I Tried Charcoal Toothpaste To See If It Actually Worked

Is this the new Fit Tea?

Hello! My name is Jemima and I'm a sucker for infomercials and sponsored ads.

instagram.com

I spent $100 on a Magic Bullet after seeing their 20-minute ad on daytime TV. So as soon as I started seeing black-mouthed Carbon Coco promoted ads all over my Instagram, I had to get on board.

Despite the fact that using it makes your mouth look like a portal to hell, Carbon Coco claims to make your teeth noticeably whiter.

Instagram: @drewbreezkie

It's made with activated charcoal – a 100% natural ingredient that binds to the nasties that often discolour teeth (e.g. plaque, wine, or coffee).

Basically, every night you're supposed to brush with activated charcoal powder for three minutes. Then you rinse, and use the charcoal toothpaste like you would a regular toothpaste.

Jemima Skelley

I thought the charcoal would taste like crap, but it didn't really have a taste at all – just a hella gross texture.

Jemima Skelley

It also gets EVERYWHERE, no matter how much you try to avoid it. Believe me when I tell you to only use this over a sink.

Jemima Skelley

Did it make my teeth immediately whiter? Yes, it sure did. But it also left a grey residue around my gums which took a couple hours to fade.

Jemima Skelley

I think this photo should be my new display picture on everything.

The only downside is that the charcoal brushing really hurt my gums.

Jemima Skelley

To be fair, I have pretty sensitive gums. Once I switched from using the Carbon Coco toothbrush to just using my own softer one, the pain went away.

Also the toothpaste itself is not minty or fresh enough for my liking. I wouldn't want to use it long term, as I don't feel like it cleaned my teeth and mouth enough.

That being said, it did make my teeth whiter for the 10 days that I was using it.

Jemima Skelley

It's not noticeable enough to come up in photos, especially because I don't have ~studio lighting~ like all the sponsored Instagram posters do. But as soon as I stopped using the charcoal every day, it kinda just went back to normal.

So if you're ready to commit to using this for a long time, then it's definitely a solution. Though it'd be cheaper to just buy charcoal powder or capsules and DIY. It's not as Insta-ready, though, to be fair.

Now if anyone needs me, I'll be off trying to learn how to look photogenic with a mouth full of black sludge.

Instagram: @beccaboo318

Disclaimer: Carbon Coco provided products to BuzzFeed free of charge.