Beautycounter Charcoal Bar Review

Beautycounter has been discontinued! Read about what happened to Beautycounter (and when it might come back) here. In the meantime, I love Primally Pure’s charcoal bar just as much as the Beautycounter one. You can snag that here. I have lots of great recommendations for Beautycounter product swaps linked in this post. Also, be sure to join my email list so you can be the first to know when your Beautycounter favorites come back.

If you don’t already know by my skincare and makeup page and my beauty product reviews, I am a big fan of Beautycounter. Not only does Beautycounter have a mission to provide safe makeup and skin care products, but they are super transparent about the ingredients in their products. Oh, and their products just WORK super well and that’s important too! Beautycounter is a clean beauty brand that truly sets the industry standard of clean AND high performing products.

I’ve tried everything from their Overnight Resurfacing Peel to their Dew Skin Tinted Moisturizer to full skincare lines (this my current favorite). I’ve been using the Charcoal Cleansing Bar for about 4 years now – this is not available anymore, so I suggest using the Primally Pure charcoal bar instead.

Ok, so why do I love it? Not only does it brighten my skin, but it also cleans out my pores while still being gentle on skin. I have very dry skin so I don’t use it as my only face cleanser. But I do use it daily on my underarms (pro-tip for really getting clean under there). If you have oily skin, it’s a great cleanser to help balance out the oiliness of your skin by using it a few times a week. I even use It to wash my makeup brushes. The charcoal bar is seriously so versatile and useful.

Beautycounter Charcoal Bar Review

It’s always important to know WHAT is in the products that you put on your skin, especially products that go on your face since that skin is more sensitive. Many times people think they have sensitive skin when in reality they are reacting to chemical or low-quality ingredients in lower-quality (and some “high end”) brands. And we don’t want any scary ingredients going directly on our skin since it gets absorbed right into our body. (If you eat healthy food, shouldn’t you care about what gets absorbed through your skin? Yes, yes you should.)

The Beautycounter charcoal bar uses charcoal powder (of course!), green tea and hydrating organic coconut oil. Each of the ingredients work together for maximum effectiveness, while still being gentle on skin!

Charcoal Bar Ingredients

Charcoal powder called Binchotan is a type of activated charcoal that is known for its natural purification properties. This charcoal powder provides anti-aging benefits and leaves the complexion clear and refreshed after gently exfoliating and drawing out the impurities in your skin.

Hydrating organic coconut oil is a natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal that can be used on both your face and body. Coconut oil contains vitamin E and healthy fats which help smooth out the skin. With the addition of coconut oil, the gentle formula helps rebalances skin. This allows the charcoal bar to purify skin without drying it out resulting in tight or overly parched skin.

Antioxidant-rich organic green tea contains polyphenols, Vitamin B-2, and other vitamins and minerals that promote skin health. Green tea helps repair DNA damage to the skin caused by UV rays, fights signs of aging and has other beneficial anti-inflammatory properties.

Witch Hazel relieves inflammation, reduces skin irritation and fights acne.

Safflower seed oil has antioxidant benefits and moisturizing effects.

Charcoal Soap Benefits

Over the last few years, charcoal soap has become increasingly popular for many reasons. Here are a few of the main benefits of using charcoal soap:

Cleanses the skin

The charcoal in the soap helps absorb and trap dirt, oil, and other things we want to remove from our skin. When you hear someone talk about a detoxifying product, there’s a good chance charcoal is one of the ingredients.

Reduces breakouts

Since charcoal helps unclog pores and reduce inflammation, that means it can also help reduce acne breakouts. Obviously, acne can be caused by many things, but charcoal is a great option if your breakouts are caused by oil buildup.

Balances oily skin

Another thing charcoal is known for is absorption of excess oil. Charcoal soap works the same way on skin by helping to balance the oil production in our skin.

Beautycounter Charcoal Bar Pros

You can use it daily or as needed

I use my charcoal cleansing bar only a couple of times a week to avoid drying out my already-dry skin. That’s why I use it only 1-2 times a week after super sweaty workouts, not as an everyday bar of soap. I do use it daily on my underarms (more about that below!).

However, I’ve heard from my more oily-skinned friends that they have great results using it daily and say it doesn’t dry them out but leaves skin feeling super clean. For them, the charcoal bar balances out oiliness. So if you have a more oily skin type and want to try using it daily on your face, this bar may be a good option for you.

Beautycounter states on their website that this Charcoal Cleansing Bar is “made with purifying Japanese binchotan charcoal, antioxidant-rich organic green tea, and hydrating organic coconut oil, the gentle formula can be used daily on your face and body.”

So it’s completely up to you on how often you use it. I just wouldn’t recommend using it daily if you have dryer skin.

Use it to wash your makeup brushes

Yep, I use my charcoal cleansing bar as a makeup brush cleaner. Charcoal products, in particular, are great for dirty jobs since charcoal traps dirt and makeup and removes them. And that’s exactly what we want for this scenario.

It’s a great underarm cleanser

Charcoal is a great ingredient for underarm deodorant since it absorbs impurities (or bacteria) found in and around our sweatiest areas. This is exactly why I use my charcoal bar after my harder workouts or runs that make me extra sweaty. It helps pull out more impurities to keep things fresh under there!

Lasts forever

This bar seriously lasts forever. I’ve had my current bar for over 6 months, and it’s still going strong. I even keep it in the shower and it still lasts that long! Just keep it out of the direct line of water spray and it’ll be long lasting.

Beautycounter Charcoal Bar Cons

To be totally honest, I really don’t have anything bad to say about this bar. Any cons depend more on your skin type and if you overuse it since, as I mentioned, charcoal is drying.

I wouldn’t recommend using the charcoal bar as your only face or body wash since it would be too drying. My daily face cleanser is the Countertime Cleansing Oil and for my body, I use the Citrus Mimosa Body Wash. However, I DO recommend always having a charcoal bar on hand! (You can see the rest of my skincare, makeup and hair & body routines here.)

How To Use The Beautycounter Charcoal Bar

Washing your face

Like any old soap bar, wet your hands, rub the bar into your hands, and then gently massage the lather onto your face.  You can just rinse it off, or if you’re using it to remove makeup, I suggest using a washcloth to remove it and wipe your face clean. Don’t use this product on your eyes. (I use this for my eye makeup remover.)

Washing your body

I typically use it on a loofah, but it also works well on a wash cloth or just rubbing the bar directly on your skin.

Washing your underarms

Wet your underarms, rub the bar into your hands and then use that lather to wash your underarms thoroughly. I like to leave it on for a few minutes while I wash my hair. It may be in my head, but I feel like leaving it on for a few minutes really helps get it clean under there!

Washing your makeup brushes

If you want to use it to clean your makeup brushes, check out my tutorial here on how to do that.

My Final Thoughts On The Beautycounter Charcoal Bar

Goodness, I could talk about this bar all day. This is seriously one of those products that I always have hanging around since it has so many uses. I use the charcoal bar as a body wash, facial cleanser, makeup brush cleaner and underarm cleanser (which is key when using a natural deodorant!). Oh, and I love that it’s affordable and lasts FOREVER. You can buy the charcoal bar here.

Let me know in the comments what you think if you’ve tried this bar or if you have any questions! If you want a personalized skincare recommendation, fill this out for me and I’ll email you back some thoughts based on your skin type!