Pond's, Black Pond's

Hi everyone,

This post is a pre-Thanksgiving post and sadly, I don't have any turkey this year. You see, only the U.S and Canada get to have Turkey Day while to the rest of the world, it's Thursday. Ah well, I'll probably eat some chicken and pretend it's turkey or something ;)

Anyways, let's get to the main topic of the day: charcoal face wash. Have you heard of it? Well, years ago before I even had an inkling of being a beauty blogger, I stumbled upon this blog entry where a Japanese expat raved about charcoal face wash. She had oily and acne prone skin (like me) and without her charcoal face wash, she would suffer. Since they had nothing like that in New York, she had to go to Japan every year to get a few tubes. Talking about dedication, right?

For some unknown reasons, that story stuck into my brain like a magnet and I vowed to one day find that elusive charcoal face wash and give it a try. That day actually came about two months ago where I finally braved up and bought a tube of this:

Pond's Pure White Deep Cleansing Facial Foam with Activated Carbon and Vitamin B3

 When I brought it home and my mom saw it, she said, "What are you doing with the black Pond's?" Since then, the name kinda stuck and I kept on calling it "Black Pond's" instead of that really long name it has. Also, activated carbon is charcoal, the same kind that you see in the water filter cartridges used to purify water like in this experiment:



Well, it's an experiment that Pond's used to prove that their stuff works. But it has nothing to do with skin care as it is an experiment about water filtration. I had a good laugh while watching it.

However, this face wash works. With its claim as a deep cleansing facial foam, it cleans my skin well without making it too dry. I do notice less inflammation when using it. The black Pond's does not have any distinct smell at all, which is rare for a skincare product sold in Asian market. I do notice a mild lightening effect after I washed my face. Some people who haven't seen me in a while also commented that my face looks lighter.

Ingredient list

Another surprise is in the ingredient list: this face wash is sulfate-free! It does contain a small amount of niacinamide (vitamin B3), which is a brightening ingredient. However, it does contain Polyquarternium-7, which can be irritated to sensitive skin.

The swatch

This picture answers the question, "Is it really black?" No, it isn't. In fact, the black Pond's is grey and the activated carbon is really fine. I can hardly feel it. Also, a little goes a long way. I only need to use a pea-size amount to wash my whole face.

Of all the Pond's face washes available in the market, Pond's Pure White Deep Cleansing Facial Foam with Activated Carbon and Vitamin B3 is the cheapest. I'm glad I bought it as it works well with my oily and acne-prone skin. I remember the U.S market does not have a variety of Pond's products yet in the South East Asian market, Pond's is booming. Their products are highly innovative and also quite affordable. I hope Unilever would release this product to the Western market as well since it is a reliable face wash.

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