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![Pearl Drops](https://cdn.mamamia.com.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/09144520/Pearl-Drops-logo-600x600-150x150.png)
It started off with one post, then very quickly everyone on my Instagram feed was doing it. Once a private ritual, suddenly everyone was sharing pictures of them brushing their teeth. Only they weren’t using your bog-standard toothpaste, they were using something far more unusual – black stuff – then sharing a snap of their sooty smile.
Turns out that “black stuff” is actually activated charcoal and the beauty world can’t get enough of it right now.
It’s not exactly new – activated charcoal has been used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for hundreds of years – but it’s only recently that its properties and benefits have been tapped for beauty purposes.
![](https://cdn.mamamia.com.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/11101237/pearl-drops-1200x630.png)
In a smoothie, in a face mask and in a toothpaste, it's the latest buzz word taking over your beauty cabinet. So why are people doing it and what does it do?