactured toothbrush that claimed it contained our magic ingredient.

And nothing happened. If there was any difference, it had more to do with the shape of the bristles that were designed to give a more thorough cleaning than any leftover ‘charcoal’ in them.

According to the description on a locally-made handmade soap (for a whopping Rs400 per bar), “Activated charcoal is an antibacterial, fights acne outbreaks, controls excess oil secretion, prevents clogged pores, and deeply purifies the skin with a flawless complexion.”

As a ‘natural’ beauty product junkie I can attest that this is one of the better products out there. Activated charcoal removes toxins, so it reduces acne and other skin impurities. After about a month of use I noticed there were no random pimples, the number of blackheads on my nose decreased and it was quite effective in cleaning away excess oil. Also, it’s an effective makeup remover.

Encouraged by that, I used factory-manufactured activated charcoal face washes and nose strips. Out of the two, the nose strips were the only thing that actually seemed to work. The face wash felt the same as any other kind. If you want to use an activated charcoal product that actually might make a difference and you don’t mind smelling like you took a dip in a giant barbecue pit, I would recommend the soap — or any other locally-manufactured handmade product.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 16th, 2016